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

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The best description we have seen of the Ceylon fisheries at the time of the Portuguese occupation, is that of Caesar Frederick, a Venetian trader, who referred to the period from 1563 to 1581. Frederick reported, according to Hickocke’s translation in the Hakluyt edition:

The sea that lieth between the coast which descendeth from Cao Comori, to the lowe land of Chilao, and from Island Zeilan, they call the fishing of Pearles, which fishing they make every yeare, beginning in March or April, and it lasteth fiftie dayes, but they doe not fishe every yeere in one place, but one yeere in one place, and another yeere in another place of the same sea. When the time of this fishing draweth neere, they send very good Divers, that goe to discover where the greatest heapes of Oisters bee under water, and right agaynst that place where greatest store of Oisters bee, there they make or plant a village with houses and a Bazaro, which standeth as long as the fishing time lasteth, and it is furnished with all things necessarie, and nowe and then it is neere unto places that are inhabited, and other times farre off, according to the place where they fishe. The fishermen are all Christians of the countrey, and who so will may goe to fishing, paying a certain dutie to the king of Portugall, and to the Churches of the Friers of Saint Paule, which are in that coast. All the while that they are fishing, there are three or foure Fustes armed to defend the Fishermen from Rovers. It was my chance to bee there one time in my passage, and I saw the order that they used in fishing, which is this. There are three or foure Barkes that make consort together, which are like to our litle Pilot boates, and a little lesse, there goe seven or eight men in a boate: and I have seene in a morning a great number of them goe out, and anker in fifteene or eighteene fadome of water, which is the ordinarie depth of all that coast. When they are at anker, they cast a rope into the sea, and at the end of the rope, they make fast a great stone, and then there is readie a man that hath his nose and his eares well stopped, and annointed with oyle, and a basket about his necke, or under his left arme, then he goeth downe by the rope to the bottome of the Sea, and as fast as he can hee filleth the basket, and when it is full, he shaketh the rope, and his fellows that are in the Barke hale him up with the basket: and in such wise they go one by one untill they have laden their barke with oysters, and at evening they come to the village, and then every company maketh their mountaine or heape of oysters one distant from another, in such wise that you shall see a great long rowe of mountaines or heapes of oysters, and they are not touched until such time as the fishing bee ended, and at the ende of the fishing every companie sitteth round about their mountaine or heape of oysters, and fall to opening of them, which they may easilie doe because they bee dead, drie and brittle: and if every oyster had pearles in them, it would be a very good purchase, but there are very many that have no pearles in them: when the fishing is ended, then they see whether it bee a good gathering or a badde: there are certaine expert in the pearles whom they call Chitini, which set and make the price of pearles according to their carracts [carats or weight], beautie, and goodnesse, making foure sorts of them. The first sort bee the round pearles, and they bee called Aia of Portugale, because the Portugales doe buy them. The second sorte which are not round, are called Aia of Bengala. The third sort which are not so good as the second, they call Aia of Canara, that is to say, the kingdome of Bezeneger. The fourth and last sort, which are the least and worst sort, are called Aia of Cambaia. Thus the price being set, there are merchants of every countrey which are readie with their money in their handes, so that in a fewe dayes all is brought up at the prises set according to the goodnesse and caracts of the pearles.^[126]