Pearl-bearing oysters are found at various places on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and especially along the coast of Lower California, where extensive fisheries are prosecuted. The pearls are noted for the great variety of colors which they display. A large percentage are black, others are white, brown, peacock green, etc. Generally they are small and of irregular form, yet sometimes very large ones are secured, weighing 100, 200, and even 300 grains.

European knowledge of the pearl resources of Mexico dates from the conquest of that country by Hernando Cortés about 1522. The diary of his lieutenant, Fortuno Ximines, tells of finding native chiefs living in primitive huts along the sea-shore, with quantities of beautiful pearls lying carelessly around. From a tribe near the present site of Hermosillo, in the State of Sonora, Cortés secured great quantities of the gems. It appeared that the fishery had been in existence for centuries. The location of the pearl reefs was prominently noted on Cortés’ map of this coast, made in 1535, a copy of which was procured by the Rev. Edward E. Hale when in Spain in 1883.

Following Cortés’ explorations of the Pacific coast of Mexico (1533–1538), a number of expeditions were fitted out for securing pearls by trading with the natives, by forcing them to fish, and by even more questionable means. Several of these expeditions found record in history either by reason of their unusual success or through the extreme cruelty with which they were conducted. The contact of the Spaniards with the Indians resulted in very bitter feelings on the part of the latter, so that it became risky for small traders to venture among them. From time to time, successful expeditions were made, especially the one of 200 men sent in 1596 by the viceroy of Mexico to “the rich Isles of California,” mentioned by Teixeira.^[286] Antonio de Castillo, a Spanish colonist, with headquarters south of Mazatlan, was one of the most successful of the early adventurers, and Iturbide Ortega and José Carborel were also among the fortunate ones of that period.^[287] Ortega marketed his pearls in the city of Mexico, and the reported sale of one for 4500 dollars had considerable effect in stimulating the industry.

The advent of the Jesuits to western Mexico in 1642, developed amicable relations with the Indians; and although the missionaries were agriculturists rather than fishermen, the restoration of harmony resulted in a more favorable prosecution of the fisheries. The colonists of Sinaloa and Nueva Galicia, who had formerly, in small vessels and with great danger, made occasional visits to the pearl beds, built larger vessels and made more frequent visits without apprehension. The skilful Yaqui and Mayo Indians were employed or impressed as divers, just as natives of the Bahamas had served in the fisheries of Venezuela. Great profits resulted from the operations. Venegas wrote that “it was certain that the fifth of every vessel was yearly farmed for 12,000 dollars.”^[288]

So profitable was the fishery that the Spanish soldiers and sailors stationed in the Gulf of Cortes—as the Gulf of California was then called—were frequently charged with devoting more attention to pearling than to their official duties. In order to put a stop to this evil, in 1704, Father Silva-Tierra, who was in authority in that part of the country, ordered that no soldier or sailor should engage in the fishery. With a view to removing the demoralizing influences of promiscuous adventurers among the Indians, the industry was later restricted to persons specially authorized.

Probably the most successful of the early pearlers was Manuel Osio, who is credited with having marketed “127 pounds’ weight of pearls in 1743,” and “275 pounds’ weight” in 1744.^[289] He operated in the vicinity of Mulege and northward, employing the Yaqui Indians; and through his pearling interests is said to have become the richest man in Lower California.

