Chap. II. 
of the East Indies. 
54 * 
There is another fort, which fwims in great Lumps 
upon the Surface of the Sea, almoft like the Body of an 
Ox, or a little lefs, and weigh a great deal. When a cer- 
tain Fifh of the Whale-kind, called Tal, fees thefe floating 
Lumps, he fwallows the fame, and is killed thereby : Then 
they fee the Whale floating upon the Surface, and inftantly 
the Men who are accuftomed to this kind of Fifliery, and 
know when thefe Whales have fwallowed Amber, go out to 
him in their Boats ? and darting him with Iron Harpoons, 
they tow him to Shore, where they fplit him down the 
Back and take out the Amber ; what they find about the 
Belly of the Creature is commonly fpoiled with the Wet, 
and contrafts an unpieafant Scent h 
You may buy the Bones of this Fifh of the Druggifls 
of Bagdad and Baffora. The Amber which has not been in- 
fected by the Ordure in the Belly of the Whale, is perfectly 
good : It is a ufual Thing to make Stools of the Vertebra of 
the Back Bone of this Whale, called Tal. They fay, that 
in a Village ten Leagues from Siraf . ’ called Tain, there are 
old Houfes neatly enough built, the Lintils of whofe 
Doors are of the Rib of this Whale. I have heard a Per- 
fon fay, that formerly one was thrown upon the Coaft not 
very rar from Siraf and that going to view him, he faw 
People getting upon the Back of this Creature with Lad- 
ders, and that the Filhermen expofed him to the Sun, 
fliced away his Flefh, and having digged a Pit, gathered 
up the Greafe which was melted by the Sun, and that 
having drained off all the Oil, they fold it to the Mailers 
of Ships. This Oil mixed up with another kind of Stuff, 
in ufe with Seamen, ferves for calking of Ships to fecure 
the Seams of the Planking, and to flop up Leaks. This 
Whale Oil is a valuable Commodity, and produces 
great Sums of Money. 
67. Our Author propofing next to fpeak of Pearls, 
breaks out firft, according to the Cuftom of the Arabs, into 
the following pious Soliloquy, vhich I would not omit, 
becaufe it is a kind of CharaCteriflick in their Manner of 
[Writing, and may enable the Reader to account for fuch 
'Apoflrophes in other Pieces of this Nature. Let us be- 
fore we fpeak of PEARLS and the Manner of their 
Formation, magnify the Great GOD, who in Wifdom 
has created all Things out of Earth, and fo fafhioned 
living Creatures, as that they produce their like. Where- 
fore for thefe Things which we know, and for many more 
which we knqw not, all Glory be unto the Almighty, and 
all Reverence paid unto his mofl holy and tremendous 
Name. 
Pearls begin to be formed of a Subfiance at firft fome- 
what like the Plant called Anjedana, being in Size the fame, 
in Colour and Figure pretty much alike, fmall, thin, and 
tender, juft like the Leaves of this Plant ; at firft it fwims 
feebly on the Surface and flicks to the Sides of Ships under 
Water, where in Time it hardens, grows, and gets cover- 
ed with a Shell. When thefe Oifters become heavy, they 
fall down to the Bottom of the Sea, where they fubfift af- 
ter a Manner to us unknown. They appear no other 
than a Piece of red Flefh, like the Tongue towards the 
Root, without Bones, Sinews, or Veins. 
But there are various Opinions touching the Producli- 
; on of Pearls, for fome fay when it rains the Oifters rife 
up to the Surface, and that gaping, the Drops of Water 
they catch turn to Pearls. Others hold, they are generated 
m the Oifters themfelves, which is mofl likely, and is 
confirmed by Experience j for mofl that are found in 
Oifters are fixed, and move not. When they are 1’oofe the 
Merchants call them Seed Pearl: God alone knoweth how 
this Matter is, 
68 . Now this is the moft wonderful Thing we have 
heard concerning the Subfiftence of Oifters. A certain 
Arab came formerly to BaJJora , and brought with him a 
Pearl worth a great Sum of Money \ he fhewed it to a 
Druggift of his Acquaintance, and, ignorant of the Value 
thereof, afked him what he thought of it ? The Merchant 
telling him it was a Pearl, the Arab afked him what he 
thought it might be worth, and he valued it at a hundred 
Pieces of Silver. The Arab much aftoniffied at his Words* 
afked if any Perfon would be willing to give him what he 
had faid it was worth : Upon which the Merchant counted 
him out a hundred Drams, and with this Money the Arab 
purchafed Corn to carry back into his own Country. The 
Merchant on the other Hand brought the Pearl to Bagdad* 
and fold it at a very high Rate, which enabled him after- 
wards to deal very confiderably. This fame Merchant 
declared that he had examined the Arab touching the Ori- 
gin of Pearls, and that he delivered himfelf to the follow- 
ing Effetft : « I was going along, laid he, by Saman in 
“ the Diflridl of Bahrein , not very far diflant from the 
16 Sea, and upon the Sand I faw a dead Fox, with fome- 
“ thing at his Muzzle that held him fall. I drew near 
<£ and faw a white glittering Shell, in which I found the 
<c Pearl I took. Hence he gathered, that the Oilier was 
“ upon the Shore, driven thither by Temped, which Very 
u often happens. The Fox palling by and leering at the 
“ Meat of the Oilier, as the Shell flood open, jumped 
“ thereon, and thruft in his Snout to feize the Fifh, which 
“ in its Defence doling, locked him fall, as has been faid 5 
“ for it is a Property of theirs never £0 let go their Hold 
“ of any thing, except forcibly opened by an Iron In- 
<c flrument at their Edges.** 
This is the Oilier that breeds Pearls, which it as care- 
fully keeps as a Mother her Child ; when therefore it was 
fenfible of the Fox, it withdrew as to avoid an Enemy, 
and the Fox feeling himfelf fqueeZed, beat the Ground 
on each Hand till it was ftifled and fo died. The Arab 
found the Pearl, and God would have it that he fhould 
apply himfelf to the Merchant, a very happy Thing for 
him r. 
