1833 paper: CEYLON PEARL FISHERY; Euboea & Chalcis, Greece; Raphael's St. Peter

Description

The Penny Magazine
May 4,
1833
This is a weekly London paper which is over 185 years old
!
. It is printed in a small format, measuring 7” by 11” in size, and is 8 pages long. The issue came from a bound volume and has typical minor disbinding marks at the spine, plus a slight bit of age toning, but is otherwise in very fine and attractive condition, with its pages free from any stains or tears.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The lead article is on
THE CHANNEL OF THE EURIPUS AND THE MODERN TOWN OF E’GRIPOS
. It takes up a page and a half of space, and features a nice wood engraving on the front page of
“The Bridge of the Euripus.”
The article discusses the Euripus Strait, along with a little on the city of Chalcis, and says, in part:
“The modern town of Egripos is situated on the west side of the island of Euboea, now commonly called the Negropont, which forms a part of the new kingdom of Greece. Egripos . . . stands at the narrowest part of the channel, which separates the island from the main land. . . . Egripos was formerly a Greek town, under the name of Chalcis . . . . This place, if Greece ever becomes populous and well-cultivated, would probably become the centre of a great trade. . . .”
Etc.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The center of the issue has a story of art criticism which is part of a series on
THE CARTOONS OF RAFFAELLE
. The piece is 90 lines of text, and is illustrated with a full-page wood engraving of Raphael's
“St. Peter Curing the Cripple.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
There is also an article of a page and a half (about 225 lines of text) on
THE PEARL FISHERY OF CEYLON
. It says, in part:
“The pearl oysters, like our common oysters, lie in banks, at greater or less depths in the sea. These banks occur on the western side of the island of Ceylon, about fifteen miles from the shore, where their average depth is about twelve fathoms, and here the greatest of all pearl fisheries has been carried on for many centuries. . . .
“The fishery always begins in the month of April . . . the sea is then at its calmest. . . . It not only attracts a multitude of Cingalese, or natives of the island, to the coast, but crowds of speculators from all parts of the vast Indian peninsula . . . . On a solitary sea-shore a mass of almost innumerable huts is at once seen to arise on the eve of the fishery . . . . ‘these ephemeral havitations often shelter as many as one hundred and fifty thousand persons.’
“The signal for beginning the fishery is given at daybreak by the discharge of a cannon, on which a countless fleet of boats . . . . Government vessels are on the spot to prevent any boat from fishing beyond its proper limits. The boats of the pearl fishers generally carry a captain, a pilot, and twenty men, ten of whom are experienced divers. . . .
“In order that they may descend through the water with greater rapidity . . . . the divers place their feet on a stone attached to the end of a rope . . . . carry with them another rope . . . . every diver is furnished with a strong knife to detach the oysters, or serve him as a defensive weapon in case he should be attacked by a shark. . . . Alternately plunging and reposing, the divers continue their occupation . . . .
“As soon as the boats touch the beach, an immense number of labourers, men, women, and children, rush to them, and carry off the produce of the day's fishing . . . . In these
couttos
are deposited the oysters . . . . they are left to putrefy . . . . all putrefy together on a narrow extent of soil, and emit the most detestable odours. . . .
“As soon as the putrefaction is sufficiently advanced the oysters are . . . placed in troughs . . . . seawater is then thrown over them. In their putrid state the oysters easily render the pearls they contain; and a number of men . . . rapidly shake them out and wash them. Inspectors stand at each end of the trough to see that the labourers secrete none of the pearls . . . .
“At the time of this fishery at Ceylon . . . . there annually arrive troops of Indian artizans who are very expert in piercing or drilling the pearls . . . . During the prosecution of the fishery, few places can be more animated than the western point of Ceylon. The oysters or the cleansed pearls are bought and sold on the spot, and besides this trade the confluence of so many crowds from different countries attracts dealers in all sorts of merchandize. The long line of huts is a continuous bazaar, and all is life and activity. . . .”
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Background on this publication:
The
Penny Magazine
was a weekly 8-page paper put out by London’s “Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” Throughout the 1830s, an American edition was very popular in the United States, only to dwindle into extinction during the following decade. The paper did not cover the current news of the day, and carried no advertising. Instead, the
Penny Magazine
provided excellent essays on a wide array of subjects, such as architecture, science, geography and natural history. The paper was a compact 7 x 11 inches in size, and every issue was illustrated with several fine woodcut engravings.
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_gsrx_vers_856 (GS 7.0.20 (856))