Pearls and the Pearl Fishe7des. 431 



spoken of rivers in the north famous for their pearls. As a 

 branch of industry, however, the Scotch pearl fishery seems 

 to have been well-nigh forgotten, when, in i860, M. Moritz 

 Unger, a foreigner then in Edinburgh, conceived the idea 

 of making a tour through the districts where the pearl 

 mussel was known to abound. He discovered that pearl 

 fishing was not altogether forgotten, and found pearls in 

 various parts of the country, in the hands of people who 

 did not estimate their value. He purchased all he could 

 procure. The consequence was that, in the following year, 

 many persons — colliers, masons, labourers, and others — 

 began to devote their leisure to pearl fishing, and some of 

 them were so successful as, during the summer months, to 

 make as much as ^8 to 10 weekly. Between the years 

 1 76 1 and 1764, 1 0,000 worth of pearls were sent to 

 London from the rivers Tay and Isla, but the trade carried 

 on in the corresponding years of this century was far more 

 than double that amount M. Unger estimated the pearls 

 found in 1865 to be of the value of about 12,000. In the 

 summer of 1862, which was dry and favourable to fishing 

 operations, more pearls were produced than during any 

 previous year in Scotland, and at that time the average 

 price of a Scotch pearl Was £2 6s. to 50^. ; ^5 was con- 

 sidered a high price. Since the fisheries were revived, their 

 price has rapidly risen, and they now fetch prices ranging 

 from ^5 to ;^20. One Scotch pearl was bought by Her 

 Majesty for 40 guineas. The Duchess of Hamilton and 

 the Empress of the French also purchased fine specimens 

 at high prices, and M. Unger had in his possession a neck- 

 lace of Scotch pearls, which he valued at ;^350. 



A good pearl should be either globular or pear-shaped ; 

 according to Jeffries, a celebrated jeweller, " their com- 

 plexion must be milk-white, not of a dead and lifeless, but 



