ndoned, after hundreds of natives had been busy for weeks in
"driving in" from every up-country district--to jeopardize good money
was deemed not in keeping with the principles of good finance by certain
material Britons responsible for the insular exchequer.

The popular event, coming as often as twice every three years, is the
pearl-fishery. It interests everybody not living in mountain fastnesses,
and appeals irresistibly to the hearts of the proletariat. Tricking
elephants into captivity may be the sport of grandees, but the chance to
gamble over the contents of the humble oyster of the Eastern seas
invites participation from the meekest plucker of tea-buds on Ceylon's
hill-slopes to the lowliest coolie in Colombo. Verily, the pearl-fishery
is the sensational event of that land sung of by Bishop Heber.

CHAPTER III

THE LURE OF THE PEARL

The bed of the Gulf of Manar, the arm of the Indian Ocean that separates
Ceylon from India, has given the world more pearls than all other
fisheries combined, for it has been prolific as a pearling-ground for
thousands of years. Pearling in the gulf was an occupation hoary with
age before the dawn of Christianity, for history tells us that Mardis,
admiral of Alexander the Great, when returning from a voyage having to
do with the Indian invasion, traversed the strait separating Ceylon from
the continent, and was informed of the importance of the pearl-banks
over which his fleet was passing. The great sailor was specially
interested in the manner of drilling the holes in pearls for stringing,
which was probably the same that it is to-day.

In the exuberant phraseology of the Orient, Ceylon is "the pearl-drop on
India's brow," and the Gulf of Manar is "the sea abounding in pearls"
and "the sea of gain." Ceylon appeals irresistibly to any possessor of
the wandering foot, for it is an island paradise. It is well governed,
of course, for its administration is that of a seasoned colony of
Edward VII's realm, and the guidance of austere, dignified Britain
countenances nothing like gambling in any of its lands--oh, dear, no!
State lotteries are pretty well relegated in these times to Latin
countries, everybody knows.

Yet the world's most gigantic gamble, pregnantly fruitful with chance in
all variations and shadings, is unquestionably the Ceylon pearl-fishery;
compared with it, any state lottery pales to insignificance. From the
taking of the first oyster to the draining of t