25th May 1997

Of pearls and pearl fisheries: Part three

Pearls: the subject of the art

A pearl fishery in Ceylon
A perusal of H.A.I. Goonetileke's A Bibliography of Ceylon will reveal a number of articles and scientific papers written about the pearl fishery of the Gulf of Mannar. Undoubtedly, one of the best articles is John Capper's "My pearl fishing expedition", which appeared in Charles Dickens' periodical, Household Words, in April 1851. Goonetileke also catalogues the renowned artist Silvaf Hippolyte's twelve watercolours illustrating the pearl fishery, which were purchased by the Royal Commonwealth Society Library in 1908.

Apart from there being a plethora of first-hand and reported accounts of the pearl fishery, there are also numerous references to it in verse, prose and even operatic scores. As Yasmine Gooneratne reminds us in English Literature in Ceylon (1968), Keats refers to the workings in the Gulf Of Mannar when he caps his portrayal of the wealth of Isabella's brothers in the poem "Pot of Basil" with the lines:

For them the Ceylon diver held his breath, 
And went all naked to the hungry shark; 
For them his ears gush'd blood.

Reading a children's version of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to my sons some years ago I remembered that the pearl banks of the Gulf of Mannar feature in this classic tale. Verne, considered by many to be the 'father' of science fiction, was born in 1838 and achieved great popularity by combining adventure, popular science and an audacious imagination in a highly readable form. His first major success came in 1864 with the publication of Voyage to the Centre of the Earth. This was followed by Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, originally published in two parts in 1869 and 1870, and Around the World in Eighty Days, in 1873.

For those who have not read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (or seen the impressionistic 1954 Hollywood movie directed by Richard Fleischer and starring James Mason, Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas), I will digress to provide a synopsis of the story leading up to the episode concerning the pearl banks. It all begins in 1866, when what is thought to be a huge sea monster is sighted in the world's oceans. Then, in the following year, several ships suffer mysterious damage supposedly inflicted by the monster.

Professor Pierre Arannax of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, who has recently published a work called "Mysteries of the Great Submarine Grounds", is consulted on the phenomenon. While in New York, Arannax writes an article in which he concludes that the creature is a giant narwhal. In order to restore public confidence in sea travel, and to pre-empt a disastrous rise in insurance premiums, the Government of the United States of America prepares a frigate of great speed to pursue the creature and Arannax is invited to join the expedition.

Arannax, his faithful servant Conseil, and the Canadian Ned Land, considered to be the 'prince of harpooners! join the captain and crew of the Abraham Lincoln. The voyage to rid the seas of the terrifying monster is uneventful at first, but finally their quarry makes itself apparent in the Northern Pacific. Fast though the frigate is, it is no match for the speed of the monster. When the monster suddenly stops, Land tries to harpoon it, but receives an electric shock and, along with Arannax and Conseil, is thrown into the sea.

After a night in the water they find themselves beached on the 'monster', which in reality is a submarine. Sailors eventually emerge from it, take the three outsiders aboard, and confine them. In time they are summoned before the enigmatic, revengeful and state-less Captain Nemo, who invites them to participate as observers during his mysterious voyage. So it is that the three embark on some remarkable adventures.

'On the 28th of January (1868), when at noon the Nautilus came to the surface of the sea, in 9° 4' north latitude, there was land in sight about eight miles to westward. The first thing I noticed was a range of mountains about two thousand feet high, the shapes of which were most capricious. On taking the bearings, I knew that we were nearing the Island of Ceylon, the pearl which hangs from the lobe of the Indian Peninsular', relates Arannax.

In the early hours of the following morning, Captain Nemo and his three passengers are rowed in a dinghy from the Nautilus to the pearl banks. Arannax describes the scene: 'The night was still dark. I looked on the side where the land lay, and saw nothing but a dark line enclosing three parts of the horizon, from south-west to north-west. The Nautilus, having returned during the night up the western coast of Ceylon, was now west of the bay, or rather gulf, formed by the mainland and the island of Mannar.'

'About half-past five, the first tints on the horizon showed the upper line of coast more distinctly', continues Arannax, 'Flat enough in the east, it rose a little to the south. Five miles still lay between us, and it was indistinct owing to the mist on the water. At six o'clock it became suddenly daylight, with the rapidity peculiar to tropical regions, which know neither dawn nor twilight. The solar rays pierced the curtain of clouds, piled up on the eastern horizon, and the radiant orb rose rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few trees scattered here and there'.

