It is on the north-west coast of the Island of Ceylon, in the Indian Ocean, that the Pearl Oyster most abounds, and there it is that the Pearl fishery is conducted in the most extensive, systematic, and successful manner; this fishing commences at the beginning of March, and upwards of two hundred boats are usually employed in it; in each of these boats are ten divers, who go down to the Oyster-beds, five at a time, and so relieve each other; there are besides thirteen other men who manage the boat, and attend to the divers. Altogether it is computed that from fifty to sixty thousand persons, in some way engaged in the fishery, or preparation, or sale of the pearls, assemble at and near the scene of operations, which must be indeed a busy one. The number of Oysters taken during the period of the fishing, which is about a month, must be prodigious. One boat has been known to bring on shore, in the day, as many as thirty-three thousand; they are placed in heaps, and allowed to remain until they become putrid, when they undergo a very elaborate process of washing and separating from the shells, which are carefully examined and deprived of their pearly treasures. The stench arising from the decomposed animal matter is described as horrible, and the whole process filthy and loathsome in the extreme; yet out of the slime and mud and disgusting effluvia, come every year gems of inestimable value, calculated to adorn the brow of beauty, and form ornaments the most pure and delicate that can be imagined. For the exclusive right of fishing on the banks of Ceylon, for a single season, as much as £120,000 have been paid to the English government by one person, who sublets boats to others. Pearls vary greatly in value according to their colour and size; those which are perfectly white are the most valuable; next to these are those which have a yellowish tinge; the smallest kind, used for various ornamental purposes, are called seed pearls, the refuse is made into a kind of confection called _chimum_, highly relished by Chinese epicures. A single Oyster will sometimes contain several pearls, which are generally embedded in the body of the animal, but are sometimes fixed to the shell; it is recorded of one rich mollusk, that there were found in his possession no less than one hundred and fifty precious jewels; he must have been a miser, or perhaps he had taken them in pledge from his less provident neighbours.