With this assurance, Mrs. Gaston returned home, and with a lighter heart.
(To be concluded next month.)
HISTORY OF PEARLS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL.
PEARLS are a shelly secretion of a spherical shape formed in a species of oyster, or pearl mussel, and said to be produced by a malady in the animal, which requires nearly seven years for its full development, after which the oyster dies. Small pearls which have been immersed in acetous acids, and thus reduced to their membranous constituents, have the appearance of being formed of concentric coats of membrane and carbonate of lime, thus resembling in composition the mother-of-pearl with which oyster-shells are lined. The precise origin of pearls is unknown, but it appears probable that some minute substance, such as a grain of sand, may have found its way into the shell and produced irritation, and that the animal, unable to expel it, renders it less injurious by covering it with calcareous matter. It is sometimes affirmed that, to produce pearls, the oyster must have received some external injury; and this is corroborated by the fact that nearly all the shells in which pearls are found are outwardly contorted, and that a smooth regular shell is a pretty sure sign of the absence of the pearl. It was therefore suggested to the Swedish government, by the celebrated Linnæus, to pierce small holes in the shell of the freshly-caught pearl oyster, and then restore it to its original bed. The experiment was tried, but without success. A somewhat similar plan is said to be adopted by the Chinese, and with favorable results. These ingenious people thread upon fine silk small beads of mother-of-pearl, and fasten them within the shells of pearl oysters, when they rise to the surface of the water at the beginning of summer. The animals are then restored to their bed, where they soon cover the beads with calcareous matter, and thus convert them into pearls.
In whatever way produced, pearls of considerable size, on account of their beauty and rarity, have been valued at enormous prices in past ages, and are still among the choicest objects of the jeweller's art. Their delicate and silvery lustre has been as widely celebrated as the brilliancy of the diamond. The Hindoos poetically describe them as drops of dew falling into the shells when the fish rise to the surface of the sea in the month of May, and becoming, by some unexplained action of the sun's rays, transformed into pearls.
Pearl fisheries exist in Ceylon, on the Coromandel coast, and in the Persian Gulf, the last-named being the most productive. Fisheries of less importance also exist in Algiers, and in the Zooloo Islands. Two thousand years ago, the Romans found pearls in Britain, and within modern times the rivers of Scotland have afforded considerable quantities, though not of the best quality. Several rivers of Saxony, Silesia, Bavaria, and Bohemia afford pearls, and they are also found in two or three Russian provinces. There are also pearl fisheries in the western hemisphere. The coast of Columbia and the Bay of Panama have furnished considerable quantities, but they are not considered equal to the pearls of the East in shape or color. Detailed accounts of the pearl fishery of Ceylon have been given by the Count de Noé and others, who have had ample means of watching the operations of the pearl-divers during a residence in that island. It appears that the pearl oysters occur in banks at greater or less depth in the sea on the western side of the island of Ceylon, the average depth, however, being about twelve fathoms, and the distance from the shore about fifteen miles. The right to fish on these banks is sold by the government every season, and a single auction sale is generally made to one individual, who afterwards disposes of shares in the fishery to other parties. The biddings at the auction are regulated by the produce of some thousands of oysters taken from the beds at hazard. If the average quality of pearls contained in them be good, the competition is strong in proportion.
The pearl fishery commences in April, and lasts till towards the end of May. It attracts a concourse of visitors not only from the interior of the island, but from various parts of India, whose diversities of language, dress, and manners produce a striking effect. The sea-shore, at other times solitary, is, on the eve of the fishery, suddenly covered with innumerable huts, composed of a few poles stuck in the ground, interwoven with bamboo and covered with the leaves of the cocoa-nut palm. These temporary dwellings often shelter as many as 150,000 persons. The signal for commencing the fishery is given at daybreak by the firing of cannon, and at that moment the several boats cast anchor in the fishing-ground, for at midnight they had left the shore in an extensive fleet, so as to be on the spot at the desired moment. Each boat has its own proper bounds, beyond which it is not lawful to work, and government vessels are on the spot to see that no infringement of contract takes place. The boats each carry a captain, a pilot, and twenty men, of whom ten are experienced divers. Five divers descend at once, the other five taking the plunge when the first ascend. Thus a little time is allowed for regaining strength. In order to descend as rapidly as possible through the water, the diver places his feet on a large stone made fast to one end of a rope, the other end being secured to the boat. He also takes another rope, to the end of which is attached a net, or basket, to contain the oysters. The upper extremity of this second rope is held by two men in the boat. The diver is also provided with a strong knife for detaching the oysters, and as a means of defence against sharks, which are very numerous in those seas, but which do not often attack the divers, being perhaps scared by the noise of the assemblage, and the continual plunging of so great a number of persons. The diver no sooner reaches the ground than he gathers oysters with all possible speed into his basket, and then letting go the rope to which the stone is attached, he pulls that which is held by the sailors, and rapidly ascends to the surface. Some divers make very dexterous use of their feet, holding the net with one foot, clasping the stone with the other, and thus leaving one hand free to close the nostrils, while the other hand holds the rope in descending.
The time during which the divers can remain submerged is variously stated, and no doubt it differs greatly according to the constitution of the individual. Some observers declare that, in their experience, it never exceeded fifty seconds; but Captain Percival, in his work on Ceylon, gives two minutes as the usual time of remaining under water.[10] Serious effects are produced by this employment, and the divers may frequently be seen with blood issuing from their mouth and nostrils. Yet this does not hinder them from going down in their turn. They will make from forty to fifty plunges in one day, and bring up on each occasion about one hundred oysters. Their day closes before noon; for, as soon as the sea-breeze sets in, the signal is given for the return of the boats to the shore. Their owners, and a large assemblage of persons of all classes, are eagerly looking out for the arrival of the flotilla, and are soon busily employed in examining and stowing away the cargoes.
Each owner has a shallow pit fenced round and secured for his own use, in which his store of oysters is deposited, and left open to the air. This pit, or couttó, as it is called, is in the midst of a group of huts belonging to the same owner, so that it is under guard of his party. Here the oysters are allowed to putrefy under a burning sun, and a stench arises from them which would seem enough to depopulate the shore of its thousands of inhabitants. Yet such is not the case. The health of the people does not appear to be materially affected, and the oysters are allowed to remain till dry, when they can be easily opened and the pearls extracted. To open them when fresh would require much greater force, and would be likely to injure the pearls. When the putrefaction is sufficiently advanced, the oysters are taken from the couttó, and placed in troughs made of the trunks of trees. Sea-water is thrown over them: they are easily opened, and render their pearls to the washing and shaking of a number of men who stand all on one side of the trough, while inspectors at each end closely watch their proceedings, and other inspectors examine the shells which are thrown away, lest they should contain some of the precious substance. The workmen engaged in washing pearls dare not lift their hands to their mouths under penalty of a flogging, yet a man will sometimes contrive to swallow a pearl of high price. After all the pearls are washed out, the largest are carefully picked out from the sand at the bottom of the troughs and washed repeatedly in clean water: the next in size are spread out on white napkins to dry in the sun. The remainder are left to the care of women, who pick them up and dry them. Pearls are assorted by means of three sieves placed one above another, the meshes in which are smaller as the pearls descend. Thus the pearls which will not pass through the uppermost sieve are of the first class, and so on with the others. Another assortment is made as to color, regularity of form, &c., and here the tastes of different nations have to be consulted. The Europeans prefer pure white pearls, the Indians yellow pearls, and the natives of Ceylon those which are tinged with rose-color.