SHELLS-^CORAL BANKS. 463 



three kinds of shell-fish highly valued on account of the 

 pearls which they contain. The first of these is a muscle, 

 which is found chiefly on the Egyptian coast of the 

 Gulf ; the second is a Pinna, rough, brittle, and of a beau- 

 tiful red colour; the third bears a resemblance to our 

 oyster. The pearl of the first is seldom of a clear colour, 

 but esteemed for its form and lustre ; the second yields a 

 rich mother-of-pearl of a white colour, tinged with a de- 

 licate shade of red ; the third, called lulu el berber, is 

 most sought after. Vast quantities of it are carried to 

 Jerusalem, where it is used in veneering, or formed into 

 boxes, beads, and crucifixes. Bruce says that he observed 

 none of these shells on either side of the Gulf south- 

 ward of the parallel of Mocha. Edrisi mentions a place 

 on the western arm of the sea where pearls were found ; 

 and Burckhardt states that the Bedouins still pick up 

 a considerable quantity there, which they sell to advan- 

 tage to the ships that anchor at Moilah. Nor is this the 

 only benefit which the Arabs derive from their marine 

 wealth ; much of the furniture and utensils of their houses, 

 as well as their personal ornaments, are supplied from 

 this watery magazine. The Nautilus serves them instead 

 of a cup ; the Buccinum instead of a jar ; and a bivalve 

 is the dish or platter from which they eat their food. 

 Fossil shells are not very common ; yet at Wady Gha- 

 rendel, Ayoun Mousa, Tor, and Suez, Shaw found quan- 

 tities of ChamtB, Pectunculi, Echini, and other species ; 

 most of which corresponded exactly with their respective 

 families still contained in the Red Sea. Most of the echini 

 are remarkably beautiful, some being flat and unarmed, 

 of the pentaphylloid kind ; others oval or globular, very 

 elegantly studded with little knobs, and covered with 

 prickles, which are sometimes thicker than a swan's quill. 

 The Asterias or star-fish is another of these marine pro- 

 ductions. Shaw observed some of them nine inches in 

 diameter; but there seemed to be nothing peculiar in 

 their habits or conformation. 



Coral Banks. We have already spoken of those im- 

 mense masses of submarine rocks, formed by myriads of 

 minute creatures of the polypus kind, called Polypes a 

 polypiers by the French naturalists, which traverse and 

 almost fill up the Arabian Gulf. In some places they 

 rise ten fathoms above the surface of the water. Being 

 soft, and easily wrought, they are preferred to all other 



