Several very interesting reports on the industry were prepared about that time. Especially to be noted among these were the accounts by Henry J. LeBeck in 1798;[[128]] by Robert Percival in 1803;[[129]] and by James Cordiner in 1807,[[130]] to which reference is made for detailed accounts of the fisheries of that period.
The Ceylon fishery was prosecuted about every other year from 1799 to 1809, and the annual returns ranged from £15,022 in 1801 to £84,257 in 1808. From 1810 to 1813, inclusive, there was a blank so far as receipts were concerned. In 1814 the fishery was very good, bringing in a revenue of £105,187. With the exception of very slight returns in 1815, 1816, and 1820, no oysters were then obtained until 1828. Excepting 1832 and 1834, the industry was prosecuted each year from 1828 to 1837, the revenue to the government averaging about £30,000 annually. Then came a long blank of seventeen years, for there was no fishing from 1838 to 1854, and likewise from 1864 to 1873. Indeed, so depleted had the beds throughout the Gulf of Manaar become in 1866, that serious consideration was given to the possibilities of securing seed oysters from the Persian Gulf for restocking the reefs; but fortunately this was rendered unnecessary by the discovery soon afterward of a few oysters on several reefs on both the Ceylon and the Malabar coasts.
From 1855 to 1863, and also from 1874 to 1881, the returns were only ordinary, the highest being £51,017 in 1863, and £59,868 in 1881,—the best year since 1814; and during these two periods fishing was entirely omitted in nearly one half the seasons. There were five lean years from 1882 to 1886, and the 1887 fishery was only fair, with a yield of £39,609. But the returns for 1888 were large, amounting to £80,424; and those for 1891 were even greater, being £96,370, representing a yield of 44,311,441 oysters. No oysters were caught from 1892 to 1902, inclusive. In 1903, the fishery was profitable, yielding 41,180,137 oysters, and the share of the government amounted to £55,303; and in 1904 the yield was almost the same, being 41,039,085 oysters and a revenue of £71,050 to the government.
In 1905 occurred the greatest fishery in the modern history of Ceylon. The season extended from February 20 until April 21, giving forty-seven working days, exclusive of Sundays and five days of bad weather, the longest period in over half a century.[[131]] The boats employed numbered 318, with 4991 divers and 4894 attendant manduks. The yield of oysters exceeded all records, amounting to 81,580,716 in number, or nearly twice as many as in any previous year within the period of British occupation. The prices at which these sold ranged from Rs.24 to Rs.124 per thousand, with an average of Rs.48.89 for the entire season. The government received Rs.2,510,727 as its share of the revenue, which was twice as much as in any previous year since the British have been in control, and doubtless the largest received by any government in the history of the industry. The oysters falling to the share of the divers must have sold for at least Rs.1,255,363 (since 1881 the divers have received one third of the catch as their compensation, instead of one fourth). The profits of the merchants, who purchased and opened the government oysters as well as those of the divers, doubtless amounted to fully as much, making a total of Rs.5,021,453, or nearly $2,000,000 as a low estimate of the local value of the pearls secured at Ceylon in 1905.
Owing to the great success in 1905, an enormous number of persons flocked to the camp at the beginning of the season in 1906. Employment was given to 473 boats, the largest number on record, and over 8600 divers were engaged, with an equal number of attendants. Owing to unfavorable weather and the great quantity of oysters removed in 1905, the catch in 1906 was less than in that record year, amounting to 67,150,641 in number, from the sale of which Rs.1,376,746 was realized. The prices covered a wide range. For the large Cheval oysters, even Rs.276, Rs.291, and Rs.309 per 1000 were received. The inferior, stunted oysters from the Muttuvaratu paar ranged from Rs.20 to Rs.41 per 1000, and even at these prices many buyers sustained losses. On the other hand considerable money was made by the buyers of those from Cheval, in which some very large and beautiful pearls were found.
The results of the 1907 fishery were surprisingly good, excellent prices being obtained. The proceeds from the sale of two thirds of the 21,000,000 oysters amounted to Rs.1,040,000, or just under $350,000. The fishery lasted thirty-six working days. Only 173 boats were used, as it was considered that a fleet of this size is fully as large as can be employed advantageously to the greatest satisfaction of all interested.
According to the compilations of the colonial secretary’s office, the gross revenue to the government from 1796 to 1907, inclusive, amounted to £2,098,830. If to this be added the fishermen’s share and the merchants’ compensation, we have a total of about £4,200,000 or $21,000,000 as the local value of the pearls produced in Ceylon during the period of British occupation. The value of these in the markets of Asia and Europe was undoubtedly very much greater.
In many respects the Ceylon pearl fisheries are the most interesting in the world. Owing to their ready accessibility and thorough organization, they are far better known than any others. Reliable data exist as to the number of oysters taken during each season since 1854, and it is possible to estimate roughly the pearls obtained therefrom. Throughout the 112 years of British occupation, and previously to some extent under the successive rule of the Cingalese kings, of the Portuguese, and of the Dutch, for centuries, the reefs were annually examined by official inspectors, and fishing was permitted only in those years when they appeared in satisfactory condition.
A noticeable feature of these fisheries is their uncertainty, a prosperous season being followed by an absence of fishing sometimes extending over ten years or more. This is not of recent development. Over eight hundred years ago a total cessation of yield for a considerable period was recorded[[132]] by Albyrouni, who served under Mahmud of Ghazni. He stated that, in the eleventh century, the oysters which formerly existed in the Gulf of Serendib (Ceylon) disappeared simultaneously with the appearance of a fishery at Sofala in the country of the Zends, where previously the existence of pearls had been unknown; hence it was conjectured that the pearl-oysters of Serendib had migrated to Sofala.
In the 249 years since Ceylon passed from the dominion of the Portuguese in 1658, there have been only sixty-nine years in which the pearl fisheries were prosecuted. During the last century there were only thirty-six regularly authorized fisheries. Enormous quantities of oysters have appeared on the reefs, giving rise to hopes of great results, only to end in disappointment, owing to their complete disappearance. In the fall of 1887, for instance, examination of one of the reefs revealed an enormous quantity of oysters, covering an area five miles in length by one and a half miles in width, with “600 to 700 oysters to the square yard” in places. It was estimated by the inspection officials that there were 164,000,000 oysters, which exceeded the total number taken in the preceding sixty years, and which should have yielded several million dollars’ worth of pearls in the following season, according to the usual returns. But some months later not an oyster was to be found on this large reef, the great host presumably having been destroyed by action of the sea. Numerous reasons are assigned for the failure of promising reefs. Those most frequently heard are that the currents sweep the oysters away, that they are devoured by predaceous enemies, that they are covered by the shifting bottom, or that they voluntarily move to new grounds.