The revenue from the royal fifth, somewhat later, was reported by Alvarado^[290] at 12,000 dollars per year; but this was disputed by Jacob Baegert, a Jesuit priest. Baegert spent seventeen years in Mexico and, returning to Europe on the expulsion of his order from that country in 1767, published a report in 1772, containing rather an unfavorable view of the fishery. He stated that each summer eight, ten, or twelve poor Spaniards from Sonora, Sinaloa, and elsewhere on the mainland, crossed the gulf in small boats to the California shore for the purpose of obtaining pearls. They carried supplies of Indian corn and dried beef, and also a number of Indians who served as divers, the Spaniards themselves showing little inclination to engage in the work when native fishermen could be employed so cheaply. Provided with a sack for receiving the oysters which they removed from the bottom, the fishermen dived head first into the sea, and when they could no longer hold their breath they ascended with the gathered treasure. The oysters were counted before opening; and, when the law was complied with, every fifth one was put aside for the king’s revenue. Most of the oysters yielded no pearls; some contained black pearls, others white ones, the latter usually small and ill-shaped. If, after six or eight weeks of hard labor and deducting all expenses, a Spaniard gained a hundred American pesos, he thought he had made a little fortune, but this he could not do every season. “God knows,” said Baegert, “whether a fifth of the pearls secured in the California sea yields to the Catholic king an average of 150 or 200 pesos in a year, even without frauds in the transaction. I heard of only two persons—with whom also I was personally acquainted—who had accumulated some wealth, after spending 20 or more years in the business. The others remained poor notwithstanding their pearl fishing.”^[291]

Father Baegert’s statement of the returns seems to be substantiated by the reports of the royal fifth a few years later. For the period from 1792 to 1796 this was placed at “2 lbs. 2 ozs.” by some writers; and according to others, from 1788 to 1797 it amounted to only “3 lbs. 9 ozs.,” which is the quantity assigned by some accounts to 1797 alone.^[292] These returns apparently indicate that a great decrease had occurred since the days of Osio; but it seems very doubtful whether, under the conditions existing in Mexico at that time, the royal treasury received its due share of the proceeds.

Shortly following the independence of Mexico in 1821, and after a period of little activity, several attempts were made to exploit the pearl resources. The great prosperity in England, ensuing upon the termination of the Napoleonic Wars, resulted in much speculation and the promotion of stock subscriptions in many visionary schemes. Among these was “The General Pearl and Coral-Fishing Association of London,” which in 1825 equipped and sent out to Mexico, by way of Cape Horn, two vessels prepared to exploit the pearl resources by the use of diving-bells similar to those formerly employed in submarine construction. This expedition was under the direction of Lieutenant R. W. H. Hardy, whose report thereon presents an interesting exhibit of the condition of the pearl fishery at that time.

Hardy found the fishery at a very low ebb, owing, largely, to the scarcity of oysters and the uncertainty of depending on the native divers. He adds with peculiar naïveté: “I had almost forgotten to mention a very curious circumstance with respect to the pearl-oyster, namely that on the coast of Sonora there are none at all, except at Guaymas.” He states also that to the northward of 28° 30′ not the trace of a shell could be discovered on either side of the gulf.

The center of the industry was then at Loreto, a village of 250 inhabitants; but another small station existed at La Paz. At Loreto six or eight vessels of twenty-five tons each were employed, each having three or four sailors and fifteen or twenty Yaqui Indians who served as divers. Head-diving was in vogue, the work proceeding from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M., and the depth ranging from three to twelve fathoms. The annual catch of pearls was “4 or 5 pounds’ weight, worth from $8000 to $10,000.”^[293] After the government’s claim of one fifth had been set apart, the owner and captain of the vessel received one half and the divers the other half.

It was found impossible to use diving-bells when the sea was at all rough, and even during calm weather they were impracticable on account of the unevenness of the ground and the strong undercurrents. An effort was made to employ native divers, but owing to the disorganized state of affairs only four could be secured. In the Gulf of Mulege a large number of oysters were collected, but when these were opened “six very small pearls” were all that could be found. After spending about three years on the coast, Hardy returned to England, and the company abandoned the enterprise.

In the early history of the Mexican pearl fishery, the shells were of no market value; but about 1830 a French trader named Combier made experimental shipments to France, securing cheap freight rates by using the waste shells largely as ballast for the vessels.^[294] The best quality sold for about 600 francs per ton, and the market was found sufficient for regular shipments. The value gradually increased, and in 1854 it approximated 2000 francs per ton in France, placing the industry upon a very remunerative basis. This resulted in much activity in the fishery, and an increase in the number of boats and divers.

