84 POPULAR BRITISH CONCHOLOGY. 



eatable mussel, they would be poor indeed for the trophy 

 of a conqueror, or a compliment to celestial charms. If, 

 indeed, the fame of these gems attracted the notice of Ju- 

 lius Csesar to our Isles, he must have been, as far as they 

 were concerned, disappointed at the result, for there really 

 is little beauty or richness in the pearly productions of our 

 own clime. 



Still, we have had our " pearl-fisheries ^' in various parts 

 of the kingdom. Multitudes of poor people have been em- 

 ployed from time to time in fishing the V^iios for pearls^ 

 taking the opportunity when the rivers were low, when they 

 could easily take them as they lay protruding their great 

 fleshy foot, or follow them with sticks and tongs where they 

 burrowed in the soil; but many mussels must be fished 

 before one pearl would be found, and out of many pearls 

 one or two only would be worth any attention either for size 

 or clearness. This is still more the case with the Salt-water 

 Eatable Mussel, among which it is still more rare to find a 

 '^ gem of first water.^' In the aggregate, however, the fish- 

 eries of both kinds are productive of large sums, and afford 

 profitable employment to the poor in many places. 



The more gorgeous pearls are taken from the Pearl-oyster 

 of the Indian Seas, where they are fished by divers, whose 



