An account of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon

Front matter

AN' ACCOUNT OF THE 5>a<&ia£ OF Æcglott, Hi JAMES STEUART MASTER ATTENDANT AT COLOMBO, COMMISSIONER OF THE LOAN BOARD. -A.NI) FORMERLY INSPECTOR OF PEARL BANKS. mfiTty a& a^sipsiw Ctglon; COTTA :— CHURCH MISSION PRESS. 1843. No. 22. Master Attendant's Office Colombo, 3rd, April, \%\%. Sir, I have the honor lo transmit herewith an account of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon, with an appendix compiled front documents in my possession, some of which are of an official character. I am apprehensive that the expense of getting up plates for a work of this unsaleable description would be more than I should venture to incur, particularly as they could not be executed in Ceylon: — / would therefore, with the permission of His Excellency the Governor, print the account without plates, from a copy in my possession, and circulate it in the colony.

I have the honor to be. Sir, To Your most obedt. Servant. The Uon'ble JAMES STEUART. The Colonial Secretary Master Attendant. fye, fye, fy. No. 22. Colonial Secretary's Office. Kandy 19th. April 1843. Sir. I have laid before the Governor the Volume containing an account of the Pearl Fisheries in Ceylon, transmitted ivith your letter of the Sd. instant, to the publication of which you solicit His Excellency's assent; and I am directed to acquaint ydu that he has no objection to its Publication. — / have the honor to be. Sir, Your most obedient Servant P. ANSTRUTHEH a S. JAMES STEUART Esqr. fye, fye, fye. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction. -------.--.. _ _ _ j. Extract from an account of the Ceylon Pearl fisheries published in the transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1833. - - - - ------ 1

Chapter I

Failure of Pearl Fisheries since 1837 — Natural History of the Pearl oyster — Value of Pearl oysters — Fecundity of oysters — Habits of the oyster — When the oysters may be taken up — Appearance and Value of Pearls — Details respecting the Peart Banks — Fishes found on the Banks — Land snakes seen in the sea. ------- 5 chapter II. Boats used at Pearl fisheries — Boats' crews — Season for fishing — Native officers or Headmen — Periodical Inspections of the Pearl Banks — Steamer " Seaforth " — Public Buildings— Condatchy and Silawatorre — Engagement of Boats for the Fishery — Inspector of Pearl Banks — Prevailing winds on the Banks. ----.-___ 9. chapter III. Commencement of a Fishery — Divers — Shark charmer — Sharks — Process of Diving — Return to Land — offensive effluvia from oysters — Cholera Morbus — Washing the oysters — Collection of Pearls — their classification and sale. ------- i:\ chapter IV.

Present of Pearl Ornaments to Lady Wilmot Horton — History of past fisheries — Report of the Dutch commissioners in 1757 — Revenue since 1814 — Sir Edward Barnes, Lieutenant Governor — Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, Superintendent of the Pearl fisheries — Fishery in 1820 — Sir Edward Paget, Governor — His short Government — Sir Edward Barnes, Governor — Arrival at Colombo — Guard Vessel established on the Pearl Banks — Diving Bells — Master Attendant — Adapanaars or Native Headmen — Buoys and sea marks — chart of the Banks — Fishery in 1828 — Supervisor and Inspector. ------- lt». chapter V. Commissioners of Inquiry — Sir Robert Wilmot Horton — Master Attendant as Inspector of Pearl Banks — Retirement of the Commissioner of Revenue — Desire for annual fisheries — The Admiral spares an officer, who is made Supervisor of the Pearl Banks — He relieves the Master Attendant of the charge of the Banks — The Master Attendant required to visit and report on the state ofthe Banks — Last Fishery in 1837 — opinions of writers on the Pearl fishery — Errors corrected — Resignation of the Supervisor — Commander ofthe Steamer "Seaforth," Inspector of Pearl Banks — He is paid off, aud re-engaged to command the Vessel as a Packet — Observations on the oysters and on the Divers — Pearl fishery at Trincomalee — Writers on Political economy — Their objections answered. -,--«___. 22. chapter VI.

Idolatrous Temples — The claims of their Priests refused — They appeal to the Secretary of State — The Secretary of State concedes their claims — Nature of claims — claims evaded — Mr. Lee' s Report — He shews the claims to be unfounded — Alms Oysters from the Divers — Influence of Romish Priests — Observations on the monopoly of the Pearl fishery. - - - - 27. VI.

