Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (1916), No. 12. 7 



freshwater pearl mussels, Aetheria (Nile oyster), Unio, etc. 

 at a very early period, using their valves as receptacles for 

 paints, etc., in Pre-dynastic and later times. Whether 

 they obtained pearls from these is not known, but the 

 pearly nature of the shells themselves may have led to 

 their being objects of appreciation. The Aetherice occur 

 in the Nile as high as the cataracts of Robatas in Upper 

 Nubia, and are described by Cailliaud, in his " Voyage 

 a Meroe," as being a common article of food. Their shells 

 are collected by the natives in order to decorate the tombs 

 of deceased relatives. 13 Perforated discs of this shell were 

 found in some numbers in a tomb of the XVIIIth dynasty 

 (grave D 1 14) at Abydos, 14 but whether they were used for 

 ornamental purposes, such as necklaces or armlets, is 

 difficult to decide. Judging from their size (diam. 27 mm.) 

 they would not prove suitable objects for this purpose. 

 There is no evidence to suggest that they were employed 

 as a form of currency, 



Beyond the reference by Pliny 15 to pearl- fisheries on 

 the Mauritanian coast — probably inaugurated by the 

 Phoenicians, who visited West Africa for gold — little is 

 known of the use and exploitation of pearls in this part 

 of Africa. 



On the east side of the African continent, pearl 

 fisheries are known south of the Gulf of Aden. According 

 to Kunz and Stevenson {pp. cit., p. 153) " little information 

 exists as to the origin of these fisheries. In a paper 

 published by the Lisbon Geographical Society, January, 

 1903, Senor Ivens Ferranz states that, according to 

 tradition, in remote times the I bo Archipelago, on the 



13 Mary Roberts, " Popular History of the Mollusca," 1851, p. 311 



14 T. Eric Peet and W. L, S. Loat, " The Cemeteries of Abydos," 

 pt. in., 1912-13. 35th Mem. of Egypt Explor. Fund, 1913, p. 30, pi. xii. 



15 Pliny, "N.II.,"bk. ix., ch. 56. 



