PEAULS. 279 



de Bergner^ lessened the demand for pearls from the West, 

 and rendered the South American fisheries less lucrative. 



At present the pearl-fisheries of South America are prin- 

 cipally confined to the Gulf of Panama and the mouth of the 

 Eio de la Plata, to the coasts which surround Cubaqua, to 

 the vicinity of Araga and Coche, and to the island of Mar- 

 garetta. But these are less productive than they were for- 

 merly ; the pearls, also, which they produce are not so fine 

 as those found on the first arrival of the Spaniards ; — a fact 

 which has exercised the ingenuity of several distinguished 

 naturalists ; for who can explore the trackless basin of the 

 sea? Earthquakes may have altered its general charac(:er, 

 or subterraneous currents exercised some inexplicable in- 

 fluence on the temperature of the sea- water, or else destroyed 

 the moUusks on which the Mussels are supposed to feed. 



When Humboldt visited the once-celebrated peninsula of 

 Araga, little remained of its population ; he observed merely 

 a group of small dwellings, which clustered round the ruins 

 of an old castle, from whence the prospect partook of a 

 character rarely found in the warm regions of the globe. 

 Neither a deep and gloomy forest, nor the majesty of 

 vegetable forms, were seen to heighten the grandeur of the 

 ruins. They stood alone on the summit of a bare and 



