34 The Humming Bird. 



was considered as the longest time that they could remain 

 under water ; but they did not require even so much, the 

 shells being plentiful. Two or three divers were on each 

 boat and it was not an easy task for them to gather enough 

 to fill the boat. Some banks are deep, some are not, and 

 these last are the ones which were explored in my time. 

 The shells were brought on land and left there to die. After 

 that they were minutely examined for the pearls. The large 

 ones are rather scarce and fetch a good price ; but the bulk 

 of them were what they call in the country Mostacilla, 

 scarcely larger than very small shot. These are sold at 

 about threepence each. It is not so much the size, but the 

 freshness and their beautiful orient which make their value. 

 The roundest are the more valuable. A fine pearl, quite 

 round, the size of an English pea, is worth between fifty 

 and one hundred pounds sterling. On the Pacific Coast, I 

 met on the beach several large heaps of empty oyster shells 

 left there by the fishermen, who did not put any value on 

 them ; but there is a good market for them in Europe and 

 North America. It is with these shells that many industrial 

 objects are manufactured, the principal being pearl buttons. 

 I am certain that the establishment of good pearl fisheries 

 on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of America would pay 

 well. 



A. BOUCARD. 



Fish from Volcanoes. 



Attention has recently been called to the fact that the 

 volcanoes of the Andes eject large quantities of fish from 

 the craters in the first stage of an eruption. The Indians 

 hold that many of these fishes are alive when they are 

 found on the sides of the mountain, and it is certain that 

 few are either boiled or mutilated. The explanation is that, 

 during the long period of quiescence, extending even to a 

 century, the crater becomes choked up and turned into the 

 bed of a lake, with subterranean channels to other crater 

 lakes, from which the spawn probably comes. The fishes 

 are generally blind, showing that they are of an underground 

 variety. 



A very Large Tree. 



A very large tree, one of the largest in California, the 

 country of big trees, was discovered near Arlington, 

 Shohomish county, a few days ago. It is a cedar and 

 measures 68 feet in circumference. Around the knotty roots 

 the tree measures 99 feet. About 75 feet from the ground 

 it forks into four immense branches, and just below the 



