Lesson 8 Pearl-fishing

In the New World, the sunlit waters on either side of the Isthmus of Panama were once rich in the precious shells in which pearls are found. In such abundance did they yield their treasures to the Spanish conquerors, that in one year Seville imported six hundred and ninety-seven pounds weight of pearls, some of them of great beauty!

But the hands of the gold-seekers, red with the blood of their fellow-men, whose lovely lands, rich in the palm-tree, the plantain, and the maize[1], they cruelly laid waste,were equally unsparing beneath the waters, and equally cruel to the miserable race of pearl-fishers. The poor Indians, insufficiently fed, and forced into the sea by their cruel masters, oftentimes never reappeared, having fallen a helpless prey to the hungry sharks. The pearl-banks themselves, unceasingly stripped of their shells, soon became exhausted[2]. Land and water, cursed by the Spaniards’ greed of gain, alike lay desolate.

But it is not so in the East. There, pearl-fisheries still flourish. At Babrein, in the Persian Gulf, renowned in times past, is the largest pearl-fishery in the world. The annual amount of wealth which it produces is estimated at a quarter of a million sterling[3].

Another celebrated pearl-fishery in the East is at the island of Ceylon; an island of which Pliny, the learned naturalist of ancient Rome, extolled the “pure gold and peerless pearls”; an island crowned with the never-dying palm, sitting as a queen upon the sunlit waves, while from her cinnamon[4] groves the spicy odours float afar.

With pearls, as with corals, there are appointed fishing-grounds for successive years. Certain divisions are made of the great pearl-banks stretching between the island and the continent of India. The principal of these divisions lies about twenty miles from the shore of Ceylon.

This spot, a desert all the year round except in February and March, is then alive with treasure-seekers. Ever-shifting, miscellaneous[5]crowds of people are there, from all countries, of many tongues and many colours, of every gradation of rank and infinite varieties of occupation, yet all engrossed with the search for pearls.

Some are drawn by business, and some by curiosity. The merchant is there, and the traveler, as well as crowds of busy native workmen.

But, hark! A gun fires. ’Tis sunset, and the boats are launched, each with its twenty men, —ten to row and ten to dive, five of whom at a time go down into the deep. Night passes, but when morn comes the diving begins.

In the bottom of each boat are five huge red stones. Through a hole in each a rope has been passed. Each diver plants his right foot firmly on one of these stones, while with his right hand he grasps a rope; and weighted by the huge red stone, he speedily sinks to the bottom. To hold the shells, he bears with him a basket, or he hangs a network bag around his neck. As soon as he reaches the bottom—and not daring to glance around, lest the monster he dreads may be near—he quickly gathers all the shells within his reach. Generally speaking, in about two minutes he pulls the rope, which his right hand has never let go, and is swiftly drawn up again into the boat.

Each diver makes from forty to fifty plunges in a day, bringing up perhaps a hundred shells at a time. But remaining under water for one minute—two, four, five minutes—has a terrible effect on the human frame. When the divers come up, not only water, but sometimes blood, pours from their nostrils, mouths, and ears! But of this they take no heed. In the blue waters themselves as the only enemy they dread—the fierce and cruel ground-shark.

When noontide arrives, again the gun fires, and, with colours flying, the boats return, bearing their treasures to the shore.

But the shells are closed fast. The oyster[6] is yet alive, and to force the shell open with violence might injure the pearl that lies hidden within.

The pearl shells are put into pits dug in the earth, where mats are spread to receive them. They are left there till the creatures within them die, when the shells, opening by themselves, allow of the pearls being safely removed.

The chemist and the microscope have shown the secret of the composition[7] of the pearl. It is formed of alternate layers of membrane (animal substance), and carbonate[8] of lime (mineral substance), in the same way as the lustrous internal coating of the shell. These layers are slowly and successively produced by the animal itself.Some injury, probably, has happened to the outside of the shell, and the hole must be filled up; or a grain of sand or other irritating substance has entered inside the shell (sometimes by the cunning design of man), and this must be covered over, that it may no longer wound ―and lo, the result! By a creature ranking amongst the lowest in the scale of creation is produced a marvel of beauty—an incomparable gem, to glisten in a monarch[9]’s crown, and to be the poet’s symbol for all that is most precious and most pure!

(883 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. How many pearls were imported into Seville in one year?

A. 697 pounds. B. 6,970 pounds. C. 69,700 pounds.

2. Why did the pearl-banks soon become exhausted?

A. Because the sea water was polluted, killing all the shells.

B. Because of climate change, there were no shells any more.

C. Because the pearl-fishers had collected too many shells.

3. What can we know about Babrein from this article?

A. It is in the east of the world.

B. The pearl-fishers there were badly treated by their masters.

C. Its pearls have been exhausted.

4. Which of the following statements is wrong about the pearl-fishery in Ceylon?

A. It is nor far from India.

B. All the people there are professional pearl-fishers.

C. The pearl-fishers usually work at night.

5. How do the divers sink to the bottom?

A. They sink with a heavy basket which is used to contain the shells.

B. They can sink easily without any help.

C. They sink with the weight of a stone.

6. How long does each diver generally remain underwater a day?

A. About 2 minutes. B. About 90 minutes. C. About 30 minutes.

7. What do the divers fear most?

A. Getting drowned in the water.

B. The terrible effect of diving on their health.

C. Sharks.

8. How are the shells opened?

A. They are forced open by people with violence.

B. They are opened when the oyster dies.

C. They are opened with a special tool.

9. What is the article mainly about?

A. The industry of pearl-fishing and the work of pearl-fishers.

B. The history and value of pearls.

C. The major pearl-fisheries in the West.

Ⅱ. Read for words.

1. In such abundance did they yield their treasures to the Spanish conquerors...(Para. 1, Line 3)

A. 投降 B. 产出 C. 交出

2. But it is not so in the East. There, pearl-fisheries still flourish. (Para. 3, Line 1)

A. develop well

B. exist for a long time

C. have a close relationship

3. The poor Indians, insufficiently fed, and forced into the sea by their cruel masters,oftentimes never reappeared, having fallen a helpless prey to the hungry sharks(Para. 2, Line 5)

A. be affected by

B. become the food of

C. be attacked by

4. But of this they take no heed. (Para. 10, Line 5)

A. don’t notice

B. don’t consider to be bad

C. don’t pay attention to

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