24 Pearls. 



wedding gift to his daughter Pandaia. The Pearl 

 was considered no unbecoming ornament for the 

 great Gautama himself, for we are told that, during 

 the festivities on the occasion of the birth of his 

 son, being much pleased with the beauty of a par- 

 ticular serenade, he removed his necklace of Pearls, 

 and as a mark of appreciation, presented it to the 

 minstrel. 



Pearls like most precious stones, being indi- 

 genous products of India, may certainly be classed 

 among the most ancient objects of Hindu luxury 

 and commerce ; yet it is curious that in the works 

 of the ancient Hindus which have come down to 

 us, there is no allusion to the Pearl fisheries. That 

 they existed before the time of Alexander the 

 Great, is certain, from their being mentioned by his 

 compan ions. The author of the '' Periplus/' who wrote 

 about the middle of the second century, A.D., mentions 

 that Pearls were found near Manaar. The principal 

 market for Pearls at that time was the town of 

 Nelkynda or Nelicurand. 



Accounts of the natural history of the pearl- 

 oyster as known to the Ancients are given by 

 Athenaeus and by Chares of Mitylene, from whose 

 writings we learn that, in their day, the pearl-bearing 

 oyster was found in the Indian Sea and in the 

 Persian Gulf. Every ancient Indian deity is 