Appendix

. Page- Statement of Revenue accruing to the Ceylon Government from Pearl fisheries from 1828 to 1837- ---------- 33. Statement of Revenue from the Pearl fisheries from 1799 to 1820. - - - - 34. Enquiry into the indications which mark the age of Pearl Oysters. - 37- Report ofthe Dutch Commissioner in 1757 on the Pearl Banks. - - - - ibid. Statement shewing the practice of the Boat people in sharing their oysters. - - 41 . Form of Government Advertisements announcing Pearl fisheries to take place. - 43 — 49. Rules by which Pearl dealers value Pearls. ..._--- - 50. Observations by the Hon'ble Robert Boyd Esq. on Reports made by Officers engaged on the Pearl fisheries. _'___.____. -- 51. Mr. Secretary Lusignan's letter of the 1st. June 1822, appointing the Collector of Manaar Supervisor of the Pearl Banks. ------- 55.

Letter to Henry Tu£ nell Esq. in reference to Mr. Lusignan's letter. - - - 56. Letter to the Commissioner of Revenue. - , - - - - - - 57- Translation of a Tamul letter from Manaar Pattangatyn to the Adapanaar. - - - 58. Commissioner of Inquiry's report on the Pearl fisheries, and correspondence in reference to it. 59 — 65. Letter from Government notifying the appointment of a Naval Supervisor ofthe Pearl Banks. 66. Letter from Government notifying the appointment of the Commander of the " Seafortb " , /Li Inspector of Pearl Banks. -------- 67- Lieut. Whitelock's account of the Pearl Fisheries in the Persian Gulf. - ibid. Tuticoryn Boatman's Petition. - - - - - - 70. Extract from a Diary at Calpentyn Pearl fishery in 1832. - - ibid. Memorandum on tlie Pearl Fisheries — 1834. ------ 71- Letter to Sir Robert W ilmot Horton, and Statements of the expenses attending the protection ofthe Ceylon Pearl Banks, in reference to Mr. Me Culloch's article on Pearls. - - 73.

Extract from Mr. Me Culloch's Commercial Dictionary — Article Pearl. - - - 76. Letter reporting on the state of the Pearl Banks in November 1836. - - 78. Memorandum drawn up at the desire of the Right Honorable James Alexander Stewart Mackenzie, on His Excellency assuming the Government of Ceylon. - 80. Extract from a Report made to the Secretary of State in 1798 by Colonel Robertson. - 83. An Account of Pearl Fishery in 1 797 by Henry J. Le Beck Esq. - - - 91. Mr. Lee's Report on the unfounded claims made in behalf of Hindoo Temples to share in the Pearl Fishery. - - - - - 99. Master Attendant's P.eport on the state of the Pearl Banks in March 1842. - 4 104. ERRATA Page 5 Line 2 for facts, read statements. „ 7 „ 37 „ appenrence, read appearance „ 11 „ 23 „ enabled decide, read enabled to decide. „ 13 „ 12 „ boat, read boats. „ „ „ 14 „ to six pounds, read six pounds. „ 14 „ 47 „ these, read this. „ 16 „ 29 „ emersion, read immersion. ., 18 „ 40 „ ore susceptible, read z's susceptible. „ 20 „ 10 „ z7 is, read t7 mum. ,, 21 Foot note last line, for revenue benefited, read revenue was benefited. „ 22 Line 7 for instituted, read appointed. „ 24 „ 35 „ bearing, read bearings. „ 27 „ 6 „ were, read was. „ 28 ,, 42 „ extend, read to extend. „ 29 „ 36 „ Oysters, read Zfewi. „ 31 „ 1 „ Government, read Governments.

APPENDIX.

. Page 51 for Mr. Jonville, read Mr. Joinville. „ 58 34 „ Jermimo, read Jeronbno. „ 64 Lirte 11 ,, alterations, read alteration. „ „ „ 12 „ ««'/ £Æe Government, read and *o afford the Government. „ „ last line „ mslie, read mark. „ 66 foot note 2nd line from bottom, for have, read /km. „ 68 Line 29 for protect fishermen, read protect the fishermen. „ 69 „ 43 „ is thus, read are thus. n 73 „ 11 from bottom, for remained, read remain. „ „ „ 9 Do. for of Pearl fishery, read of a pearl fishery. „ 74 „ 20 „ rowing Regattas, read rotving at Regattas. „ 75 „ 26 „ mere, read tvas. „ 83 „ 40 & 44, for boat load, read boat loads. 84 „ 8 for exceed, read exceeded. 87 „ 36 „ the 1796, readme .year 1796. 101 „ 38 „ treatise, read treaties : and at pages 102 and 103. „ 102 „ 22 „ even, read ever. n n 32 „ Mr. Shjsken, read Mr. Sluysken.