In 1855, the fishery gave employment to 368 divers, and yielded $23,800 worth of pearls, and 350 tons of shells worth $13,500.^[295] It was estimated by Lassepas that from 1580 to 1857, inclusive, 95,000 tons of oysters were removed from the Gulf of California, yielding 2770 pounds of pearls, worth $5,540,000.^[296]

For protection of the reefs, the Mexican government in 1857 divided the Gulf of California into four pearling districts, and provided that only one of them should be worked each year, and then only in areas leased for the season to the highest bidders, thereby permitting the reefs successively to remain undisturbed for three years.

The yield of pearls in 1868 approximated $55,000, and that of shells $10,600 in value; while in 1869 these items were given as $62,000 and $25,000, respectively.^[297] The local prices ranged from $15 per ounce for seed-pearls to $1500 for a choice gem.

At that period the fishery was carried on from shore camps or from large vessels, each carrying twenty to fifty divers, who were mostly Yaqui Indians from the eastern shore of the gulf. The camp or vessel was located in the vicinity of the reefs or beds, and the fishing was prosecuted from small boats, each carrying three or four nude divers. Fastened to the waist or suspended from the neck was a net for the reception of oysters, and each diver carried a short spud or stick with which to detach them from the bottom, and to some extent for use as a weapon of defense against sharks and similar enemies. The diving progressed mostly in the morning, when the sea was unruffled by the breeze which usually begins shortly after noon. The season lasted from May to late in September, when the water became too cold for further operations.

The divers were paid a definite share of the catch, and kept in debt-bondage by means of advances and supplies. Little clothing was necessary, and the provisions consisted principally of corn, beans, and sun-dried beef. Luxuries were added in the form of tobacco, and of mescal distilled from the maguey plant, indulgence in these constituting the chief remuneration for the season’s labor. The finding of an unusually choice pearl brought to the lucky fisherman a gratuity of a few dollars, and shore leave for several days in which to spend it. Dressing in his best calico garments, he hastened to the nearest town to indulge in release from restraint, in drunkenness and debauchery—the highest dreams of happiness of a Yaqui Indian—thoughts of which served to bring him to the fishery each year from his home across the gulf.

From the Spanish conquest until 1874, the Mexican pearl fishery was conducted exclusively by nude divers. The experiments with the diving-bell in 1825 had been without favorable result, and also an attempt by an American in 1854 to use a diving-suit with air-pump, etc., this failure being credited to imperfection of apparatus. In 1874, through the influence of European pearl merchants, two schooners, each of about 200 tons’ measurement, one from Australia and the other from England, visited the Mexican grounds, with a dozen boats fully equipped with scaphanders or diving armor, including helmets, rubber suits, pumps, etc. Owing to their working in deeper water than the nude divers were able to exploit, their success was remarkable, and they secured upward of a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of pearls and shells during the first season.

The hitherto somnolent inhabitants of Lower California were amazed at seeing their resources thus easily removed, and were awakened to the opportunities afforded them to acquire the wealth which nature had scattered at their very doors. With this object-lesson before them, companies were formed for raising sufficient capital for the business, and the leading operators equipped their men with scaphanders, to the great annoyance of the would-be independent fishermen, who had not sufficient means to purchase the costly equipment. Many of these continued to employ nude divers, but after 1880 this method of fishery was subordinate to the use of diving apparatus. The change was accompanied by many accidents, and rarely did a month pass without the loss of a man, due in most cases to faulty apparatus or to inexperienced management.

In 1884 President Gonzalez inaugurated the policy of granting exclusive concessions to the pearl reefs. On February 28 of that year, five concessions were granted to as many persons, giving them and their associates and assigns the exclusive right to all shell fisheries in their respective zones of large area, for a period of sixteen years, in consideration of a royalty and export duty, amounting altogether to about $10 per ton of shells exported in the first three years, and $15 per ton for the remaining thirteen years of the term. Immediately these five grants were consolidated, forming the Lower California Pearl Fishing Company (“Compañia Perlífera de la Baja California”), incorporated under the laws of California with an invested capital of $100,000.

