60 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacect. 



coasts of the Paumotu Islands, to which places vessels are sent from 

 New South Wales, and prosecute the fisheries to some extent.* 



In tl'^e Atlantic Ocean, they are chiefly fished for on the coast of 

 Terra Firma, in the Gulf of Mexico, near the island of Cubagna, 

 and on the Margarita or Pearl Islands. The River de la Hache 

 abounds with them.f 



In the Pacific, they are plentiful on the island of Gorgona, and 

 generally along the coast of the Bay of Panama, and being found 

 in shallow water are easily obtained. J In the ocean around Califor- 

 nia, and in the adjacent islands, they are also found in great abun-» 

 dance. <§> The oriental pearls are however by far the finest, surpass-* 

 ing the occidental specimens in color, clearness and size. 



In the time of Marco Polo, (1295,) Bagdat, on the Tigris, was 

 the great mart of the world for pearls, and all Europe was supplied 

 from thence. II 



In 1506, the Spaniards carried on a large pearl fishery in the West 

 Indies. About the same time adventurers flocked to California from 

 all parts, to enrich themselves with these jewels, and in the beginning 

 of the 18th century, numbers from all the western ports of Spanish 

 America, congregated there for the same purpose. 



Natural history. — -The shell of the young of this species is com- 

 paratively smooth, but as they grow older it becomes more scaly, 

 rough and unequal. When full grown, it is sometimes ten or twelve 

 inches long, and the length rather exceeds the breadth. These are 

 thick and ponderous, but the young shells are brittle and slightly 

 eared. II It is in the former that pearls are chiefly found, the young 

 ones being either entirely without them, or having them very small 

 and inferior; and the practised fisherman can generally judge in 

 which he will find the largest and most valuable.** They lie in 

 banks or beds, generally near coasts, and in water from three to fif- 

 teen fathoms, and like the other members of the genus, adhere to 

 the rocks and to each other, by the Byssus. The older shells lie 

 separately, while the young are atta.ched to the surface of their par-- 



* Ellis' Polynesian Researches, Vol. II, pp. 133, 20"/ 

 t Chalmers' Universal Dictionary, Art. Pearl. 

 t Burney's Chron. Hist, of Discoveries, IV. 168. 

 § Natural and Civil History of California, I. 49. 

 II Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, I. 456, 

 T Dillwyn's Descr. Catal. of Shells, I. 303. 

 ** Asiatic Researches, V. 393—411, 



