r will
not let improperly equipped parties into the Possession.

"It is the simplest thing in the world" to become a pearl sheller. "You
charter a schooner--or even a cutter--if you are a smart seaman and know
the Pacific, use her for general trading... and every now and then go
and look up some one of the innumerable reefs and low atolla... Some are
beds of treasure, full of pearl-shell, that sells at L100 to L200 the
ton," etc.

All very pretty! Here is the "simplicity" of it--taking it at so much
_per month_: Charter of small schooner of one hundred tons, L200 to
L300; wages of captain and crew, L40; cost of provisions and wear and
tear of canvas, running gear, etc., L60 (diving suits and gear for two
divers, and boat would have to be bought at a cost of some hundreds of
pounds); wages per month of each diver from L50 to L75, with often
a commission on the shell they raise. Then you can go a-sailing, and
_cherchez_ around for your treasure beds. If you dive in Dutch waters,
the gunboats collar you and your ship; if you go into British waters you
will find that the business is under strict inspection by Commonwealth
officials who keep a properly sharp eye on your doings. If you wish to
go into the French Paumotus you have first to visit Tahiti, and apply
for and pay 2,500 francs for a half-yearly licence to dive. (Most likely
you won't get it) If you try without this licence to buy even a single
pearl from the natives, you will get into trouble--as my ship did in
the "seventies," when the gunboat _Vaudreuil_ swooped down on us, sent
a prize crew aboard, put some of us in irons, and towed us to
Tahiti, where we lay in Papeite harbour for three months, until legal
proceedings were finished and the ship was liberated.

"About L150 would be the lowest sum with which such a work" (scooping up
the treasure) "could be carried out. This would provide a small schooner
or a cutter from Auckland for a few months with all necessary stores.
She would require two men, competent to navigate, two A.B.'s, and a
diver, in order to be run safely and comfortably; and the wages of
these would be an extra cost A couple of experienced yachtsmen could, of
course, manage the affair more cheaply."

Some of these recent nine letters which I received contained some very
interesting facts. One man, an old trader in Polynesia, wrote me as
follows: "Some of these poor beggars actually land in Polynesian ports
with a trunk or two of glass beads,