The Book of the Pearl: The history, art, science, and industry of the queen of gemsKunz, George Frederick
History
The Book of the Pearl: The history, art, science, and industry of the queen of gems
Kunz, George Frederick
Pearls
In the details of its prosecution, the Madras fishery differs in no
important particular from that of Ceylon. The boats are manned and
operated in precisely the same way; they fish in the morning only,
taking advantage of the prevailing favorable winds; the divers carry the
oysters into the government inclosure, and divide them into three equal
lots, of which they receive one; the share of the government is
auctioned daily, the divers disposing of theirs as they choose; and the
oysters are rotted and washed in the same manner as in Ceylon.
In addition to the fishery for pearl-oysters at Tuticorin, two other
species of pearl-producing mollusks are collected in the Madras
presidency; one of these is a species of mussel (_Mytilus smaragdinus_,
according to Dr. Edgar Thurston of the Madras Museum), which is
collected from the estuary of the Sonnapore River near Berhampore; and
the other is the _Placuna placenta_, found in many places in this
presidency, and especially in Pulicat Lake and in the vicinity of
Tuticorin.
The Sonnapore mussels, which are small and bright green in color, are
found adhering to the masses of edible oysters in depths of ten or
twelve feet of water. They are caught in a novel manner, as described in
a letter from the acting collector of customs at Ganjam. Thrusting a
long bamboo pole deep into the bottom of the reef, the fisherman dives
down, and holding on to this bamboo, breaks off as large a mass of the
oysters as he can bring to the surface in one hand, helping himself up
the bamboo pole with the other. Removing the mussels from the mass, he
opens them with a suitable knife and by running his thumbs and fingers
over the flesh tissues, detects the pearls therein. These pearls are of
very inferior quality and of little ornamental value. They are sold
mostly for chunám and for placing in the mouth of deceased Hindus.
Along the west coast of India, in the Bombay presidency, a few pearls
are found at various places, but the output is of slight value. The most
important of these is off the coast of Nawanagar, on the south side of
the Gulf of Cutch, where the true pearl-oyster is found.
According to the “Jamnagar Diwan,” the yearly value of the Nawanagar
fisheries is about Rs.4000. This is smaller than formerly, as the reefs
are in a depleted state; to give them a chance to recuperate, a close
season was established in 1905. The oysters are found along a coast-line
eighty miles in length extending from Mangra, near Jodya Bunder, to
Pindera in the Gulf of Cutch, and also about the islands of Ajad, Chauk,
Kalumbar, and Nora, which are also situated in the Cutch Gulf. They are
not procured by diving, but are gathered off the rocks when the tide is
out. During the monsoon, the collection is limited to eight days in the
month; _i.e._, from the twelfth to the fifteenth of each half according
to the Hindu calendar.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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