Introduction. 1 9 



represent whatever they regarded as of surpassing 

 purity, or of exceeding worth. The high estimation 

 in which tliey have always been held cannot 

 be attributed to any hereditary idiosyncrasy or 

 commercial bias; indeed, the love of these "deli- 

 cate gems of the ocean " appears to be more 

 strongly rooted in the instincts of the human race, 

 the deeper we enquire into it. In some instances 

 we find the passion for them has been communi- 

 cated by the conquerors to the conquered, as in 

 the case of the Persians and the Greeks ; but 

 nations that have never come in contact with 

 each other, and have originated from entirely 

 different root - stocks of the human family, are 

 yet found to have cherished the same unaccountable 

 love for the Pearl. In the New World, the Aztecs, 

 and in the Old World, the Aryan and. Semitic 

 races, appear to have been equally charmed with 

 them*; and where we have failed to find authentic 

 historic records, legends have come to us teeming 

 w^ith allusions to them. No nation can boast a 

 history in which place and favour have not been 

 bought or sold by Pearls ; and scarce a religion or 

 sacred literature has existed in which they have 

 not borne some venerable significance. 



It is possible that the Pearl may be referred to, 



