Volume 01: Production and resources of the northern and western districts of New South Wales, 1854 [ca. 1850-1857] - Page 195

single individual, who is allowed to employ one hundred & fifty boats for thirty days, there are about six thousand boatmen & attendants. The oysters vary in their qualities, according to the nature of the ground to which they are attached; and also in the number, by the action of the tides, & other Circumstances: those at the greatest depth produce the largest pearls, which are situated in the fleshy part of the Oyster, near the hinge

Pearl consists of Concentric Coats of the same substance as that which forms the mother of Pearl of the shell; they are produced by the extravasation of a lapidifying fluid, secreted in the organs of the animal, and filtered by its gland.

For one pearl that is found perfectly round and detached, hundreds of irregular ones occur attached to the mother of pearl, like so many warts; they are sometimes so numerous that the animal Cannot shut its shell & so perishes. The pearl is a formation forced on the animal, by some annoying Substance in its shell, which Covers with Mother of Pearl, as the bees the intrusive wasps with wax, to fit it or hinder it from affecting them by pubridity. Etc. The diving tackle consists of a large stone suspended by a rope, with a strong loop above the stone to receive one foot of the diver, and having also a slip knot and a basket, formed of a hoop & net work, and secures the other foot. When the fisherman has fixed himself in this tackle, & is duly prepared, he holds his nostrils with one hand, & pulling the running knot, with the other instantly descends,

When he reaches the bottom, he disengages his foot from the stone, which is immediately drawn up, to be ready for the next diver. He at the bottom throws himself on his face & collects everything he can lay hold of with the basket when ready to ascend he jerks the rope, & is speedily hauled up & working himself up the rope, he arrives at the surface sooner than the laden basket, A minute and a half or two minutes are the utmost any diver remains under water. The Shark Charmers form a [indecipherable] part of the Company; by their incantations they are supposed to posses the power of preventing these voratious fishes from attacking the divers, & the fishers will not descend without their attendance. When the bed is rich, the diver collects often one hundred & fifty oysters at one dip, but sometimes not more than five. It is said that a [indecipherable] diver will, in one day, often bring from one thousand to four thousand oysters. The pearls obtained from other shell fish vary in colour, those from the wing shell are brown, & those from the fresh water are greenish, but sometimes they are yellow, pink, bluish, & some are black, these last are very rare & dear [indecipherable]

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Volume 01: Production and resources of the northern and western districts of New South Wales, 1854 [ca. 1850-1857] - Page 195

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