1 6 PEARLS AND PEARLING 



had been pierced by a hot wire and also partly decayed 

 by lying in the earth for such a long period of time. 



When Columbus discovered America, he found the In- 

 dians wearing numbers of fresh-water pearls. 



Upon his return to Spain, he presented to Queen Isa- 

 bella a magnificent necklace of these American fresh- 

 water pearls. Other discoverers also found the natives 

 with these pearls and prized them very highly, and some 

 were so disrespectful as to rob the graves of Indian 

 chiefs, while the Indian relatives of the dead monarchs 

 were compelled to allow the depreciations. 



The first great "find" of our American people occurred 

 in 1857 at Notch Brook, near Paterson, N. J. It weighed 

 93 grains and was sold to the Empress Eugenie, of 

 France. It became known as the Queen Pearl. This 

 event created great excitement and pearl hunting began 

 throughout the country, and Unios at Notch Brook and 

 elsewhere were destroyed by the million, but without 

 much success. The experience at Notch Brook is only 

 one of many "pearl fevers." In almost any locality where 

 some good pearls have been found, many people leave 

 good positions and nearly every one goes to the river to 

 hunt for the very elusive pearl. The wholesale destruc- 

 tion of the mussels soon exhausts the local supply and 

 the excitement subsides, and very few are rewarded for 

 their work. 



After a period of from five to ten years, during which 

 interval the mussels have an opportunity to increase in 

 size and numbers, the pearl fever is sometimes repeated 

 with the same results. In the experiences just mentioned, 



