even fifteen or twenty times. The labour is extremely severe, and they are short‐lived. On returning to the boat they sometimes discharge water tinged with blood by the mouth, nose, and ears. They are also exposed to great danger from sword‐fish and sharks, which lie in wait for and frequently devour the unhappy victim. They continue to fish till mid‐day, but are expected to return long before dark. Mrs. Brassey explains that when a boat with pearls reaches the shore the shells are divided into equal heaps, one‐fourth going to the boat’s crew and three‐fourths to the Government inspector. They keep whichever heap he chooses to kick, so that, being uncertain in which heap the best pearls are, the chances are good enough. The heaps are then divided and sold by auction in thousands, and then sub‐divided again. Gambling is such an Oriental proclivity that the merest beggar will buy a few of the shells, hoping to find a pearl of great value; and should he fail to do so, he still has got his oyster! “Some of the oysters are taken in sealed‐up sacks to Colombo, Kandy, and other inland places, in order to enable people to indulge their love of gambling and speculation.” Sir Emerson Tennant tells us that the depleted pearl oyster‐shells of the Condatchy fisheries, which date back two thousand years, form an immense bank on the beach, extending for miles. In past times the Ceylon fisheries were more valuable than at present. In 1797 they are said to have produced £144,000, and in 1798 as much as £192,000. In 1802 the fisheries were farmed for £120,000; but for many years the banks have been less productive, and are now said to yield only the sum of £20,000 per annum. [Illustration: DIVING FOR PEARLS.]