At the beginning of March, the fishery commenced, and upwards of two hundred and fifty boats were employed in the fishery alone. These, with their crews, and divers, and completely equipped with everything necessary to conduct the business of the fishing, come from different parts of the coast of Coromandel. After going through various ablutions and incantations, and other superstitious ceremonies, the occupants of these boats embark at midnight, guided by pilots, and as soon as they reach the banks, they cast anchor, and wait the dawn of day.
At about seven in the morning, when the rays of the sun begin to emit some degree of warmth, the diving commences. A kind of open scaffolding, formed of oars and other pieces of wood, is projected from each side of the boat, and from it the diving-tackle is suspended, with three stones on one side, and two on the other. The diving-stone hangs from an oar by a light rope and slip-knot, and descends about five feet into the water. It is a stone of fifty-six pounds’ weight, of a sugar-loaf shape. The rope passes through a hole in the top of the stone, above which a strong loop is formed, resembling a stirrup-iron, to receive the foot of the diver. The diver wears no clothes, except a slip of calico round his loins,—swimming in the water, he takes hold of the rope, and puts one foot into the loop or stirrup, on the top of the stone.
He remains in this upright position for a little while, supporting himself by the motion of one arm. Then a basket, formed of a wooden hoop and net-work, suspended by a rope, is thrown into the water to him, and in it he places his other foot. Both the ropes of the stone and the basket he holds for a little while in one hand. When he feels himself properly prepared and ready to go down, he grasps his nostrils with one hand, to prevent the water from rushing in; with the other gives a sudden pull to the running-knot suspending the stone, and instantly descends: the remainder of the rope fixed to the basket is thrown into the water after him, at the same moment: the rope attached to the stone is in such a position as to follow him of itself. As soon as he touches the bottom, he disentangles his foot from the stone, which is immediately drawn up, and suspended again to the projecting oar in the same manner as before, to be in readiness for the next diver. The diver, arrived at the bottom of the sea, throws himself as much as possible upon his face, and collects everything he can get hold of into the basket. When he is ready to ascend, he gives a jerk to the rope, and the persons in the boat, who hold the other end of it, haul it up as speedily as possible. The diver, at the same time, free of every incumbrance, warps up by the rope, and always gets above water a considerable time before the basket. He generally comes up at a distance from the boat, and swims about, or takes hold of an oar or a rope, until his turn comes to descend again; but he seldom comes into the boat, until the labour of the day is over. When a young diver is training to the business, he descends in the arms of a man completely experienced in the art, who takes great care of him, and shows him the manner of proceeding, and the pupil at first brings up in his hand a single oyster, a stone, or a little sand, merely to show that he has reached the bottom. The length of time during which the divers remain under water, is rarely much more than a minute and a half; yet, in this short period, in a ground richly clothed with oysters, an expert man will often put as many as one hundred and fifty into his basket. There are two divers attached to each stone, so that they go down alternately. The men, after diving, generally find a small quantity of blood issue from their nose and ears, which they consider as a favourable symptom, and perform the operation with greater comfort after the bleeding has commenced. They seem to enjoy the labour as a pleasant pastime, and never murmur or complain, unless when the banks contain a scarcity of oysters, though their labours are continued for six hours.
When the day is sufficiently advanced, the head pilot makes a signal, and the fleet set sail for the shore. All descriptions of people hasten to the water’s edge to welcome their return, and the crowd, stir, and noise, are then immense. Every boat comes to its own station, and the oysters are carried into certain paved enclosures on the sea-shore, where they are allowed to remain in heaps (of course, well guarded) for ten days, that time being necessary to render them putrid. When the oysters are sufficiently decayed, they are thrown into a large vessel, filled with salt water, and left there for twelve hours to soften their putrid substance. The oysters are then taken up, one by one, the shells broken from one another, and washed in the water. Those shells, which have pearls adhering to them, are thrown on one side, and afterwards handed to clippers, whose business it is to disengage the pearls from the shells, with pincers.
When all the shells are thrown out, the slimy substance of the oysters remains, mixed with sand and broken fragments of shells, at the bottom of the vessel. The dirty water is lifted out in buckets, and poured into a sack, made like a jelly-bag, so that no pearls can be lost. Fresh water being then added from time to time, and the whole substance in the vessel continually agitated, the sand and pearls together, are by degrees allowed to sink to the bottom.
As soon as the sand is dry it is sifted; the large pearls, being conspicuous, are easily gathered; but the separating the small and diminutive (“seed pearls,” as they are called,) is a work of considerable labour. When once separated from the sand, washed with salt water, dried, and rendered perfectly clean, they are sorted into classes, according to their sizes, by being passed through sieves. After this, a hole is drilled through each pearl; they are then arranged on strings, and are fit for the market.
Pearls have been considered as valuable ornaments from the earliest times: they are mentioned in the book of Job (xxviii. 18,) and are often alluded to by the classical writers. There have been various attempts made to imitate them successfully, one of the most singular of which,—known to have been practised early in the Christian era, on the banks of the Red Sea,—is still carried on in China. A hole is bored in the shell of the pearl oyster, a piece of iron-wire inserted, and the oyster restored to its place: the animal, wounded by the point of the wire, deposits a coat of pearly matter round it: this gradually hardens, successive layers are added, till a pearl of the requisite size is formed, and the shell is once more brought to land.
A plan, somewhat similar to this, was employed by Linnæus, who pierced the shells of the fresh-water mussel, causing thereby a pearl to be formed at the punctured spot; and the Swedish government actually established artificial pearleries,—but these were abandoned after a few years; for, although pearls were formed, they were seldom of sufficient size to be of much value.
False pearls are made of hollow glass globules, the inside of which is covered with a liquid, called pearl-essence, and then filled with white wax. This liquid is composed of the silver-coloured particles which adhere to the scales of the bleak, (ablette,) and was first applied to this purpose, early in the last century, by a Frenchman of the name of Jacquin[3].