PEAKLS. 49 



brings us to the specific name of the Pearl Oyster, Itfargaritifera, 

 which comes from the Latin Margarita — a pearl; the French 

 use this word slightly altered in the spelling, thus Marguerite 

 for both a daisy, and 



A PEAEL. 



This jewel, so highly valued for its chaste beauty, is but 

 a secretion of animal matter, resulting from the efforts of some 

 uneasy moUusk, annoyed by a foreign substance, which has 

 found its way into his habitation, to make the best of an un- 

 avoidable evil by enclosing it in a soft smooth covering. Let 

 us imitate the Oyster, and when annoyed or aflicted, by meek- 

 ness and patience, and christian charity, strive to turn our 

 vexations and troubles into "pearls of great price," and ''goodly 

 pearls," like those mentioned in scripture. 



It is on the north-west coast of the Island of Ceylon, in 

 the Indian Ocean, that the Pearl Oyster most abounds, and 

 there it is that the Pearl fishery is conducted in the most 

 extensive, systematic, and successful manner; this fishing com- 

 mences at the beginning of March, and upwards of two hundred 

 boats are usually employed in it; in each of these boats are 

 ten divers, who go down to the Oyster-beds, five at a time, 

 and so relieve each other; there are besides thirteen other men 

 who manage the boat, and attend to the divers. Altogether 

 it is computed that from fifty to sixty thousand persons, 

 in some way engaged in the fishery, or preparation, or sale 

 of the pearls, assemble at and near the scene of operations, 

 which must be indeed a busy one. The number of Oysters 

 taken during the period of the fishing, which is about a mouth, 

 must be prodigious. One boat has been known to bring on 

 shore, in tlie day, as many as thirty- three thousand; they are 

 placed in heaps, and allowed to remain until they become putrid, 

 when they undergo a very elaborate process of washing and 

 separating from the shells, which are carefully examined and 

 deprived of their pearly treasures. The stench arisiiig from 

 the decomposed animal matter is described as horrible, and 

 the whole process filthy and loathsome in the extreme; yet 

 out of the slime and mud and disgusting efiluvia, come every 

 year gems of inestimable value, calculated to adorn the brmv 



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