Professional Documents
Culture Documents
19-33
© Sociedad Española para la Defensa del Patrimonio Geológico y Minero
ISSN: 1577-9033
Enrique Orche
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the pearl oyster exploitation process carried out in the Spanish American Colonies compiled
by virtue of an integration of researched existing information. The study covers the whole of the colonial period
and describes the various productive pearl fisheries by considering all of the exploitation aspects, viz., location and
discovery of oyster beds, harvesting methods, labour, diving equipment, taxes and productions. This study there-
fore gives us a wholesome vision on the issue.
RESUMEN
El presente trabajo describe la explotación de ostras perlíferas llevada a cabo en la América española de acuer-
do con las fuentes de la época. El trabajo cubre el período colonial completo y describe las distintas pesquerías
productivas considerando todos los aspectos involucrados, como son la localización y descubrimiento de los
ostrales, la recogida de las ostras, el trabajo de los pescadores, los equipos de buceo, los impuestos a que estaban
sometidas las perlas, su valor y las producciones perlíferas deducidos de éstos. Por tanto, este trabajo proporciona
una visión de conjunto de las explotaciones perlíferas de la América colonial española.
thereafter named The Pearls (Jerez, 1972a). The natives Information from the epoch stated that the pearls
extracted pearls from the shells by throwing them into were bigger and more valuable than even those from
the fire and this resulted in their loss of whiteness and Margarita (Fernández de Oviedo, 1996) although at the
gloss. The Spaniards therefore showed the natives how beginning of the exploitation, the numbers were small-
to obtain pearls without damaging them (Las Casas, er there (Haring, 1979).The first consignments around
1995). After fulfilling the aims of the expedition, they the year 1515 contained pearls of surprising sizes: there
returned to Santa María in 1514 loaded with pearls and is mention of a queer pear shaped pearl weighing 31
gold, after a 5 month voyage around the isthmus. carats and another spherical one of 26 carats (approxi-
Upon his return, Balboa was substituted by Pedrarias mately 15.4 mm in diameter) that won the admiration
Dávila, who had recently arrived from Spain with full of the Spaniards. As a reference, one can say that per-
powers. When Balboa informed Pedrarias of the exploits fectly formed pearls weighing 10 carats (approximately
from his travels, Pedrarias sent successive expeditions 11.2 mm in diameter) were difficult to come by (Arphe,
on reconnaissance missions and to obtain gold, pearls 1985). Pearls from this fishery used to be irregular and
and slaves from all over the territory. In 1515, one such many of them were pear shaped (Fernández de Oviedo,
expedition commandeered by Morales and Peña Sola 1996).
arrived at the Island of Terarequi and returned with
abundant gold together with 95 marcos (22 kg) of pearls
(Jerez, 1972a). THE FISHERIES FROM THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA
Balboa personally visited the Island of Terarequi for
the first time when he led an expedition in 1518 after When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1517, the ini-
being conferred with the title of “Adelantado del Mar tial trade with the natives and later the sumptuous gifts
del Sur y Gobernador de Panamá y Coiba” and stayed from Moctezuma to Hernan Cortés rarely included pearls
there for four months during which time he obtained or objects made from pearls (Jerez, 1972b; Díaz del
gold and pearls. Castillo, 1997). Nevertheless, they were present in some
Production data from this fishery are non-existent, of the objects used by the Aztec Cacique and formed
however, this was undoubtedly an important fishery. It is part of his own personal treasure (Díaz del Castillo,
known that pearls were in abundance there and their 1997). Likewise, the noble Aztecs adorned their clothes
extraction continued at a good rate until the middle of with feathers and gold, and chronicles from the epoch
the XVII century. In fact, when the English pirate Morgan rarely mention pearls for such functions (Sahagún,
sacked Panama in 1671, a Spanish galleon filled with 1990). Pearls did not form part of the deity ornaments
gold, silver, pearls and other valuable goods derived either.
from the city commerce (Exquemelin, 1988) managed to Pearls were considered to be precious stones and, as
escape. Pearl extraction continued during the XVIII cen- opposed to what happened in other areas, no mention is
tury (Ulloa, 1990) and still continues to this day. made whatsoever of pearl fisheries or their sources dur-
located to the south of the Appalachia, on the border native Indians opened them by throwing them into the
of Florida with Georgia (Vázquez de Espinosa, 1992). A fire: They strung them using heated copper needles.
