Note 136 — VI THE PEARL FISHERIES OF THE PERSIAN GULF

The report of the Chief of Police at the 1905 fishery states: “In the camp there were 40,000 to 50,000 persons, of whom it may be said that not less than a tenth were gamblers, vagrants, and rogues, who, without occupation in their own country, made their way to Marichchukkadi with the hope of making money to gamble in oysters.” (“Reports on the Pearl Fisheries for 1905,” Colombo, p. 17.)