" „ .> 37 „ frojn, read form. t „ „ 43 „ of Nabob, read of the Nabob. „ 103 „ 12 „ had reference, read made reference. „ „ 22 , fur the Temple, read of the Temple. „ „ „ 34 „ 65, read 50.

Introduction

. In the year 1830 the writer of the following pages was induced to put to gether a few observations made in the course of his professional visits to the Ceylon Pearl Fisheries ; and to hand a copy of them to Lieutenant Colonel Colebrooke of the Royal Artillery, one of His Majesty's Commissioners of Inquiry on Ceylon, now Sir William M. G. Colebrooke, F. R. S. M. R. A. S. &c. &c. It appears by an extract from the transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, that Sir William Colebrooke submitted the above mentioned paper to that Society in 1883. after his return to England from Ceylon; and that, at the recommendation of The Right Honorable Sir Alexander Johnston, it was published by them, under the designation of an ''Account of the Pearl Fisheries off the North west coast of Ceylon." The Publication of an account, so imperfect and unsatisfactory, having been indulgently received, it is presumed that more detailed information may be ac ceptable to those persons, who have already evinced so much interest in the subject, and, at the same time, tend to correct the opinions of writers upon political economy, who have called the attention of their readers to the Gulf of Manaar Pearl Fisheries.

Such are the chief inducements for this compilation, which is submitted with its many imperfections, without further apology than the statement of the fact, that when the writer joined his profession, with what was then considered a suitable education, — being skilled in all the rules of navigation, and well ground ed in astronomy, — he could not write five lines, perhaps not five words consecutively, with correctness. Thus were many boys educated for the sea services at the beginning of the present century ; and to this circumstance may be attributed the too general diffidence of Mariners in coming forward with their pens in support, of their rights, and enforcing upon the consideration of their countrymen the value and importance of their profession to a Maritime Nation.

B EXTRACT FROM AN ACCOUNT OF THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES PUBLISHED IN 1333. *% The following letter from The Right Honorable Sir Alexander Johnston, V. P. R. A. S., with the Note accompanying it, is inserted as bearing reference to the Map ofthe Pearl Banks. which has been prepared to illustrate the preceding paper.* To GRAVES C. HAUGHTON, Esq., M. A. F. R. S. SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 19, GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE, MARCH 30, 1835 Sir, I beg leave, in answer to your letter ofthe 1 Rth of February, to recommend to the Council, that Captain Steuart's "Account ofthe Pearl Fisheries on the North West Coast of the Island of Ceylon," be printed in the Transactions of the Society ; and that, in order to enable the public to become better acquainted with the relative situation of the Pearl-banks, a copy be annexed to it of the map of the gulf of Manaar,f framed by Mr. Hebert, of the Colonial Office, principally from the materials which I presented to that Office some time ago, and which I collected while 1 was on the Island of Ceylon, with a view of explaining a report upon the fisheries, geology, and natural history of the gulf, which I made to the late Marquis of Londonderry, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, in 180.9, when I submitted to his Lordship a plan for changing the system observed by the Ceylon Government, in the management of the Pearl and Chank j fisheries on the North West Coast of Ceylon, for placing all the Pearl and Chank Banks in the gulf of Manaar, as well those belonging to the East India Company as those belonging to the Crown, under one and the same management; and for executing without delay a survey of the whole of that Gulf by able and scientific men, who could procure on the spot for His Majesty's Government such information relative to the history < the winds, the currents, the marine productions, and the coral formations § of every part of the gulf, as might enable them to form a scientific and a deliberate opinion upon all the questions connected with the Pearl and Chank fisheries, upon the practicability, expense, and advantages of widening and deepening the passage between the peninsula of India and the island of Ramiseram, called the Paumbam, and that between the island of Manaar and the island of Ceylon, called the Manaar Pass ; and upon the measures necessary to render those two passages again what the}' were from the remotest age to the fifteenth century, an efficient cause of the agricultural and commercial prosperity of the several countries situated between Cape Comorin and Point Ca/ymere, on the peninsula of India, and between the ancient town of Mantotte aud the celebrated harbour of Trincomalee on the island of Ceylon.

