CHAPTER XXI. THE WONDERS OF INDIA-PEARL-FISHERS AND THEIR PERILS A STORY LIKE ONE IN THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAIN- M ARCO'S description of the pearl-fishery of Ceylon is not only very interesting, but also truthful. The general features of the pearl-fishery of to-day are the same as in his time. The region, to which Marco gives the name of "Maabar," is probably that which we now know as the Coromandel coast. The point which he calls "Bettelar" is undoubtedly Patlam, on the coast of Ceylon. The shark-charmers, of whom Marco speaks, are still in existence. They pretend to be able to charm the sharks so that the latter will not attack the divers. The secret of this charm is usually bequeathed from father to son, and never goes out of the family; and it is believed by everybody, including foreigners, that these shark-charmers do really keep away the sharks." Marco says: When you leave the Island of Seilan and sail westward about sixty miles, you come to the great Province of Ch. XXI.] PEARL-FISHERS. 227 MAABAR, which is styled INDIA THE GREATER; it is the best of all the Indies, and is on the mainland. In this Province there are five kings, who are own brothers. I will tell you about each in turn. The Province is the finest and noblest in the world. At this end of the Province reigns one of those five Royal Brothers, who is a crowned King, and his name is SONDER BANDI DAVAR. In this kingdom they find very fine and great pearls; and I will tell you how they are got. Here The sea here forms a gulf between the Island of Seilan and the mainland. And all round this gulf the water has a depth of no more than ten or twelve fathoms, and in some places no more than two fathoms. The pearl-fishers take their vessels, great and small, and proceed into this gulf, where they stop from the beginning of April till the middle of May. They go first to a place called BETTELAR, and then go sixty miles into the gulf. they cast anchor and shift from their large vessels into small boats. The merchants divide into various companies, and each of these must engage a number of men on wages, hiring them for April and half of May. Of all the produce they have first to pay the King, as his royalty, the tenth part. And they must also pay those men who charm the great fishes, to prevent them from injuring the divers whilst engaged in seeking pearls under water, one twentieth part of all that they take. These fish-charmers are termed Abraiaman; and their charm holds good for that day only, for at night they dissolve the charm so that the fishes can work mischief at their will. These Abraiaman know also how to charm beasts and birds and every living thing. When the men have got into the small boats they jump into the water and dive to the bottom, which may be at a depth of from four to twelve fathoms, and there they remain as long as they are able. And there they find the shells that contain the pearls, and these they put into a net bag tied round the waist, and mount up to the surface with them, and then dive anew. When they can't hold their breath any longer they come up again, and after a little down they go once more, and so they go on all day. These shells are in fashion like oysters or sea-hoods. And in these shells are found pearls, great and small, of every kind, sticking in the flesh of the shell-fish. In this manner pearls are fished in great quantities, for thence in fact come the pearls which are spread all over the world. And the King of that State hath a very great receipt and treasure from his dues upon those pearls. Now we come to a marvellous tale of diamonds, and the way they are obtained, which sounds so much like a chapter out of "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" that we must copy it entire. Marco says that, after one leaves Maabar and travels about one thousand miles in a northerly direction, one comes to the kingdom of Mutfili. No such kingdom now exists, and it is supposed that by this was meant Motupallé, in the Madras Presidency. It was in Mutfili that the Golconda diamonds were found; and this is the tale told to Marco of the finding of them: It is in this kingdom that diamonds are got; and I will tell you how. There are certain lofty mountains in those parts; and when the winter rains fall, which are very heavy, the waters come roaring down the mountains in great torrents. When the rains are over, and the waters from the mountains have ceased to flow, they search the beds of the torrents and find plenty of diamonds. In summer also there XXI.] HOW TO RAISE DIAMONDS. 229 are plenty to be found in the mountains, but the heat of the sun is so great that it is scarcely possible to go thither, nor is there then a drop of water to be found. Moreover, in those mountains great serpents are rife to a marvellous degree, besides other vermin, and this owing to the great heat. The serpents are also the most venomous in existence, insomuch that any one going to that region runs fearful peril; for many have been destroyed by these evil reptiles. Now among these mountains there are certain great and deep valleys, to the bottom of which there is no access. Wherefore the men who go in search of the diamonds take with them pieces of flesh, as lean as they can get, and these they cast into the bottom of the valley. Now there are numbers of white eagles that haunt those mountains and feed upon the serpents. When the eagles see the meat thrown down they pounce upon it, and carry it up to some rocky hill-top where they begin to rend it. But there are men on the watch, and as soon as they see that the eagles have settled they raise a loud shouting to drive them away. And when the eagles are thus frightened away the men recover the pieces of meat, and find them full of diamonds which have stuck to the meat down in the bottom. For the abundance of diamonds down there in the depths of the valleys is astonishing, but nobody can get down; and if one could, it would be only to be incontinently devoured by the serpents which are so rife there. There is also another way of getting the diamonds. The people go to the nests of those white eagles, of which there are many, and find plenty of diamonds which the birds have swallowed in devouring the meat that was cast into the valleys. And when the eagles themselves are taken, diamonds are found in their stomachs. So now I have told you three different ways in which these stones are found. No other country but this kingdom of Mutfili produces them, but there they are found both abundantly and of large size. Those that are brought to our part of the world are only the refuse, as it were, of the finer and · larger stones. For the flower of the diamonds and other large gems, as well as the largest pearls, are all carried to the Great Kaan and other Kings and Princes of those regions; in truth, they possess all the great treasures of the world. The story of the eagles and the diamonds is one of the oldest in literature. You will find it in the adventures of Sindbad the Sailor, in "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments"; and as it is very unlikely that Marco Polo ever saw that book, which had not been translated in his time, we may assume that his story and that of Sindbad had a common origin among the Persians; for it appears in Persian, Chinese, Arabian, Jewish, and other Oriental legends. In Herodotus, too, we find a similar narrative, only the substance got in this indirect way is cinnamon; and the Arabs procured it by a kindred device. |