69. The Kings of the Indies wear Ear-rings of Stones 
fet in precious Gold. They wear alfo Collars of great 
Price, adorned with precious Stones of different Colours, 
but elpecially Green and Red 5 yet Pearls are what they 
mofl efteem, and their Value furpaffes that of all other 
Jewels ; they at prefent hoard -them up in their Treafures 
with their mofl precious Things. The Grandees of their 
Court, the great Officers and Captains wear the like Jew- 
els in their Collars z j they drefs in a half Veft, and carry 
an Umbrella of Peacocks Feathers' to ffiade them from the 
Sun, and are furrounded by thofeof their Train. 
There are certain Indians who never eat two out of the 
fame Diffi or upon the fame Table, and would efteem it a 
very great Sin if they fhould. When they come to Siraff* 
and are invited by any of the confiderable Merchants 
who are in that City, they mull though they are a hundred 
in Number, each have a feparate Difh/and without the 
lead Communication with the reft. The Kings and Per- 
sons of high Quality have freffi Tables made for them 
every Day, together with little Diffies and Plates wove of 
the Cocoa-nut Leaf, in which they eat what is prepared 
* * 7J e R c c : naudot jp his 7 0t r es Treatife > very (lightly of this Story, and feems to think it fabulous. There is however no fort of 
Came for this Sufpicion . Since this fort 0 . Whale is very often found in the Weft -Indian Seas, and especially on the Coaft of Bermudas and vail: Quantities 
J ® f A “bergreece are taken out of its Guts. It is alfo very certain, that tho’ the belt of this Perfume is found in the Indian-Seas ; yet Ambcmetee has 
- been frequently found on the Snore even of our own Blands, as well as in fome other Parts o I Europe, and in America it is very common 
I moft confcfs this Story feems to me by far the meaneft Paffage in the whole Work, and all the Remarks upon Pearls are very low and trifling : 
the lame rime it mult be allowed, that we know very little more about them, than either the Ancient nr Dip MAbi ww Cpp me +A k» A.a 
® , r . . f “7 111 wnuic vvuik, miu du uie ivemarKs upon rearls 
« Vli- mul1 be allowed, that we know very little more about them, than- either the Ancients or the Arabs, What feems to be moft 
£ wVnfi tn 7 Pear k are not the natural Produce of any Oifters j by which I mean, that they are an irregular and accidental Produaion, occafioM 
Dlleafe , in Flftu I am led » Notion from two Reafons : The firft is, that when Animal Subftances begin to corrupt 
-they commonly Ihme, which perhaps may be the rffeft of fome inteftine Motion; the other, that Pearl Oifters are not eatable, but tough taftel4 
c and very unwnollome. > 
z TbeTnnces and the chief Inhabitants of thefe Countries, were by this Time better acquainted with the Nature and Value of all forts of precN 
cious Stones than formerly they had been, and of thefe they had of all kinds from the Mines in the Mind of Ceylon . It is remarkable that the Arabs 
have but one Word to figmfy coloured Stones, which is Tacut, or Jacut, which ftriftly fpeaking fignifies a Jacinth ; but to vary this, and to reridet 
Emeralds and SaphirOs, they add the Name of the Colour Jo the Stone. It will be proper toma4twbS^&n 
J Subjeft before we leave it : The firft is, that our Author is perfeftly m the right in his Obfervation, that Pearls are more efteemed in India than 
many other Pasts of the World, and that they are more valued there in Proportion, than any other kind of Jewels. Out fecond Obfervation is as. 
I Emeralds thither from Egypt , which is a very plain Proof of the Truth of what we have often after ted, <viz that thefe Stones are ’no* 
ftrtftly fpeakmg Oriental, though they may, and indeed do very often come to us from the Eaft. ’ ’ “ bt9n€3 ^ ?* 
37° 6 Y fo i 
