'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1865 to December 1867. (Edited by the Honorary Secretary.) Volume XVIII.' [‎33] (168/268)

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PEAEL OYSTER BEDS IN THE PERSIAN GULP.
of the pearl depends on the depth of the water, the greater the depth the
finer the lustre. I here does not seem to be any known law governing
the more or less perfect sphericity of the pearl. The best Oyster
beds are said to be level, and formed of fine whitish sand overlying
the coral in clear water. A mixture of mud or earthy substance with
the sand is considered to be detrimental to the pearl; and the beds
having this defect are liable to exhaustion. It is to this cause that
the Arabs of Bahrein attribute the exhaustion of the pearl beds on the
Coast of Sind and Ceylon ; while the beds of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , although
annually fished, from the earliest historic periods, continue prolific as
ever: one or two of the most recent past years having given a more
than usually abundant return. The notion that the Arabs feed their
Oyster beds at particular seasons of the year, seems to be erroneous.
No care whatever is taken of the beds. The Oysters swill about over
the sand or slightly attach themselves by the hinge to bits of sea-weeds
or coral, and are discerned by the divers from their boats in groups
below the clear water. The diving period is from the warm spring in
April to the end of the hot summer months of August and September.
6. There may he from four to five thousand fishing boats along
the entire Coast, each boat containing from 10, 20, to 32 men. Of the
above number of boats some fifteen hundred may belong to Bahrein.
7. As regards profits, each boat is a partnership : the profits
being divided into ten shares, of which—
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The Owner and Captain get
The Divers
The Rope-holders
And the rest is laid out for provisions...
A few of these boat-men may reap independently the fruits of their
own labours. But the great majority are in the hands of agents of
Pearl merchants, whether Hindoo or other, who reside in the towns
°f the littoral. These agents make advances of money to the divers
dining the non-diving season, and when the spring comes on, the
boats are supplied with so many days’ dates, rice, and other provisions
a nd start away for the banks, returning as provisions fail or weather
compels.
Hundreds of boats mav be seen anchored at a time on the
n As a rule the diving may be in water of four to seven fathoms
5 hg