Street scene in Marichchikadde, the pearling camp of Ceylon
Return of the fleet from the pearl reefs to Marichchikadde, Ceylon
It may be true that the development of the fishery upon a scientific system affords good prospect of a greater return in the future than has been obtained in the past, and affords at least the hope that the barren cycles which have been so common in the past will not recur to the same extent. But the operations necessary to that end are of a highly technical and experimental character, and I am very doubtful whether any machinery which could be set in motion by the Government would be suited to develop processes at once so doubtful and so delicate. In twenty years’ time the Colonial Government will receive back the fishery, not only intact, but in the most perfect state to which commercial enterprise and scientific methods can raise it, and, in the meanwhile, a regular and substantial payment is assured. Twenty years are no doubt a considerable period in the lifetime of individuals; but if within that time all the resources that science can contribute toward systematic development of the fisheries have been applied and thoroughly tested, the period will not, I think, be regarded as excessive or unfortunate in the history of a fishery which has lasted for more than two thousand years.[[159]]
The Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers, Limited, with a paid up capital of £165,000, has just entered into possession of its lease, and it is uncertain what changes will be made in the methods of the fishery or what measure of success will follow the attempts at pearl-oyster culture and the growth of pearls. The attention of the pearling interests of the world is now directed to the work of this company in the development of its magnificent leasehold, and it seems not unlikely that greater changes will be made in the methods of the industry during the ensuing decade than have occurred in the whole of the last ten centuries.[[160]]
A curious fishery, with the Placuna placenta for its object, exists in Tablegram Lake, a small bay in northeastern Ceylon adjacent to the magnificent harbor of Trincomali, which Nelson declared to be “the finest in the world.” At intervals during the nineteenth century, the Ceylon government leased the Tablegram Lake fishery to native bidders for a period of three consecutive years. In 1857, Dr. Kelaart visited the place and calculated that in the three years preceding, eighteen million oysters had been removed.[[161]] Owing to scarcity of the mollusk, no fisheries have existed since 1890, but from 1882 to 1890 they were regularly leased at an average of Rs.5000 for each term of three years. Prof. James Hornell, who made a careful examination in 1905, reported that if the business were carried on providently and systematically, “it should become the source of a fairly regular annual revenue to Government of from Rs.10,000 to Rs.12,000, possibly even more.”[[162]]
The Placuna oysters are caught by Moormen divers, who are scarcely equal physically to the pearl fishery in the sea. They rarely descend more than four fathoms, and most of the work in Tablegram Bay is in less than two fathoms. Each diver returns with from one to five or more oysters, depending on their abundance, and receives one half of the catch as his share of the proceeds. Unlike the method in the pearl-oyster fishery of Ceylon, the Placuna oysters are opened while fresh, this work being performed by coolies, who are compensated at the rate of about Rs.3 per 1000.
THE PEARL FISHERIES OF INDIA
There are two moments in a diver’s life: