PEARLS. 139 
of flesh into a barrel, and allow them to decompose. The 
pearls, if there be any, are found at the bottom. 
A pearl merchant, Mr. Peterson, here joined us, and after 
we had become well acquainted he showed me, in strict 
privacy, his autumn store. He was an old Norwegian sea 
captain on half-pay, and took very good care that none but 
those he could thoroughly trust should even suspect the 
nature of his precious cargo. The pearls were of all sizes, 
colours, and degrees of delicacy. The dark, metallic variety 
—which to my taste is so beautiful—was, if anything, the 
most abundant; many of the white ones were very large, and 
some Mr. Peterson had succeeded in matching to perfection 
for earrings, by which means the value of each pair was 
greatly enhanced. 
Leaving La Paz, we crossed the Gulf to Mazatlan, our last 
stopping-place in Mexico. Here we found two ships of war, 
one English, the other American, the former was just leaving, 
with 300,000 dollars of silver on board, the produce of the 
mines in Sinaloa. Although my illness was beginning to 
take firm hold upon me, I dragged myself ashore at four 
o’clock in the morning to attend the market, and was well 
repaid for my trouble by the busy scene of animation I found 
there. A motley crowd of Yaquis, Negroes, Mexicans, and 
Chinese had filled a large, square market-place to overflowing 
with every kind of indigenous merchandise and produce, con- 
spicuous amongst which were the fishes and fruits. 
A country must be worth something which can produce 
such a market as this; no town in any part of Europe could 
have been better supplied.. I bought as large a string of 
bananas as I could carry for a real (one shilling), filled my 
pockets with oranges, and beat a hasty retreat, for the noise 
was something frightful. All screamed at once in their 
