loS Shells as cvideiiic of the Migrations. 



Cooke, in iSoi _op. lit., vol. i., p. 425;, also speaks 

 of the Manchurian pearls as an article of commerce, 

 together with a plant called ginseng. "'- 



In Kamtchatka, pearl fisheries are recorded from the 

 south end of the i)eninsula (I.ijpatka). and from Xijni 

 Kamtchatsk, on the east coast : these are possibly fresh- 

 water fisheries. l^earls have also been found at the 

 Kurile Islands, and at Lcbashja, on the south coast of the 

 Sea of Okhotsk, but these were probably from sea shells. 

 Mytiliis ediilis or Machacra costata, as no L'nios are 

 recorded from these places.'"' 



An interesting reference to ver\- early intercourse 

 between north-eastern Asia and China is quoted b\ 

 Lacoujcrie in his work alread_\- cited (p. 353, note 195). 

 It appears that the " Shih \- hi ' ( kiv. 5; mentions a 

 mission of a Ncle country in 193 ];.C., from beyond Fusang 

 (Saghalin). ])r. G. Schlegel identifies this with the 

 country of the Tchuktchis, in which Lacouperie concurs. 

 No information is given as to the object of the mission, 

 but it seems probable that it was for the purposes of 

 trade. If so, it is not unlikel)- that the envo_\s would 

 learn of the a])preciation of the pearl b\- the Chinese — 

 who were well acquainted with the gem b}- this date — 

 and benefiting by the knowledge, they might have in- 

 stituted pearl fisheries on their own account. The [)resent 



'"■-' Ginseng {Paiia.x St hiiiseii:;) is a native of Tarlary and Xortliein 

 (Jliina, growing at one time abundantly in Mancliuria, but its great use in 

 China has caused it to become scarce. It is a low berlxiceous plant with 

 forked roots, which the Chinese imagine resembles the liuman form, and is 

 supposed to ward oft' all diseases. It is slightly bitter and aromatic, but is 

 niit of much repute with European doctors. Panax qiniujiiejolia, a native 

 of North Ameiica, is sometimes sulislituted for it (.Smith. '" Domestic 

 Botany,'" 187 1, p. 362). Ginseng is used by Uie Indians of Canada, Virginia, 

 South Carolina, etc., along with Snake r-vt. (C.>.«ke, c*^. ri/., ii.. pp. 32, 

 69 and 79). 



'"" Von llessljng. <>/. :it., p. 204. 



