EXTRACT FROM TER VERNIER^ VOYAGES.

2 55

Manar open naturally five or fix days fooher than thofe in the Perfiati Gulf, becaufe theheat is greater at Manar, which is in the tenth degree of north latitude, than at theilland ot Bahren, which is about twenty-feven degrees : thus amongft thofe pearlsthat cdme from Manar there are few yellow. In fhort, all the eaftern nations are ex-actly of our tafte with regard to whitenefs, and I have always obferved that they likethe whiteft pearls, the whiteft diamonds, the whitelt bread, and the whiteft women.

CHAP. VII. Shewing in what Manner the Pearls are engendered in Oyjlers , how

they fifh for them, and at what Time.

I AM v/ell aware that, according to the opinion of fome ancient authors, not veryconverfant in thefe matters, pearls have commonly been thought to be engendered bythe dew from heaven, and that never more than one is found in each oyfter, all whichexperience has {hewn to be erroneous. With refpeCt to the firft, the oyfters are found°nly at the bottom of the fea, where the dew cannot penetrate, they being fometimes,ns I fiall prefently {hew, obliged to dive for them as low as twelve fathoms ; and inregard to the other, it is certain, that as many as fix or feven pearls have been found inone oyfter; nay, I myfelf have had one that contained to the number of ten, regularm a train of formation. They were not it is true all of the fame bignefs ; becaufe theyengender in the oyfters in the fame manner as eggs in the belly of a fowl, where as thelargeft egg being molt advanced towards the orifice, comes out firft, leaving the fmailerones behind till further perfected, fo likewife in the oyfters the largeft pearl firft pre-fents itfelf, leaving the fmailer ones not yet arrived at perfection under the oyfter atthe bottom of the (hell, until they have attained their natural fize. But yet I do notmean from this to infer that it is a general rule, as, on the contrary, many oyfters aremet with containing no pearls at all.

It muft not be imagined that thefe pearl divers derive any great advantage from theirlabour, for if the poor people thus occupied had any thing elfe to employ them, theyWould willingly quit this trade, which they follow only to keep them from ftarving. Ihave, in my account of Perfia, before obferved, that from Balfora as far as Cape Jaf-ftue, on both fides the Perfian Gulf, the earth produces nothing. The people are there1° poor, and live in a manner fo pitiable, that they fee neither bread nor rice, livingentirely on dates and fait-fifh, as they muft go twenty leagues up the country beforethey meet with any herb.

They fifh in the oriental feas twice a year, firft in March and April, and fecondly,ln -dugufc and September, and the time for felling them, is from June till No-vember. But this fifhery is not carried on every year, becaufe thofe who under-t a ke it wifhing to learn beforehand, whether or not it will tend to their advantage;|end out to the place where they fifh fix or feven barks, when each of thembringing back about a thoufand oyfters, they open them, and if in every thoufand,pearls are not found to the value of five fanos, which is about equal to half-a-crown

our money, it is a fign that the fifhery will not be productive, and thefe poorpeople would not be able to make good the cxpences they are put to, fmce as^' e il to cloath as fupport them during the time of the fifhery, they borrow money atmree and four per cent, per month; fo that if the thoufand oyfters does not producepearls to the amount of at leaft five fanos, they fifii none that year. The merchantstllat buy thefe oyfters muft do it at a venture, taking their chance as to their con-fents. This, whe« they find large pearls, turns out fortunate, although it happens but

feldoin