Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (1916), No. \%. 49 



exploring a number of isolated tombs beneath the pave- 

 ment of courtyards and under the foundations of houses 

 at this city, human remains were found associated with 

 various articles of use and adornment. "The beads, ear- 

 ornaments, medallions, and a variety of other ornaments, 

 usually of jadeite," Gordon remarks, " exhibit an extra- 

 ordinary degree of skill in the art of cutting and polishing 

 stones, while the pearls and trinkets carved from shell 

 must have been obtained by trade or by journeys to 

 the coast." Thomas Gann, of Yucatan, also states that 

 " ornaments such as beads, gorgets, and ear-pendants, 

 made" from the pearly shell of both the oyster and the 

 conch, are of common occurrence in many sepulchral 

 mounds in British Honduras and Yucatan." 129 



In Guatemala no pearls appear to have been observed 

 in the pre-Columbian graves, but marine shells, whole, 

 and elaborated in connection with jadeite beads have 

 been found. 130 



On the Pacific coast of Mexico, and especially along 

 the coast of Lower California, quite extensive pearl- 

 fisheries are prosecuted. The fisheries on the Mexican 

 coast appear to have been in existence for centuries. 

 European knowledge of these resources dates from the 

 conquest of Mexico by Cortes about 1522. Native chiefs 

 were found living in primitive huts along the sea- shore, 

 with quantities of beautiful pearls lying around, and from 

 a tribe near the present site of Hermosillo, in the State of 

 Sonora, Cortes secured quantities of the gems. 1 ' 1 



Pearls were highly appreciated by the Aztec kings, 

 and the gems were employed to decorate statues of the 

 gods and their temples, as in India. The temple in which 



129 Kunz and Stevenson, op. cit., p. 511. 



130 Ibid., p. 511. 



131 Kunz and Stevenson, op. cit., p. 241. 



