238 Pearls. 



(that is to say, diseases of the old mussels). There 

 is a patent lately granted to some gentleman and 

 others for Pearl-fishing in this river; but it is un- 

 certain whether it will turn to any account." The 

 person here referred to was Sir John Hawkins, the 

 famous circum-navigator of the sixteenth century. 



Hutchinson in his " History of Cumberland,'* 

 written in 1794, duly records the fact that "Pearls 

 are found in the river Irt, which discharges itself 

 into the ocean a few miles North of Ravenglas.*' 

 But in a foot note, in another part of the work, 

 he adds " None have been seen for many years 

 past.'' He quotes, however, from Nicholson and 

 Burn, who say " That Mr. Thomas Patuckson, late of 

 How, in this country, having employed divers poor 

 inhabitants to gather these Pearls, obtained such a 

 quantity, as he sold to the jewellers in London 

 for above ;^8oo." 



The Pearls of Southern Britain are not confined 

 to the rivers of North Wales and Cumberland, but 

 have occasionally been found in the streams of 

 less mountainous districts, such as Buckinghamshire. 

 When Sir Hugh Plat published in 1653, his curious 

 "Jewel House of Art and Nature," he introduced 

 into his book an interesting account of various 

 minerals, which he entitled "A rare and excellent 

 Discourse of Minerals, Stones, Gems and Rosins, 