I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant, (Signed) ALEX. JOHNSTON. * More correct Charts sire substituted in this work. + More correct Charts are substituted in this work. t The Chank-shell, or Volula grains Vide Transactions ofthe Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. i. p. 543 + note (B.) § The late Marquis of Londondkwiy, upon the reco nmjndation of Sir Alexander Johnston, intended in 1810, had he remained in office, to have sent a naturalist out to Ceylon for the express purpose of investigating the natural history ofthe Pearl-oyster, the Chank-fish, and the Coral insect in the gulf of Manaar. The Pearl-oyster and Chank-fijh are sources of considerable revenue to the Ceylon Government, and the Coral insect is a most active agent, as is well known, in bringing about some of the greatest changes on the surface of the globe.

Such an inquiry, therefore, must be at all times au object of great public interest. INTROnUCTIOV. NOTE. In this Report, Sir A. Johnston alludes, in addition to other information, to that which he had derived from the following sources : — First. From the accounts given by the Hindus of the several historical facts, upon which the Hindu poet who composed the Ramayana (a Sanscrit poem, said by the Hindus to have been composed many centuries before the Christian Æra,) founded the description which he gives of the conquest of the Island of Ceylon, the destruction of its tyrant Rdvana, and the deliverance of Sita from her imprisonment on that Island by Rama, whom he supposes to be the tenth incarnation of Vishnu : of the manner in which Rama and his army crossed over the gulf of Manaar from the peninsula of India to the Island of Ceylon, along the ridge of rocks known at present by the name of " Adam's Bridge ;" and ofthe various circumstances under which Rama, after his return from Ceylon, built a temple on Ramiseram, the Insula Solis of the Romans, an Island situated between the peninsula of India and the Island of Ceylon, from the meridian of which many of the Hindu astronomers commence their calcula tions, and a place as celebrated in the South as Jaggannat'ha is in the north of the peninsula, for its sanctity amongst the Hindus, and for the number of Hindu pilgrims ; who resort to it annually from every part of India.

Second. From the accounts given by the Mohammedans of the historical facts to which they trace the traditions that prevail amongst them, that the Island of Ceylon was the place to which Adam retired after he had been driven out of Paradise ; that the high peak on that Island, called ' Adam's Peak,' was the spot on which he was buried ; that the ridge of rock* extending across the gulf of Manaar, from the Island of Ramiseram, to the Island of Manaar, and known by the name of ' Adam's Bridge,' is the bridge by which he passed over the gulf of Manaar, when coming from the peninsula of India to the Island of Ceylon, and that the two large tombs on the Island of Ramiseram are the tombs of Abel and Cain. Third. From the accounts given by the Portuguese histories of the introduction of the Roman Catholic religion by St. Francis Xavier, in the sixteenth century, amongst the people called the Parawas, and Marawas, who lived along the Northern shores of the gulf of Manaar, of the martyrdom suffered by six hundred of the Roman Catholic converts in the island of Manaar, of the success of the Jesuits in the conversion and instruction of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Jaffna, and of the political, moral, and commercial effects, which were produced on the natives of the different countries situated on that gulf by the measures, which the Roman Catholic Missionaries adopted for the purpose of extending the Christian religion amongst all the different castes of fishermen, who were employed in the Pearl and Chank fisheries.

Fourth. From the accounts given by the Dutch histories of all the Dutch factories esta blished along the Southern Peninsula of India between Cape Comorin and Point Calymere,

INTRODUCTION.

. particularly from the history of that established at Tuticorin, which is near the Pearl and Chank banks off the coast of Madura, and is the place of residence of some of the most wealthy and powerful of the Parawas, who possess considerable influence over most of the divers, who are employed in the Pearl and Chank fisheries, which are situated along the south east coast of the peninsula, and the north-west coast of the Island of Ceylon. Fifth. From the ancient traditions, that prevail in India relative to the great convulsion of nature, which, in a very remote age, is believed to have caused the sea to break through the Southern Peninsula of India, and from the Gulf of Manaar, separating what is now the most Southern part of that peninsula from the Island of Ceylon. Sixth. From the description of all the different Pearl and Chank fisheries in the Gulf of Manaar, of which there are accounts in any Hindu, Greek, Roman, Venetian, Portuguese, Dutch, or English history, and from the several Hindu works upon the size, weight, colour, shape, and various species of pearls, which are found on the different Pearl Banks. OF CEYLON.

