122 PEARLS [CH. 



the world is a shawl or carpet of pearls possessed by 

 the Gaikwar of Baroda. The value of this has been 

 put down as over £1,000,000. 



Of the very large and fine pearls often referred to 

 by writers, two may be mentioned here, the Hope 

 Pearl and La Pellegrina. The last-named was one of 

 the most wonderful pearls in the world. The weight, 

 lllj grains, was extraordinary for a perfectly spheri- 

 cal pearl of matchless lustre. It was owned by a 

 Russian and is said to be still in Moscow, although 

 the writer thinks that some doubt exists with regard 

 to this. 



The Hope pearl belonged to a London banker. It 

 is supposed to be the largest pearl known in the 

 world and weighs 1800 grains or roughly 3 ounces. 

 It is, however, not spherical, and is more correctly 

 a baroque. It was sold at Christie's in 1886 and is 

 now valued at £9000. 



Xo one who has visited and really knows Naples, 

 can have failed to have seen something of the cameo 

 industry. Cameos are of course not made from 

 pearls, but as they are carved from mollusc shells 

 and depend upon the layers that we have referred 

 to so many times, it will not be out of place to 

 mention the industry here. 



The shells used are chiefly univalve coiled shells 

 related to our common whelk, but they come usually 

 from tropical seas. The chief species employed are 



