AVICULIBvE. SEA-WING. 93 



him, that tie should do the like. The prayer consists 

 of these words, Pacatfta, Pacauta, Pacauta, repeated 

 104 times. No one is permitted to take out of the 

 kingdom a pearl weighing more than half a saggio,* 

 Unless he manages to do so secretly. This order has 

 been given because the king de«ires to reserve all 

 such to himself. Several times a year he sends a pro- 

 clamation through the realm, that if any one who 

 possesses a pearl or stone of great value w r ill bring it 

 to him, he will pay for this, twice as much as it cost."f 

 In a note to the above, Dr. Caldwell says, that the 

 word Pacauta was probably Bagavd or Pagavd the 

 Tamil form of the vocative Bhagavata, "Lord." The 

 Hindus believe the repetition of the name of God is 

 an act of adoration; Japa, as this act is called, makes 

 an essential part of the daily worship. No doubt the 

 number of prayers should have been 108 (not 104), 

 which is the mystic number among both Brahmans 

 and Buddhists. 



From the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, ex- 

 travagance in jewellery was carried to an unlimited 

 extent at the courts in Europe- ; and from the reign of 

 Francis I. to that of Louis XIII., the greater part of 

 the jewels worn were set with pearls, and these latter 

 were worn in preference to all other ornaments until 

 the death of Maria Theresa of Austria. ;£ 



The French call irregular-shaped pearls, Perles bar- 



* The Venetian " saggio," a weight for precious substances, was 

 one-sixth of an ounce, and corresponded with the weight of the Roman 

 gold " solidus," which was one-sixth of a Roman ounce. Appendix K. 

 vol. ii. p. 472. Marco Polo. 



f 'The Book of Ser Marco Polo,' translated and edited by Colonel 

 H. Yule, bk. iii. chap. xvii. vol. ii. 



£ ' Gems and Jewels/ p. 27, by Madame de Barrera. 



