274 SOME FAMOUS PEARLS. 



So, too, Tennyson's Mermaid combs her hair under the 



" In a golden curl 

 With a comb of pearl." 



And the same poet, when describing the beauty of the 

 " sweetest lady of the time," in his ballad of good Haroim 

 Alraschid, speaks of 



"A brow of pearl 

 Tressed with redolent ebony." 



Among the largest pearls ever known was one presented 

 to Philip II. of Spain in 1579. It was equal in size to a 

 pigeon's egg, was shaped like a pear, and came from Pan- 

 ama. Its value was estimated at 100,000 francs, or nearly 

 4000 ; equal, at the present value of money, to 50,000. 

 " Among the number of pearls yearly offered to the King 

 of Spain/' says a writer of the last century, " this prince 

 put aside the most beautiful, and employed them in the 

 divine service." We may judge of the quantity he thus 

 employed, from a vestment worn by the image of Our 

 Lady of Guadaloupe, all the white ground of which was 

 wholly pearls ; the red and green embroidery being made 

 up of rubies and emeralds. Well may the chronicler ex- 

 claim : " There is not in the world any other sovereign 

 but the King of the Indies who could exhibit so great a 

 magnificence in his devotion." 



A collection of four hundred and eight pearls, valued 

 at 20,000, formed part of the ancient regalia of the 

 French crown. We read of a single pearl, belonging to 

 Sir Thomas Gresham, which was estimated to be worth 

 15,000. The story runs that he reduced it to powder, 

 and drank it in a glass of wine to the health of Queen 

 Elizabeth, in order to eclipse the Spanish ambassador, 



