FISHING FOR PEARLS

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 241, 13 October 1886, Page 4

FISHING FOR PEARLS

How Shells aro Gathered and Disposed of.

Each well-equipped vossol is supplied with the noceesary apparatus and professional divers, says a writer in tho New York " Sun," doscribing the pearl fisheries of Thursday Island, Queensland. The apparatus ie the bout and most complete that can be procured, nnd the divers who use it are under throe years contract at a wage of from SI to $5 a day and an interest in tho catch. Each divor haa four tend' rs, whoso pay ia from §10 to §20 a month, and who are generally natives or Chinese.

Tho method of fishing is for sovoral vessels to go out togother and fish ou the same ground for a fortnight. Reaching a place where tho wator is forty or fifty foet deop, tho divor enters hia boat, drossos aid jumps ovorboard. Upon reaching tho bottom he leisurely walks along until he cornea to a bod of sheila, where he proceeds t» fill tho sack that ho carries. As soon as ho haa a Backful ho signals and tho sack is lifted up, emptied, and aeut down aijoiu, Tho divor remains under the water for hours, somotimos from 9 o'clock in tho morning until 5 in tho aftornoon Tho shells, as thoy Ho in bod, aro wide open, and if touched in tho wrong way tho diver's hand is apt to bo caught and hold fast as in a viao.

While tho native islander can fioh only for a limitod season, thedivors using apparatus can fish all tho your round, except In voty rough weather and during tho severe monROOUB. The avorage catch for oach voasol ia about ono ton of nholld a month, for, unliko the fisheries of Ceylon and tho Persian gulf, thtre in littlo difficulty in removing tho shell, which ltos loose o:j tho ground and can be picked up leadily. Thoso fisheries produco the truo pearl oyster, for fcnu shell of which thero ia groat demand, both in Amorioa and Europe It is specially prized for the choico inlaid cabinat work that como* from artistic hands, but is usad prin oipally for knifo handles, buttons, and ornamental work.

Each day whon tho boats run in to the stations tho mon opon tho oystors, tako out the pearls if theva aro any, and throw tho fish ovorboard. The shells, accurately counted, aro cleansed and packed in cases of about 300 pounds oach The fiehormon think more of obtaining sholl than pearls, while tho islanders caro nothing for shell ond sololy scok tho poarl-, Tho beet pearls aro found when tho oyster is four years old, and tho thcll at that age ia also the best. Tho poarl of an oyster of this age is exceedingly transparent and pure, while that of a young oyster is of a yellowish colour, and that of tho older of a pinkish hue. Sometimes it is found of all colours, such as white, silver, brown, stool, grey, blue, and evon a perfect jot black. Several specimens havo been found as largo as a hazelnut, and some oysters aro caught whioh are filled with aa many as 100 small poarlettos, tho " seed pearl " of the artist. Last year there was found at Nickol bay a mass of oysters in the form of a cross, oach containing a pearl of about tho size of a pea and without flaw of form or colour.

In 1374 a venturesome seaman shipped two pounds of sh- H, thefirat ovor oxported. In 1875 the "quantiiy had incieisod ;to five tons. In ISB- to S4O tous, and at pvoaent it is scarcely less than 1,000 tons. Tho prico ia regulated by the markets of Europo and Australia. It has varied from $650 to 5750 a ton of lato, and is regarded us so low as to afford only a mere margin of profit after paying the cost of freight, insurance, etc. Largo shipments are sent to America, ono such bringing recently tho auction price of §1,402 a ton. Tho Endoro, tho solo Amoricau boat, is doing well, as its captain says. The sailors are Massachusetts luds with I'andoo idea?, astonishing the islanders by producing a tiny china doll, previously surreptitiously inserted into an oyster, and now found poarl coaUd. "A jolly trick," thoy say, and mado moro jolly from tho fact that the falsified poarl will bo roadily traded with tbo blacks for goins worth ono hundred times more.