CHAPTER I.

Failure of Pearl Fisheries since 1837 — Natural History ofthe Pearl Oyster — Value of Pearl Oysters — Fecundity of Oysters — Habits of the Oyster — When the Oysters may be taken up — Appearance and value of Pearls — Details respecting the Pearl Banks — Fishes found on the Banks — Land snakes seen in the sea. In consequence of the failure of the Ceylon Pearl Fisjierjessince the year 1837, considerable attention has been drawn to them ; and many erroneous^^a ana opinions respecting the cause of the failure have been diffused by means of the public news-papers of the Colony, which no Fisheries since authentic account, hitherto published, is calculated to correct. Under these circumstances, 1837. it is presumed, the information . contained in these pages, may in some measure do away with the false impressions so general throughout the Island respecting the failure of the fisheries, and at the same time be interesting to the general reader.

The amount of revenue paid into the Ceylon Treasury on account of the Pearl fisheries from March 1828 to May 1837 was £ 227,131,* — a sum sufficient to excite the attention of persons interested in the welfare of the Colony ; and to create in them a desire for information on the nature and the real extent of these fisheries ; and the mode of conducting a branch of revenue, which has been objected to by some writers upon political economy, as a Government monopoly, injurious to the community7, and to the resources of the Colony. The shell fish, from which so much revenue is obtained, bears a considerable resemblance, both externally and internally, to the common edible oysters of Europe ; and, — notwithstanding Natural History that l^ possesses certain peculiarities, which induced Linnæus to classify it with the muscle of the Pearl family, — its unequal valves, the one being cupped and the other flat, and its general appear- Oyster. ance, shape and size, will insure its being always practically known by the name it now bears, which is — the Pearl Oyster.

But unlike the European Oyster, the shells of the pearl oyster have a broad hinge and a fibrous beard or hyssus of a dark seagreen colour, like that of the muscle, passing out between the shells near to the hinge. With these filaments the animals adhere to each other in clusters, and to any substances they come in contact with, at a particular period of their existence.-f- Value f p value of pearl oysters at the "Billingsgate" ofthe fishery, depends on the quantity and Ovsters. the quality of the pearls they are expected to contain. Pearl oysters taken from different beds have been sold, at the same fishery, at prices varying from six pounds to fourteen shillings per thousand : — so that pearl oy7sters are sometimes sold at a Ceylon fishery, for less money than edible oysters are sold for in England. * See Appendix, Page a;;. t See Mr. Le Beck's interesting account in the Appendix, Page 1fj C Fecundity of ( liters.

Habits of tli» Oyster. Pearl oysters are seen in their earliest stage of existence, like the spawn of many fishes, in myriads, floating in the sea ; and in the vernal months of the year, this spawn, (or, as it is called by English oyster dredgers, "spat,") is often found adhering to sea weed drifted on the sea beach. Some of the fishermen and other natives of the sea coast in the neighbourhood of the pearl banks, have supposed that pearl oysters were generated by the influx of abundant fresh water into the sea, from rain and the overflowing of rivers. Others believe that the young oysters fall from the clouds with the rain ; while all appear to consider rain water indispensable in the production of oyster spawn. It is possible that oyster spat, like the spawn of fishes, may have been drawn up and suspended in atmospheric vapour until brought down with rain, and this may have given rise to these prevailing delusions in the simple minds ofthe inhabitants.

The spawn of pearl oysters in a floating state, is drifted by currents in the ocean over a great space in the gulf of Manaar, between the coasts of Ceylon and Hindoostan, until the deposition of earthy matter, or process of ossification has so far advanced on the tender shells of the " spat," or spawn, as to have increased its weight to a sinking state : — it then descends and settles in heaps of brood oysters on the bottom of the sea. About this period of the existence of these animals, some of them will adhere to floating timber, and other sub stances ; and they have been found at more advanced ages attached to floating buoys, and to the bottoms of boats moored near the landing wharf at Colombo. It is quite evident that the adhesion of the oysters to such floating bodies must have taken place while the animals were in a buoyant state and small in size — for young oysters not larger than one's finger nail, are sometimes brought up from the bottom of the sea sticking to the tallow on the seaman's sounding lead.

