«6B The feven and thirtieth Booke 
eyes,looking oppofit into the fea : bur they glittered and pierced{o deepe into the water,tharthe 
Tunies upon that coaft were afraid therat, and fled from the nets and other inftruments that the — 
fihers laid to take them withall : who marvailed a long time at this ftraunge accident :But in the 
Emerauds.But requific it is that 1 fhould fer downe the imperfeCtions and defaults of Emerauds, 
for that a man may fo eafily bee deceived and beguiled in the choifeof them: Firft therefore all 
Emerauds bee fubject to fome blemifhes, and yet as wee obferve in men, they have their parti- 
cular defects by themfelves, according to the nation where they bee found; for thofe of Cypres 
have not an uniforme verdure,but you fhall fee in one and the fame ftonea mixture (as it were) of 
diverfe greenes,more or leffe in {undrie parts :neither keepe they ever thatrich greene after one 
tenour,which we fee in the Scythian Emerauds, Over and befides, in fome you fhall meet with a 
cloud or fhaddow running betweene,which doth impeach the cleare colour:neither is the fame 
commendable, if it be over bright. Thefe faults are the caufe that Emerauds are diftinguifhed by 
diverfe names and kinds : for fome be darke,and-thofe are called blind: others be thicke, without 
any cleareneffe or perfpicuitie at all. And fome againe are difcommended and rejected for divers 
little clouds,which alfo are different from the fhade aforefaid é for this little cloud wherofl {peak, 
is a fault in whitenefie,when as in viewing of an Emeraudit looketh ‘not greene all through, but 
either the eyefight meeteth with {ome white in the way, or elfe at leaftwife in the bottome, And 
thus much as touching the faults in colour, But in the very bodie and fubftance of the Emeraud ° 
there be others obferved,to wit,when there appeare either hairie {treakes,or congealed fpecksre. 
| fembling corns of falt,or elfe {pots of lead.Next unto the Cyprian Emerauds,there isteckoning 
made of the Athyopian, which as king /#ba mine authour dooth report,are found in A2thyopia, 
from Coptos in Agypt three daies journey: Thee be of a chearefull and lively green, buehardly 
thall you find any of chem clear,pure,and of onecolour.Among thefe, Déemoc; sis raungeth the 
Hermionian Emerauds and the Perfian : of which, the former feeme to {well ont as if they were 
embofled and fattie withall : the Perfian are not tranfparent,& yet of a pleafant greene and uni- 
forme, contenting the eye-fight well ynough,though it cannot pierce and enter into them ; and’ 
much like they be tothe glowing eyes of cats and Panthers, for we may perceive them to glitter 
énd knowing what the matter was,they chaunged the cies of the forefaid Lion,and removed the~ 
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and fhiie, and yet they be not tranflucent, Thefe Emerauds in the Sunneloofe their luftre & be- 
come dim: but in the fhade they fhine gallantly, yea,and caft from them their beautifull raies 
farther than any other.And yer the generall fault inall chefe,is this, ifthey fhew the colour either 
of gall or the skie; lhkewife ifin the Sunne they glitter and thine cleare,but yet appearnot green: 
Thefe imperfe@tions are perceived ordinarily and moft of allin the Atticke Emerands, found 
in filver mines ata place called Thoricos, yet are not thefe {o grofle and fattie as others,and al- 
waies they feeme more beatnifull a farre off than neare at hand:T hele are fubje&t ordinarily unto 
the faultcalled Plumbago,thatis to fay,in the Sun they looke with a leaden hew: Moreover, this 
peculiar qualitie they have by themfelves,that fome of them wear and decay with age,infomuch- 
as by little and little their lively greene decaiethjand befides, in the Sunne they loofe their luftre. 
After the Atticke Emerauds, thote of Media bee accounted the greeneft, and otherwhiles they 
| refemble the green Saphire. Thefe feeme to be full of waves and tocontaine within them divers 
 “Capillorum,pot {hapes and figures of many things,as for example,poppie heads, birds,wings,and finnes, “locks 
_ easnlorna. oF hairesand {uch like. Such Emerauds as are not found naturally greene, may bee made better 
| and receive their perfection,by wafhing them in wine and oile.In one word, there is not agredter 
whether they be now out of all requeft & knowledge, fince their mines of braffe have failedthems 
and yet were they alwaies (at their beft) the finalleft of all others, and bare the loweft price’: the 
ons neckes,as a man held and turried them one way ot other they fhined more or leffe, beeing 
otherwife of themfelves full of veines and skales.A {peciall fault there was,wherunto thefe Eme- 
_ heffe incident unto gems. Gathered they were in a certaine mountaine neare unto Catchedon, 
which thereupon was named Smaragdites.King Juéa hath left in writing, That the Emeraudcale 
Jed Cholos,ferved the Arabians much in their buildings : for to adorne and beatific their hou- 
fes,they were wont to enclofe and {et the fame inthe walls like asthe white marble, whiclrthe Ai 
. gyptians 
fame were brittle & eafie to be broken, their colour alfo was not fetled but uncertain & change-’ ~ 
able,refembling for all the world the greene feathers in Peacockes tailes, or the downe of Piges 
rauds were fubje@t, which lapidaries called Sarcicon, thavisto fay,a certaine carnofitie ot flefhi- M 
Emeraud to be found than thofe of Media. As touching CarchedonianEmerauds,] wot not well 
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