Other concessions were given covering the ocean shore of Lower California, the eastern side of the gulf within the States of Sonora and Sinaloa, and the ocean shore of Mexico southward from Sinaloa. In addition to these, certain territorial rights of fishing are claimed through grants dating back very early in the history of the country. So eagerly have these concessions been sought in recent years, that there is now little pearling ground on the coast which is not under corporate or private claim. And, owing to speculation in these concessions and in the formation of companies to develop them, it is somewhat difficult to obtain wholly reliable data relative to the condition and extent of the industry.

Two species of pearl-bearing mollusks occur on the Mexican coast. The principal one is the M. margaritifera mazatlanica, known locally as the concha de perla fina. This species is closely related to the “black lip shell” of the Australian coast. It is considerably larger than the Venezuelan oyster, averaging four or five inches in diameter and attaining an extreme diameter of seven or possibly eight inches. It occurs to some extent all along the Pacific coast of Mexico, in detached beds intercalated in places. The principal reefs, which have been exploited for nearly four centuries, are in the shallow waters of the Gulf of California and especially within the 300 miles between Cape San Lucas and Mulege Bay. The fisheries have centered about the islands of Cerralvo, Espiritu Santo, Carmen, and San José, and in the bays of Mulege, Ventana, and San Lorenzo. The depth of water on the reefs ranges from two to twenty-five fathoms, with an average of probably six or eight fathoms. The species is generally isolated, and firmly attached by the byssus to the bottom rocks or the stone corals, from which it may remove in case of necessity, though it probably does not do so frequently.

The second species is known locally under the name concha nacar, and has been named Margaritifera (Avicula) vinesi (Rochebonne).^[298] It occurs only in the northern part of the gulf near the mouth of the Colorado River. Formerly it was abundant in that region, occurring in large areas, but it has become much reduced and is now little sought after. It is claimed that this species is far more productive of pearls than the M. margaritifera, and that it yielded the large quantities obtained by Osio in the eighteenth century. Although iridescent, the shell is so thin and convex that it is without commercial value.

The headquarters of the Mexican pearl fishery are at La Paz, the capital of Lower California, 240 miles northwest of Mazatlan and 150 miles north of Cape San Lucas. This “Mantle of Peace”—the literal translation of La Paz—contains about 5000 inhabitants, nearly all of whom are more or less dependent on the pearl fishery. It presents an attractive picture, with the cocoanut-palms extending down almost to the water’s edge, and the high mountains forming a background. The low, stone houses, the tile roofs, the plaza with tropical trees, and the beautiful flower beds under perennial sunny skies, give it a quaint appearance. The most conspicuous objects from the harbor are the large old warehouses, with thick walls and iron-barred windows, for the storage of the pearls and the shells. During the season, from April to November, the arrival and departure of the pearling vessels presents a scene of great animation.

The present methods of the fishery on the Mexican coast are quite different from those of thirty years ago when nude diving was the only method in vogue. Instead of the haphazard work, largely in shallow water, the industry is conducted systematically, and the limit of depth is increased, much of the diving being in depths of ten to fifteen fathoms. The fishermen operate either from a large vessel making a cruise two or three months in length, or from a camp on the shore near the reefs. A vessel visits them frequently to furnish supplies and to transport the catch to La Paz. The fishing boats are undecked craft, each equipped with an air-pump and a crew of six men: a diver, a cabo de vida or life-line man, who is usually the captain, two bomberos at the air-pump, and two rowers.

The greatest depth at which armored diving is attempted in Mexico rarely exceeds twenty fathoms; twenty-five fathoms is fully as deep as it is practicable to go, and it is not advisable to remain at that depth more than a very few minutes. At fifteen fathoms a diver may remain half an hour or more, and at six or eight fathoms he may work uninterruptedly for several hours. When the water is very cold, the diver comes up frequently to restore his numbed circulation by vigorous rubbing. The occupation is especially conducive to rheumatism, and paralysis is more or less general, due, not only to the compressed atmosphere, but to the abrupt changes of temperature. The work is very debilitating, with particular effect on the nerves, and partial deafness is common. It is important that the diver be careful about overeating before descending, as heavy foods, and meats especially, make respiration difficult; therefore, breakfast consists of little more than bread and coffee. The risks and dangers from sharks, devil-fish, etc., have greatly diminished since the introduction of scaphanders; for a stout diver in his waterproof dress, with leads on the breast, shoulders, and shoes, and on his head a massive helmet containing great gaping windows for eyes, is enough to cause even a hungry shark to hesitate and to seek a more digestible meal.

