The curse of surveillance refers to the negative consequences and impacts that widespread surveillance can have on individuals, societies, and democracy as a whole. With advancements in technology and the increasing capabilities of surveillance systems, the issue of surveillance has become a pressing concern in the modern world. One of the main concerns associated with surveillance is the erosion of privacy. In a world where almost everything can be monitored and recorded, individuals' personal lives and activities are no longer their own. This constant surveillance can make people feel like their every move is being watched, leading to increased stress and anxiety. Moreover, surveillance can be used as a tool for social control and oppression.

The Curse of the Roseate Pearl

Soon after arriving in Broome in the midst of the wet season – known locally as the Big Wet – I heard the story of the cursed Roseate Pearl. This placed a grain of sand in the oyster shell of what I already had in mind for CeCe’s story.

Apparently, over a hundred years ago, when Broome – a small town on the North West coast of Australia – was the epicentre of the world’s pearl and shell trade, a diver discovered a pearl of outstanding beauty. Before he could claim it as his own, his pearling master took it for himself.

However, during a drunken evening of celebration, another diver stole the pearl and sold it to a ‘snide’ man – a seller of stolen pearls. However, he was then tricked, murdered, and the curse of the pearl began to weave it’s tragic web.

The murderers, two Chinese thieves, were later caught and hanged for an unrelated crime. The pearl moved on to a man who died of a heart attack before he could celebrate his good fortune. The next owner committed suicide after the pearl was stolen from him, and the next was also murdered…

Over the years, the Roseate Pearl left a trail of death and misfortune in its wake … finally in 1912, Abraham de Vahl Davis, a pearl buyer working on behalf of the famous pearling master Mark Rubin, reportedly bought the precious gem for 12,000 Australian Pounds – an astronomical sum in those days. De Vahl Davis boarded the SS Koombana on its last fateful voyage, and many believe that the pearl went down in the cyclone that sank the ship, along with all 150 souls aboard, on March 20th 1912.

But is it really lying at the bottom of the ocean or, as happens in The Pearl Sister, was it even on SS Koombana in the first place?

The Pearling Masters of Broome

According to the Buddhist myth, pearls were the tears of Buddha, shed as gifts to look after orphans and widows. The reality is very different: pearls are created when the oyster feels a grain of sand or a piece of broken shell within itself and begins to secrete a mineral around it called nacre. The layers of nacre eventually build up into something smooth and beautiful, which humans have coveted for thousands of years.

A shell with button cuttings at the Broome Historical Museum

A traditional Yawuru Riji – a shell ornament

Organised pearling in Broome began in the 1860s – although the Yawuru Aboriginal people had been using the copious oyster shells to make ornaments and tools for time immemorial. It was when the first white settlers arrived that the town’s relationship with the ocean changed. Aboriginal people were used as ‘harvesters’ to collect shell, mainly women and children. Then, they could still pick the oysters up in the shallows, but within a few years, hundreds of miles of coast were stripped, and the pearl harvesters – often retained against their will – were ordered to go deeper and further out to sea.

Then the inhuman practice of skin diving began – Aboriginal females were forced to dive for shell ‘in bare pelt’. Women were preferred for their supposedly keener eyesight, and were capable of diving to seven fathoms (around 13 metres) in a single breath.

In the 1880s, the first commercial diving suits and other apparatus were introduced, and divers from Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia came to Broome in the hope of finding their fortunes. Shells became ever more scarce and divers were required to go ever deeper, up to 40 fathoms. The greatest danger they faced was ‘the bends’ – decompression sickness caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the blood stream as the divers resurfaced from deep water. The pain was often excruciating and the condition killed many.

Broome was the epicentre of the pearling industry for almost sixty years, and throughout it all the pearling masters – the bosses of the pearling businesses – profited greatly. It was a town of excess, both in terms of its weather and its residents .As Kitty discovers in The Pearl Sister, Broome may have been a wild backwater in the early 1900s, but every luxury imaginable could be brought to its shores.

The Legends Behind 4 ‘Cursed’ Gemstones

Ahead of Halloween, Associate Editor Lenore Fedow shares the spooky tales behind a few famous gemstones that allegedly bring bad luck.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond, said to hold a curse, sat in the center of the Queen Mother’s crown. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Halloween is my favorite holiday, hands down.

I can’t get enough of this time of year, from the candy and costumes to the pumpkin patches and spooky stories. I’m not much for horror movies, but I do love a good, creepy urban legend.

So, on the eve of Halloween, I wanted to share some tales of spookiness surrounding “cursed” gemstones.

The Hope Diamond

The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous diamonds in the world, passed down through notable hands throughout history and put on display in world-renowned museums.

Those who have come in contact with the stone range from kings and queens to merchants and jewelers, but all are said to be bound by its curse.

The Hope Diamond passed through the hands of kings and queens before being donated to the Smithsonian Institute. (Photo courtesy of Smithsonian) The stone’s story begins in the 1600s, when French merchant traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier purchased a “beautiful violet” 112-carat diamond, thought to be from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India, according to the Smithsonian’s website.

Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. It was recut to 67 carats and set in gold, worn around the king’s neck for ceremonial occasions.

Later in his life, Tavernier was mauled to death by dogs, according to some accounts (though others say he retired to Russia and died of natural causes.)

As for King Louis XIV of France, whose life was better documented, he died of gangrene while all but one of his children died in childhood.

The diamond was passed on to King Louis XV, who had the stone reset, and later died of smallpox.

It made its way to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, but was turned over to the government alongside the other jewels of the French Royal Treasury after the pair attempted to flee France and were subsequently beheaded.

In 1949, American jeweler Harry Winston purchased the Hope Diamond from the estate of socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean.

The Washington Post heiress lived a less-than-charmed life. The death of her mother-in-law was followed by the death of her 9-year-old son. Her husband left her for another woman, but later died in a mental hospital. Her daughter died of a drug overdose at the age of 25.

And McLean herself died with a mountain of debt, forcing her remaining children to sell the newspaper and the Hope Diamond.

Its new owner, Winston, loaned it to several museums

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English

Cursed Eye

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"Cursed charge shot"

Entity ID

5.100.316

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Tear Appearance

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This article is about Cursed Eye, similar in appearance to Mom's Pearl.

Moreover, surveillance can be used as a tool for social control and oppression. In authoritarian regimes, surveillance is often employed as a means to monitor and suppress dissent, discouraging individuals from expressing certain opinions or engaging in political activism. This can have a chilling effect on free speech and democratic participation.

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In addition, surveillance can lead to discrimination and profiling. As data is collected and analyzed, individuals can be unfairly targeted based on certain characteristics or behaviors. This can result in the marginalization and stigmatization of certain groups, perpetuating inequality and injustice. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the security of personal data that is collected through surveillance. With the increasing prevalence of data breaches and hacking incidents, the potential for misuse or unauthorized access to sensitive information is a significant risk. This raises serious questions about the protection of individuals' rights and the potential for abuse of power. Overall, the curse of surveillance highlights the need for a careful balance between security and privacy. While surveillance can be necessary for certain purposes, it is important to consider the potential harms and implications it can have on individuals and society. Striking the right balance requires clear regulations and oversight to ensure that surveillance is used responsibly and in the best interest of all..

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