Читать книгу The Book of the Pearl. The history, art, science, and industry of the queen of gems онлайн

121 страница из 197

Contending with these many difficulties, we venture to present the following estimate of the number of persons employed in the pearl fisheries of the world, and the value of the output in 1906.

Localities.Fishermen No.Pearls Local Values.Shells Local Values.Asia:Persian Gulf35,000$4,000,000$110,000Ceylon^[86]18,5001,200,00040,000India1,250100,00095,000Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, etc.^[87]3,000200,000150,000China, Japan, Siberia, etc.20,000400,00050,000Total77,750$5,900,000$445,000Europe:British Isles20015,000Continent of Europe1,000100,0003,000Total1,200$115,000$3,000Islands of the Pacific:South Sea islands4,500125,000500,000Australian coast^[88]6,250450,0001,200,000Malay Archipelago5,000300,000800,000Total15,750$875,000$2,500,000America:United States rivers8,500650,000350,000Venezuela1,900275,00010,000Mexico1,250210,000200,000Panama40040,00075,000Miscellaneous1,00075,00025,000Total13,050$1,250,000$660,000Grand total107,750$8,140,000$3,608,000

Our returns do not represent the annual output of pearls in the values best known to gem buyers. The difference in price between pearls in the fisherman’s hands in the Persian Gulf or at the Pacific islands, and that for which they are exchanged over the counters in New York or Paris, is nearly as great as the difference in value of wool on the sheep’s back and of the same material woven into fashionable fabrics. For each dollar received by the fisherman, the retail buyer probably pays three; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that the pearls herein represented probably sold ultimately for an aggregate of $24,420,000.