Much appears to depend on the depth of water over the ground, and the nature and quality of the soil upon which brood oysters settle, whether any portion of them eventually reach the age of maturity. If the deposit be of small extent, or be thinly7 scattered, the young oysters are often devoured by fishes, before the shells are hard enough to protect them. But when the deposits settle in dense heaps upon places favourable for their nourishment and growth, many of them survive to become the source of considerable revenue. Those which descend on clear sandy bottom adhere to each other : and those which fall in contact with rocks, large shells, old oysters or other substances, attach their byssus thereunto with great tenacity. When brood oysters settle upon beds of old oysters, which is not unfrequently the case, the old oysters cannot be taken up without destroying the young ones.

It is obvious from this habit of adhesion, that pearl oysters, in large quantities, could not be successfully translated, from their original rocky beds to other more convenient locations, as edible oysters are removed in Europe: — but a few have been brought from Aripo to Colombo in a living state, adhering to pieces of rock, deposited in wooden boxes, the sides of which were perforated with holes, to admit the free ingress and egress of sea water as they were towed astern of the ship. After the fifth year ofthe pearl oyster's existence, they are considered to be of value, and to be approaching towards maturity ; their byssus begins to break, and the fish to fall away from the substances to which they adhered in their earlier state , and numbers of them are found scattered over the sandy bottom of the sea.

This separation may be occasioned by the byssus not being strong enough to bear the increased weight of the shells — for it is not believed, that pearl oysters have the power to detach themselves, or to remove at their own will: — but when they are detached, and lie on level ground free from obstruction in the water, they have been observed to move with their hinges in advance. This movement (which is in a very small degree,) is occasioned by their closing their widely opened shells with great quick ness, as they may be supposed to do when shrinking from the attack of devouring fishes : but this forcing onwards, the result of quickly closing the shells, does not appear to be effected by the oysters for the purpose of changing their place of rest. Small pearls, or, as they are called, seed pearl, are produced in some oysters of four years When the Oysters may be taken up.

Appearance and value of pearls. Details respecting the Pearl Banke. ACCOUNT OF THE PEARL FISHERIES. 7 old ; — but it is not prudent to fish them up before their sixth year is completed. After the sixth year of their existence they are expected to die, and their numbers decrease fast. Some times they die off more rapidly than expected, and the pearl is lost. An enquiry into the age attained by Pearl oysters, was instituted at Aripo in 1831 by order of the Commissioner of Revenue.* It appears from the result of this enquiry, that seven years are considered by the natives connected with the pearl fisheries to be the maximum age. which the oysters attain : and from the experience we have had on the Pearl Banks, we believe such to be the case ; and, the nearer the oysters approach to it before they are fished up, the larger and more valuable are the pearls they contain, — the value of pearls being greatly enhanced by the increase in their size.

In the course of the seventh year, if the oysters live, the pearls increase in size so much as to more than double their value, and in consequence of this great increase in their value, the temptation to put off fishing them to the latest period is so great, that, in some instances of postponement, whole beds of oysters have died off, and the pearls which they contained have been wholly lost. It is believed on respectable Indian authority, that one hundred and fifty pearls of various sizes, but mostly seed pearl, have been found in one oyster ; we know that sixty seven were taken from one at Aripo in 1828. But all pearl oysters do not contain pearls; while some contain many, others taken from the same hed have none. Pearls are of various shades of colour ; — some few are of a delicate pink tinge and exceedingly beautiful, but not esteemed so highly as those of the prevailing favourite silvery white.

They are found in all parts of the flesh of the oyster, and fast to the inner surface of the shell. The latter are called shell pearl, and as the side next to the shell is always imperfect in beauty, they are not so highly valued as perfect pearls, although they are equally useful for setting in rings and other gold ornaments. It has been considered, that these beautiful productions of nature, are the effect of disease in the fish, exciting a superabundant secretion of the pearly matter from the inner surface of its shells, emphatically called the Mother of pearl: aud experiments have been attempted in some countries, by puncturing the shells of oysters and muscles, with the view of promoting the secretion of the matter for the production of pearl : — nevertheless we see oysters with every appearance of a healthy condition abounding in pearl, and the inner surface of their shells so rich in colour as to vie with the beauty of the finest pearl.