few months later, they once again found fluvial pearl Somehow the high temperature affected the smooth
fisheries on both flanks of the Blue Mountains when surface of the pearls which made them less attractive
travelling northwards, at the head of the River Savan- (Vega, 1996).
nah basin, to the NW of South Carolina, as well as in the
River Tennessee and its tributaries on the eastern side
of the State of Tennessee. This unknown state was OYSTER EXTRACTION METHODS
included in La Florida in the XVI century and was
described as such by chroniclers of the time (Vázquez The chroniclers and Spanish travellers left well docu-
de Espinosa, 1992; Vega, 1996). In fact, this zone con- mented details of how oyster were harvested in the fish-
stituted the northern border of the Spanish territories eries. The following accounts from between 1525 and
in the New World and therefore was less frequented. 1750 are available:
Besides, the area was overrun shortly by other Euro- Margarita & Cubagua Islands:
peans with colonial interests in North America (the Eng- – Bartolomé de las Casas
lish and the French), which later became part of the – Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo
newly established USA. Therefore, these fisheries hard- – Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa
ly ever provided pearls to the economy of the Spanish – The Drake manuscript
Colonies. Riohacha:
One can gather from Hernando de Soto s expedition – José de Acosta
details that the fisheries on the eastern flank of the The Pearl Islands:
Blue Mountains were located in a river with great flow – Antonio de Ulloa
and with an abundance of pearl oysters that produced Gulf of California:
fine pearls and aljófares (small irregular pearls). The – Miguel de Barco
natives would collect them in baskets in their funeral The oyster harvesting method was pretty similar in
temples placed besides the corpses and gifted the all fisheries, and they varied just on principles and diver
Spaniards as many as they wanted to take, the officers working conditions. The fishery was undertaken by har-
put aside 20 arrobas (230 kg) towards Hacienda Real vesting small zones which would then be abandoned
(Royal Taxes) to take back to La Havana as proof of the after depletion of the pearl oysters. The fishermen
newly found wealth, since the amount of pearls that the would then move to another site which had been previ-
natives had stocked over the years was enormous, the ously inspected by the divers for their pearl harvest
conquistadors calculated that there were more than potential.
1,000 arrobas (11,500 kg). The other slope of the Blue Diving was performed under lung power although
Mountain also had oysters distributed over different flu- many underwater breathing apparatuses were invented
vial beds and the natives had collected and stored them and patented due to the physical weakening of the
just like as described earlier. divers.
These pearls were of good size (medium to big chick A settlement or ranchería was usually founded near
pea size) and there were some that were as big as a the fisheries of the Margarita & Cubagua Islands. Har-
hazelnut shell. Just like in the other fisheries, the vesting was done manually with the diver submerging
dived for 5 hours on average daily from ten in the morn- delegate for the entire season and the others had to
ing to three in the afternoon, in order to make good use treat him accordingly, and hand him the quinto real.
of the daylight hours. The working depth was about ten The delegate in turn had to send the quinto real to the
to fifteen fathoms (17-25 m), at times it could get to Capitán de Loreto. When there was just the one vessel
between twenty and twenty-five fathoms (33-42 m) and owner on the fishing ground, this person had to ensure
exceptionally down to thirty or more fathoms (50 m). that the pearls pertaining to the quinto real went to
According to Barco (1989), “the efficiency of the divers Loreto. The Captain gave receipts for all pearls handed
during the first days was poor since they appeared to be to him as quinto real. From Loreto, the Captain would
dazed and with a headache, since they were not used to personally take the pearls to Gaudalajara (Mexico) and
holding their breath or because of water entering their hand them to the Royal Officials. The Captain did not
ears, but after three to four days, their ears would receive any compensation for his job.
