60 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 
coasts of the Paumotu Islands, to which places vessels are sent from 
New South Wales, and prosecute the fisheries to sonie extent.* 
In tse Atlantic Ocean, they are chiefly fished for on the coast of 
Terra Firma, in the Gulf of Mexico, near the island of Cubagna, 
and on the Margarita or Pearl Islands. The River de la Hache 
abounds with them. 
In the Pacific, they are plentiful on the island of Gorgona, and 
generally along the coast of the Bay of Panama, and being found 
in shallow water are easily obtained.{ In the ocean around Califor- 
nia, and in the adjacent islands, they are also found in great abun- 
dance.§ The oriental pearls are however by far the finest, surpass~ 
ing the occidental specimens in color, clearness and size. 
In the time of Marco Polo, (1295,) Bagdat, on the Tigris, was 
the great mart of the world for = and all Europe was supplied 
from thence. || 
In 1506, the Spaniards carried on a large — fishery in the West 
Indies. About the same time adventurers flocked to California from 
all parts, to enrich themselves with these jewels, and in the beginning 
of the 18th century, numbers from all the western ports of Spanish 
America, congregated there for the same purpose. 
Natural history—The shell of the young of this species is com- 
paratively smooth, but as they grow older it becomes more scaly, 
— rough and unequal. When full grown, it is sometimes ten or twelve 
inches long, and the length rather exceeds the breadth. _ These are 
thick and ponderous, but the young shells are brittle and slightly 
eared.1 Itis in the former that pearls are chiefly found, the young 
ones being either entirely without them, or having them very small 
and inferior; and the practised fisherman can generally judge in 
which he will find the largest and most valuable.** ‘They lie in 
or beds, generally near coasts, and in water from three to fif- 
teen fathoms, and like the other members of the genus, adhere to 
the rocks and to each other, by the Byssus. The older shells lie 
separately, while the young are attached to the surface of their par- 
* Ellis’ Polynesian Researches, Vol. II, pp. 133, 207, . 
+ Chalmers’ Universal Dictionary, Art. Peart. 
t Burney’s Chron. Hist. of Discoveries, IV. 168 
dalam and Civil History of California, I. 49, 
nerson’s Annals of Commerce, 
+ Dillwyn’s Deser. Catal. of Shells, I. 302, 
** Asiatic Researches, V. A}. 
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