THE MILK POND OYSTERS. 61 



Jack Minton, the Milk Pond proprietor, \vould have 

 soon become a millionaire. One morning. Chance 

 (that great master of most things sublunary) con- 

 near the Persian Gulf, where the finest pearls are fished, must have 

 known them from early times. Job is the earliest author in Holy 

 Writ who makes mention of pearls. He says : " No mention shall be 

 made of coral or of pearls, for the price of Wisdom is above rubies," 

 and pearls are often mentioned in the Proverbs of Solomon. After 

 the conquest of Alexandria, when the Macedonians Bad effected the 

 conquest of the East, luxury was carried to the highest extent, and 

 Ijearls were among the most highly esteemed of jewels. At the period 

 of their greatest splendour, the Komans wore garments embroidered 

 with pearls, and the Roman ladies covered their arms and shoulders 

 with them, and .strung them in their hair. The value of these jewels 

 came very near to that of the diamond. Julius Ctesar presented to 

 Servilia, the mother of Brutus, and sister of Cato, a pearl which was 

 estimated to be worth £44,000 of our money. The celebrated pearls 

 which adorned the ears of Cleopatra cost £150,000, and in the f etc 

 given by Antony, she is reported to have dissolved in vinegar and 

 drunk in a cup of wine a pearl worth £60,000. One fact is certain, 

 that long before the discovery of the New World the Red Indians of 

 America wore necklaces and bracelets of fine pearls. Two centuries 

 ago, a pearl was purchased at Caltfa, by Tavernier, the traveller, and 

 sold to the Shah of Persia for £11 2,000. Philip II. of Spain, received 

 from America a pearl that weighed twenty-five carats, and was valued 

 at £3200. An Arab prince possessed the most beautiful pearl known; 

 the most beautiful, not so much on account of its size, as because it 

 was so clear and transparent that the light could be seen through it. 

 It weighed only twelve carats and a sixth, but he refused to take 

 £4000 for it. The Shah of Persia possesses a diadem, each pearl in 

 which is larger than a hazel nut. Its value is incalculable. At the 

 "Grande Exposition" of 1855, the Queen of England exhibited some 

 splecdid pearls, and the Emperor of the French exhibited a collection 

 of 408 pearls, weighing nearly two hundred and forty-seven grains 

 each, all of fine form and water. The united value was £20,000. At 

 the same exhibition also was a magnificent Orient pearl as large as a 

 partridge's eye, which was valued at a high price by connoisseurs, and 

 if the fellow to it could only be found, the pair would fetch a price 

 that could not easily be estimated. 