begin to bleed and that cleared their heads and made
them agile for the fishing operation”. After finishing the
day s work, they would return to camp, distribute the LABOUR
oysters and extract the pearls. Those that had chosen
the share option would then count the oysters in public In 1441, the Portuguese navigators began trade of
and make three heaps, from which they would place one African blacks, by taking them to Portugal and became
for the vessel owner, a second one for the diver, a third rich in just a few voyages. In 1444, they founded a
one for the vessel owner, a fourth one for the diver and blacks company which they supplied via a firm estab-
a fifth one for the King. The oysters were distributed as lished on the Guinean coast from where they obtained
they were taken from the heaps and since they were black slaves to supply an ever increasing demand. The
closed no one knew whether they contained pearls or slaves were captured from their tribes by armed Arabs
not. The divers that were contracted on a salary, would and sold to the Portuguese firms (Ibañez, 1988). At the
hand all of the oysters to the vessel owner, after putting end of the XV century, the presence of black slaves was
aside one fifth for the King (quinto real). The shells well established on the Iberian peninsula (Sepúlveda,
were then opened with a knife and the flesh was taken 1995), and there was an annual recruitment of about
to a dump except for those oysters that were saved for 500 slaves from the Portuguese settlements in Africa
consumption. At the end of the season, the oyster waste (Pardo, 1995).
would be washed in large earthen pots to recover those Shortly after the discovery of America, the Spaniards
pearls that went unnoticed amongst the mantle folds began taking native Indian slaves back to Spain and
during the previous check-up. The waters in the Gulf Christopher Columbus was the first to propose to the
would cool at the end of September and the fishing was Catholic Kings, the trade of Indians as a work force (Seg-
closed for the season. The vessel owners had to apply reo et al., 1991). However, the Catholic Queen Isabella
for the diving licence to the Juez de Quintos who almost cut short this trade down to the grassroots and prohib-
always was the Captain of the Loreto prison. When many ited that her new subjects from America be enslaved.
vessel owners approached the same grounds, the said Nevertheless, the colonial legislation had anticipated
Captain would appoint one of the vessel owners as his different forms of converting the native Indians into
PRODUCTION
YEAR QUINTO REAL EXTRAPOLATION
Figure 10. Hydroandric machine or suit to be worn underwater by a man, (20% tax rate)
designed by Alejandro Durand (1720). 1503 - 1507 4.6 kg 23 kg
1508 4.2 kg 21 kg
1513 3 sacks 15 sacks
elite and were very popular, as mentioned by Acosta
(1987) in 1590, that even the lowest classes in society 1514 3.0 kg 15 kg
wore chains made from them. Ulloa (1990) years later 1515 2.9 kg 14 kg
affirmed the use of pearls as an usual feminine orna- 1516 11.2 kg & 5 pearls 56 kg
ment. 1517 3.8 kg & 4 pearls 19 kg
The Spaniards had known and eaten oysters in Spain
1518 71.2 kg & 615 pearls 356 kg
as well as in the New World because of their abundant
supply. They were eaten cooked in Spain and one fre- 1519 7.8 kg 39 kg
quently was surprised to find a pearl while eating 1520 37.3 kg 186 kg
although at the risk of loosing a tooth or teeth (Acosta, 1526 - 1530 42.6 kg & 380 pearls 213 kg
1987; Vega, 1996). 1530 - 1537 305.8 kg & 1,969 pearls 1,529 kg
A part of the pearls extracted in America were
brought back to Europe but the greater majority was Table 1. Estimation of total equivalent production of pearl for a tax rate of
left behind in the colonies and their circulation depend- 20% between 1503 and 1537.
ed on the demand. Therefore, most of the pearls from
Panama were taken to Lima where they were sold and When used with the right precautions, the knowledge
made their way to the interior of the Viceroyalty of of the quinto real is interesting not only from the point
Peru. The pearl cargos that came to Spain were concen- of view of tax collecting but also to obtain an estimate
trated in certain important cities near the fishing of pearl production from the New World, to which one
grounds, such as Cartagena de Indias (those that arrived would have to add numbers from contraband. This
from the Margarita & Cubagua Islands and the assertion is valid when the quinto real quantities are
Columbian coasts), Panama (Those that arrived from the expressed as weight (marcos, ounces, etc.). When the
Pearl Islands) and Guadalajara (those that arrived from quantities are expressed as monetary units (ducats,
California) from where they were transhipped to the maravedís, etc.) it is practically impossible to estimate
point of concentration of the fleet that would return to the corresponding pearl production of these quantities,
Spain, most likely in La Havana. since the value of the pearls depended on their weight,
There are many references of pearls being sent to the and they increased exponentially with weight, together
Mother Country, which generally corresponded to the with other characteristics which are difficult to quanti-
quinto real but also contained consignments sent by fy such as (form, colour, iridescence, etc.) just like in
individuals. To cite a few important examples amongst present times (Arphe, 1985).
many in the XVI century (Haring, 1979) are: Table 1 reproduces slightly modified figures of