g6 S lie/ Is as evidence of the /l/'/i;nrtio//s. 



the 23rd century r,.C., but other authorities are incHned to 

 take a more moderate view. 



One of these early Chinese works, the " Shan Hai 

 Kin£(," presents us with some extraordinar\- information 

 regarding the existence and origin of pearls. According 

 to Streeter,"^" the 4th book of this work, or 'The Classic 

 of Mountains and Rivers,' refers to the Li river, one of the 

 affluents of the Tung-Ting Lake, which drains the north- 

 west portion of Hunan. 'In it are many Chu-pick fish' 

 (or water animals). ' These look like Ini/i^s, but have eyes 

 and six feet, and they have pearls. The}' taste sour but 

 pleasant, and are not unwholesome.' . . . The same work 

 also states that wild animals were found which looked like 

 sucking-pigs, but have pearlsT The identity of the 

 curious Chu-pick fish is not clear. Streeter saN's their 

 existence is confirmed in Liishi's edition of the " I^ook of 

 Confucius," and remarks : " they are probabl}' cuttle-fish 

 with six tentacles." Cuttle-fish, however, are essentially 

 marine animals, and, moreover, possess at least eight arms, 

 or tentacles. As mentioned previous!)' (p. 92 ), concretions 

 of carbonate of lime, resembling pearls, are found in some 

 forms of freshwater crustaceans, such as the cra}fish, but 

 here again, though e)-es are present, these animals have 

 eiglit legs. It is not luilikel)' that the pearl-bearing 

 animals in question were freshwater mussels, the addition 

 of the e}'es and feet being due to some confusion in the 

 translation of the passage. 



In the oldest Chinese dictionary, the " Bh'-ya," pearls 

 are mentioned as precious products of Shensi in the 

 western part of the Empire. As .Shensi is an inland 

 province in the very heart of China, these again must 

 have been freshwater pearls." 



■^ Sireeter, op. a'/., p. 63. 

 '^ Ilnd., i:p. 27 and 253. 



