India. 25 



represented as being adorned with Pearls, arrayed in 

 all conceivable forms of ornament. According to the 

 Indian astronomer, Varahamihira, the statue of the 

 Sun god Mithra wore a crown upon his head, and 

 was decked with chain-work of Pearls, and ear- 

 rings of Pearls. Pearls and diamonds were employed 

 in India as eyes for images of the gods : they shone 

 upon the beautiful box which held Buddha's sacred 

 tooth, and they also decorated the interior of his tomb. 

 Distinguished Indian women wore purple draperies 

 ornamented with Pearls, and on great public occa- 

 sions their arms were covered with them ; and they 

 even wove Pearls into their hair. When the French 

 jeweller, Jean Baptiste Tavernier (born 1605 ; died, 

 1689), visited India, about the middle of the seven- 

 teenth century, he noticed that the women, both 

 high and low, generally wore in each ear a Pearl 

 between two coloured stones, more or less costly, 

 according to their means. It is still a custom in 

 India, at a wedding, to bore a fresh Pearl, as an em- 

 blem of maiden purity. Tavernier was allowed in 1665, 

 to see the throne of the Grand Mogul, Aurungzeb, 

 the most powerful sovereign of Hindustan, and he 

 has given a very elaborate account of this throne 

 in his Voyages. " The arched roof of the throne," 

 he says, " is entirely ornamented with diamonds and 

 Pearls, and all round is a fringe of Pearls. Over the 

 same stands a peacock, with its outstretched tail of 



