Page 100 - Records of Bahrain (3) (ii)_Neat

516
Records oj Bahrain

2253

The statistics for the year 1905-00, in winch Kuwait figures for the
first time, are as follow :—

Ro.
Bahrain . 1,2G,03,000

Trucial ’Omun 80,00,000

Lingeh . 0,95,861
Kuwait 1,34,700

AIasqat
22,500
Bandar ’Abhiio Nil.

giving a total value, at the present rate of exchange, of £ 1,434,399
sterling.
A few remarks explanatory of the fluctuations from year to year of
the total estimated value of the pearl harvest may not be out of place here.
The principal factors are the number and quality of the pearls obtained,
which vary from year to year, and the prices ruling in the market; the
second of these considerations is perhaps the more important, and, in
comparing recent years with early ones in the table above, it must be
remembered that average prices have more than doubled since 1877.
The number of the pearls obtained depends, partly, on the greater or less
productivity of the oysters and, partly, on accidents of weather, epidemic
disease, etc., which interfere with diving operations.
In 1877 the yield of pearh was good, but bad weather counteracted
the success of the operations. In 1883 a new bank in 3 fathoms was
found to the south of Halul Island. The season of 1885 was unpropitious,
and a number of deaths from deep diving occurred. In 1893 cholera in
Bahrain, and in 1894 fever in Trucial ’Oman, made those seasons less
successful than thejr would otherwise have been. In 189G and 1897
many boats and lives were lost in consequence of storms. In 1899, in
anticipation of the Paris Exhibition of 1900, there was much speculation
locally in pearls ; but the speculators failed to realise the prices they
expected, and many bankruptcies followed. The take in 1901 was good, as
•regards both quantity and quality, and the approach of the coronation
of ' His Majesty King Edward VII caused a local rise in the price of
pearls.

In 1902 the season was a good one for divers, but unprofitable to
dealers, as local prices continued to increase. In 1903 the yield was not
very large; but the quality was good, and prices still went on rising on the
spot, in advance of the Bombay market. In 1904 there was a strong
reaction, many of the previous season’s pearls being still unsold : the take
also was loss, partly in consequence of gales.