Arab divers with nose clips
When the pearl banks are reached the anchor is dropped and the party prepares to dive. Meanwhile, Nemo explains more about the fishery: 'Here, in a month, will be assembled the numerous fishing-boats of the exporters, and these are the waters their divers will ransack so boldly. Happily, this bay is well situated for that kind of fishing. It is sheltered from the strongest winds, the sea is never very rough here, which makes it favourable for the diver's work'.

After reaching the sea bed, Nemo guides the others to a submarine grotto and shows them an enormous oyster. 'The shells were a little open; the Captain came near and put his dagger between to prevent them from closing; then with his hand he raised the membrane with its fringed edges, which formed a cloak for the creature', explains Arannax. 'There, between the folded plaits, I saw a loose pearl, whose size equalled that of a coconut. Its globular shape, perfect clearness, and admirable lustre made it altogether a jewel of inestimable value'.

'Soon after leaving the grotto, Nemo gestures to the others to stop and crouch out of sight behind a rock. 'It was a man', recounts Arannax, 'a living man, a fisherman, a poor devil, who, I supposed had come to glean before the harvest. A stone held between his feet, cut in the shape of a sugar loaf, whilst a rope fastened him to his boat, helped him to descend more rapidly. Reaching the bottom about five yards deep, he went on his knees and filled his bags with oysters picked up at random'.

Suddenly a gigantic shadow appears in the water above. A shark rushes towards the unfortunate diver, who throws himself sideways to avoid the attack. However, he is struck by the shark's tail and collapses on the sea bed. When the shark returns for the kill, Nemo stabs it with a dagger, but it takes Ned Land and his harpoon to dispatch it. Hurriedly they help the unconscious diver to the surface and place him in his small canoe.

'What was his surprise, his terror even, at seeing four great copper heads leaning over him!' Arannax speculates. 'And, above all, what must he have thought when Captain Nemo, drawing from the pocket of his dress a bag of pearls, placed it in his hand! This munificent charity, from the man of the waters to the poor Cingalese was accepted with trembling hand.' Nemo later confesses to Arannax that the pearl-diver 'is an inhabitant of an oppressed country; and I am still, and shall be, to my last breath, one of them!'

In the course of the day of the 29th January, 'the Island of Ceylon disappeared under the horizon, and the Nautilus slid into the labyrinth of canals which separate the Maldives from the Laccadives.' So ends Verne's rendition of the pearl banks. I will not divulge the climax of the story in case some feel inclined to read the book for themselves. Twenty Thousand Leagues is still an immensely engrossing book 125 years after it was first published, which is a tribute to Verne's plausibility. As far as I am aware it is the only science-fiction novel to feature Lanka, apart from Arthur C. Clarke's Fountains of Paradise (1979).

Curiously, both Verne and Clarke have a fascination for giant squid. In Twenty Thousand Leagues, the Nautilus is attacked by giant squid, and Captain Nemo and Professor Arannax discuss instances where ships were pulled beneath the waves by these monsters of the deep. However, this was not Verne's overheated imagination, for such instances are well-authenticated. For example, in The Treasure of the Great Reef (1964), Clarke writes of a shipwreck which he describes as 'the greatest unsolved mystery of the Indian Ocean'.

In May 1874 the schooner Pearl (how's that for a name with amazing relevance?), put into Galle before heading out into the Indian Ocean on her way to Rangoon. She became becalmed and was seen from a passing liner. A passenger told how a monstrous mass, 'a swelling lying on the sea', collided with the schooner, 'which visibly reeled', and then embraced the ship with its tentacles. Shortly afterwards 'the schooner's masts swayed towards us, lower and lower, the vessel was on her beam-ends, lay there a few seconds, and disappeared.'

There were five survivors, including the master of the vessel, who wrote a spine-tingling report on the incident in which he describes how the crew of the Pearl tried in desperation to hack off the creature's tentacles. Captain Floyd's account of this terrifying battle is similar to Verne's description of the combat Captain Nemo and his crew had with their giant squid foe. Remember that the year was 1874, just four years after Twenty Thousand Leagues had appeared.

