Distribution of Pearls and Peart-shell. 121 
cut from a Cassis shell, the cover of which was a fragment 
» his anc ‘other dis- 
of the valve of the pearl-oyster." 
coveries of pearls in that country by the same investigator 
point to the existence of pearl fisheries on this coast many 
centuries ago. It is reported that Manta, in the Province 
of Manabi, is the place where the Incas obtained the 
splendid gems found in the temples and palaces of Peru 
by the Spaniards.” 
The Incas of Peru held a curious belief concerning 
« ” 
eges” of the pearl- 
pearls ; they regarded them as the 
producing shell-fish.” 
The artificial eyes of their mummies have been spoken 
of as pearls, but, according to Tschudi, they are the dried 
eyes of the cuttle-fish (Lolzgo gigas).™ 
™ inform us that the Peruvians 
Rivero and Tschudi 
were accustomed to ornament their textiles by sewing 
upon them leaves of gold and silver, or small pieces of 
mother-of-pearl, etc.; and in speaking of the Huaca of 
Misa, they say that a stone idol, with mother-of-pearl, was 
formerly met with here, along with mummies, cloths, 
pieces of gold and silver, etc. 
Much further information could be given concerning 
the use of pearls and pearl-shell, but enough evidence has 
been collected to demonstrate the nature and extent of 
the ideas concerning them. However, mention might be 
141 M. H. Saville, ‘* Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador,” Contributions 
to South American Archeology, N. Y., 1910, vol. il., p. 177. 
142 Kunz and Stevenson, of. c7¢., p. 282. 
ESSN |e Dakin, « Pearls,~ Cambridge, 1913, p. 8: 
144 Tryon, ‘‘ Structural and Systematic Conchology,” vol. i1., 18383, 
p. 24. Cuttle-fish eyes are strung, as pearls for necklaces, on the shores of 
Sicily and Naples; and the natives of the Sandwich Islands have imposed 
them on the Russians as pearls. Johnston, of. c7/., p. 62 footnote. 
145 MM. E. Rivero and J. J. von Tschudi,‘ Peruvian Antiquities,” New 
York and London, 1857, pp. 224 and 266 (Translation by F. L. Hawks). 
