Encouraged by these successful examples, an English company has obtained a grant by Act of Parliament of a piece of fore shore lying between the Whitstable and Faversham Oyster Companies' beds, and thus admirably situated for receiving a large quantity of floating spawn from these establishments. There can be no doubt that oyster cultivation will spread further and further, and that ultimately all the worthless bays and lagunes along our coasts will be converted into rich oyster-fields, yielding a good profit to their owners and enjoyment to millions of consumers. A shell nearly related to the oyster produces the costly pearls of the East that have ever been as highly esteemed as the diamond itself. The most renowned pearl-fisheries are carried on at Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf, and in the Bay of Condatchy, in the island of Ceylon, on banks situated a few miles from the coast. Before the beginning of the fishery, the government causes the banks to be explored, and then lets them to the highest bidder, very wisely allowing only a part of them to be fished every year. The fishing begins in February, and ceases by the beginning of April. The boats employed for this purpose assemble in the bay, set off at night at the firing of a signal-gun, and reach the banks after sunrise, where fishing goes on till noon, when the sea-breeze which arises about that time warns them to return to the bay. As soon as they appear within sight, another gun is fired, to inform the anxious owners of their return. Each boat carries twenty men and a chief; ten of them row and hoist up the divers, who are let down by fives,--and thus alternately diving and resting keep their strength to the end of their day's work. The diver, when he is about to plunge, compresses his nostrils tightly with a small piece of horn, which keeps the water out, and stuffs his ears with bees'-wax for the same purpose. He then seizes with the toes of his right foot a rope to which a stone is attached, to accelerate the descent, while the other foot grasps a bag of network. With his right hand he lays hold of another rope, and in this manner rapidly reaches the bottom. He then hangs the net round his neck, and with much dexterity and all possible despatch collects as many oysters as he can while he is able to remain under water, which is usually about two minutes. He then resumes his former position, makes a signal to those above by pulling the rope in his right hand, and is immediately by this means hauled up into the boat, leaving the stone to be pulled up afterwards by the rope attached to it. Accustomed from infancy to their work, these divers do not fear descending repeatedly to depths of fifty or sixty feet. They plunge more than fifty times in a morning, and collect each time about a hundred shells. Sometimes, however, the exertion is so great that, upon being brought into the boat, they discharge blood from their mouth, ears, and nostrils. [Illustration: Ceylon Pearl-Oyster.]