roclaim a fishery. Advertisements are then
published throughout the East, especially in vernacular papers reaching
the Persian Gulf and the two coasts of southern India, at the instance
of the colonial secretary's office at Colombo. These detail the
valuation of the sample pearls, area of beds to be fished, and the
estimated number of oysters likely to be available upon each. The
advertisements are printed in Cingalese, Tamil, and English. As rapidly
as information can spread, it becomes known from Karachi to Rangoon, and
along the chain of seaports of the Malay states, that a fishery is to
be held. Divers, gem-buyers, speculators, money-lenders, petty
merchants, and persons of devious occupations, make speedy arrangements
for attending. Indian and Ceylon coolies flock by the thousand to the
coast of the Northern province, longing to play even humble roles in the
great game of chance. The "tindals" and divers provide boats and all
essential gear for the work afloat; while ashore the government supplies
buildings and various forms of labor for dealing with the curious
industry.

[Footnote 1: The rupee of India and Ceylon is equal to 32 cents
U. S. A lakh is 100,000.]

It is during the calm period of the northeast monsoon,--February, March
and April,--when the sea is flat and the sky is bright and unflecked,
that the fishery is carried on. The line of banks--they are "paars," in
the languages of Ceylon--cover an extensive submarine plateau off the
island's northwest coast, from ancient Hippuros southward to Negombo.
This is of flat-surface rock, irregularly carpeted with coarse sand, and
dotted with colonies of millions of oysters. Dead coral and other
products of the sea are scattered everywhere on this plateau, and it is
a theory that these surface interruptions prevent overcrowding of the
oysters, and consequently assist in the bivalve's reaching the
pearl-producing stage. It is claimed that a crowded paar contributes to
a stunting of growth, bringing disease and premature death to the
oyster, and consequently no pearls of account.

The estimate of the experts upon which it was decided to announce a
fishery last year was that there were on the Southwest Cheval paar
3,500,000 oysters which might be gathered, on the Mideast Cheval paar
13,750,000 oysters, on the North and South Moderagam 25,750,000, and on
the South Cheval 40,220,000.

The announcement of this total of 83,000,000 bivalves produced an
electri