As soon as the fishermen pass out of the government koddu with their quota, they are met by a crowd of natives eager to buy the oysters in small lots, and frequently at so many per rupee—ranging from eight to twelve ordinarily. This “outside market” is one of the many interesting features of the camp, for there are few persons on the shore who do not risk small sums in testing their fortunes in this lottery. And a wonderful lottery it is too, in which a man may risk a few coppers and win a prize worth hundreds of dollars. A poor Tamil once bought five oysters for half a rupee, and in one of them he found the largest pearl of the season. Any not sold among this eager, animated throng are at once marketed with a native buyer. The diver then hastens to immerse himself in one of the bathing tanks provided for the purpose. It is claimed that if this bath is omitted after immersion all the morning in the salt water of the gulf, the diver is liable to fall ill; and a sufficient supply of fresh water for this purpose is an important factor in the arrangement of the camp.
Owing to their sale in much smaller lots, or as we may say, at retail, the fishermen succeed in getting relatively high prices for their oysters, and their earnings exceed one half of the government’s share. In 1905 this amounted to probably £86,000, or an average of about $1350 for each of the 318 boats. However, some crews made very much more than this, with a corresponding decrease for the others. Although 1905 was a record year for large returns, even in an ordinary season pearl fishing is relatively profitable, as a skilled diver earns five or six times as much as a common laborer in Ceylon. The regulations particularly forbid the employment of divers for a monetary consideration instead of for a share of the oysters according to the established custom.
The remaining two thirds of the oysters in the koddu are the property of the government. These are combined and counted. At nine o’clock each evening they are sold at auction, and by noon of the following day all have been removed, and the inclosure is ready for the incoming catch.
At the auction the number of oysters to be sold that evening is announced, and bids are invited. Some one starts the bidding at, maybe, Rs.20 or 25, and this is advanced by successive bids until the limit appears to be reached, which may possibly be Rs.50 or 60. The successful bidder is permitted to take as many oysters in multiples of 1000 as he chooses; and after he is supplied, other merchants desiring them at that particular price are accommodated. If there is no further demand for them at that price, the bidding on the remaining oysters is begun precisely as at first, and when the maximum bid is reached, all merchants willing to give that amount are furnished with as many as they wish in multiples of 1000 as before. If this does not exhaust the oysters, the bidding on the remainder is started up again, and so on until all are sold.[[153]] No one knows at the time whether he is buying a fortune in gems or only worthless shells.
Indian pearl merchants ready for business
Children of Persian pearl dealers
The prices at which the oysters are sold at auction may differ greatly from the estimated valuation of the samples secured in the February examination. For instance, in 1905 the valuation of the South Madaragam oysters was Rs.17.86 per 1000, yet the auction sales on the first day began at Rs.53 and went up to Rs.61 per 1000, or three times the valuation; and about the same general proportion of increase prevailed for the oysters from the remaining banks, a result of great advances in the market for pearls.
The auction prices for the different lots and from day to day are fairly constant. But the shrewd Indian merchants know their business well and keep in close touch with the yield, so that there are many variations in the selling price that are puzzling to the uninitiated. A somewhat higher estimation is placed on the oysters from certain banks, and also on those from rocky portions of a particular reef, owing to their reputation for yielding a larger percentage of pearls. The estimation of particular oysters varies to some extent according to the amount of adhering rock and coral growth. As already shown, the prices in 1906 covered the remarkable range of from Rs.20 to 309 per 1000. Superstitious belief in luck also has its influence, and a buyer may consider a certain day as unfavorable for him and abstain from bidding on that occasion; or considering a particular day as lucky, he may bid very high to secure a considerable portion of the sales.