It was in 1863 that another Frenchman composed an opera supposedly based on the pearl fishery of the Gulf of Mannar. However, George Bizet's The Pearl Fishers bears no resemblance to the fishery of the Gulf of Mannar, and the music pays no respect to the unique rhythms of the island. This is hardly surprising, though, because The Pearl Fishers was originally set elsewhere, and it turned out to be a vehicle for Bizet to develop his early compositional skills.

As Harry Rolnick relates in "Bizet's Folly" (Serendib, July 1982), when the composer started on the opera the setting was quite different. Originally the "Hindus" were American Indians, and the pearl fishery occurred on the Mexican coast. It appears the American Indians were not very convincing, so the opera was transposed to the Gulf of Mannar. The libretto was stereotypical of French operas of the period. It tells the story of two friends, Zurga, the King of the pearl-fishers, and Nadir.

Predictably, they are in love with the same woman, Leila, who they first met in Kandy ('though it is difficult to explain how one can fish for pearls in that hill country capital', as Rolnick comments). Later they encounter a veiled princess who is under an oath of chastity to a temple. Nadir realises the veiled virgin is Leila and takes her to a cave so they can make love. They are discovered, however, and the High Priest of the temple sentences them to death. But Zurga comes to the rescue by starting a fire and they all escape. In more recent versions Zurga is killed off to satisfy audience expectations.

The critics gave The Pearl Fishers a rough ride. Some were unimpressed by its 'noisiness', while others were repelled by its overtly exotic flavour. After just a few performances the opera was dropped and was never heard again during Bizet's short lifetime, although as any opera-buff will tell you, it has been revived during recent times. Apparently the composer never regretted its lack of popularity, as afterwards he wrote what is considered to be the finest opera of all time, Carmen.

It is satisfying to record that there is a novelette written by a Sri Lankan set against the mesmeric backdrop of the pearl fishery. Titled "The Mani Pearl", it was authored by J.A.R. Grenier and is contained in his collection of stories, Isle of Eden, published in Colombo in 1961. It is remarkable for several reasons, not the least of which is that it portrays the immense power the sharkbinders held over the fishery, and the way the British used the situation to their own advantage.

The story is set during the pearl fishery of 1831, the last to be held under the Governorship of Sir Edward Barnes. There are two distinct strands. One follows the fortunes of a pearl diver from Delft called Vishool, and his beautiful sister, Rasini, the leader of the ritual water dance preceding the fishery. The other depicts the interactions the two Englishmen in charge have with the bewildering array of humanity that makes up the fishery, a role which Leonard Woolf describes in Growing.

Trouble begins for Vishool and Rasini when the chief shark-binder summons them to his hut. Vishool is told he is under the influence of an evil star, and that to gain protection from the sharks he must give his sister to the shark-binder. However, Vishool rejects this suggestion, stating that she is already betrothed. Such is the shark-binder's power that the very next day Vishool is denied work as a diver, and Rasini finds that people refuse to sell her food.

Vishool goes to meet Fenton and Maitland, the English administrators in charge of the fishery, to make a complaint about the shark-binder. The Englishmen are reluctant to do anything unless a crime is committed, and in any case they do not wish to upset the status quo, because belief in the shark-binders is in the interest of the Government so as to protect the pearl banks from plunder. Nevertheless, Rasini is given a job cleaning oysters so that at least she and her brother can survive until they go home at the termination of the fishery.

Rasini discovers a Mani Pearl, which is prized for its brilliant lustre and perfect roundness, in one of the oysters claimed as his share as a diver. She takes it to one of the pearl buyers for a valuation, but he alerts the authorities, believing it to be stolen. Before the Englishmen arrive in response to the tip-off, Rasini hides the pearl. The shark-binder tries to take advantage of the situation, but Rasini is freed from his evil designs when he dies after eating the flesh of a hawksbill turtle, which during a certain season is poisonous.

Pestilence during the fishery was dreaded most of all (at the 1666 fishery, 1500 people are supposed to have been killed by cholera), so when the chief shark-binder died, fishing quickly ceased. 'Like leaves swept by a gale from a disease-ridden tree the people of the fishery faded away,' Grenier writes, which seems an apt juncture for me to end this survey of the pearl fishery in fact and fiction.

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