There are yet many nude divers in Mexico, who operate in shallow waters, their cheap labor making them successful competitors of the armored divers. In arranging with these, the pearling company commonly grub-stakes a crew, pays a stipulated sum per hundredweight for the shells, and bargains for the pearls. If the fishermen are not satisfied with the price offered for these, they are at liberty to sell to other buyers under certain restrictions.

Nude diving is confined to the warm months, beginning about the middle of May and continuing until October. Owing to the cloudy or muddy condition of the water in the gulf, the nude diver can not inspect the bottom from the surface and select the best oysters before descending, nor can he work satisfactorily at depths greater than seven or eight fathoms. While the work is hard, it is more remunerative than the average branch of labor in this region.

Each day the boats deliver their catch of oysters at the fishing-camps or on board the receiving vessels. After they have been freed from marine growths and refuse, the mollusks are opened and searched for pearls. This operation is performed by trusted employees, usually elderly men who have become physically disqualified for diving, and who, seated together at a low table, work under the watchful eyes of overseers. A knife is introduced between the valves of the oyster, the adductor muscle is severed, and the valves are separated by breaking the hinge. The animal is removed from the shell and carefully examined with the eyes and the fingers, and then squeezed in the hands to locate any pearl which may be concealed in the organs or tissues. The debris is passed to other persons, who submit it to further examinations. A man may work all day long and find only a few seed-pearls, but occasionally there is the excitement of discovering a beautiful gem.

In some localities the flesh of the pearl-oyster is a source of profit through its sale to Chinamen, who dry and otherwise prepare it for sale among their countrymen in Mexico and America, as well as in the Orient. Frequently the large adductor muscle is dried for food, making excellent soup-stock, and, indeed, it is quite palatable when stewed.

It is difficult to approximate the output of the Mexican pearl fisheries, other than the pearl shell, because the dealers place a merely nominal value on the pearls in their invoices when sending them to Europe, an invoice of $500 sometimes representing gems valued in Paris at several thousand dollars. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory information from the pearling companies, owing, presumably, to the fear of developing greater competition. According to the estimates at La Paz, the local value of the pearl yield now approximates $250,000 annually, and the value of the same over the counters in Europe and America probably exceeds one million dollars.

Some remarkably large pearls have been secured in the Mexican fisheries, especially considering the small size of the oysters. In 1871 a pearl of 96 grains, pear-shaped and without a flaw, sold at La Paz for 3000 pesos. In March, 1907, a beautiful pinkish white one, found near the lower end of the peninsula, sold for 28,000 pesos or $14,000. One of the best years for choice finds was 1881, when the scaphanders were first employed to their greatest efficiency. A black pearl was then secured which weighed 112 grains, and which brought 40,000 francs in Paris. In 1882 two, weighing 124 and 180 grains respectively, sold for 11,000 pesos. In the following year a light brown pearl, flecked with dark brown, and weighing 260 grains, sold for 7500 pesos. These are the prices which the La Paz merchants received for these pearls, and not the much greater amounts for which they were finally sold by the jewelers.

One of the finest pearls was found in 1884 near Mulege. This weighed 372 grains. The Indian fisherman is said to have sold it for $90; the purchaser declined an offer of 1000 pesos, and also a second offer of 5000, and soon sold it to a La Paz dealer for 10,000 pesos. Its value in Paris was estimated at 85,000 francs. Probably the most famous of all pearls obtained from these grounds was “the 400–grain pearl” found near Loreto, and “which is now among the royal jewels of Spain.” It is said that this was offered by the lucky fisherman to the Mission of Loreto, and by the Director of Missions in Lower California was presented to the Queen of Spain.^[299]

As in every other fishery, one hears in Mexico of fishermen who have grasped a prize only to lose it through inexperience or improvidence. The account given above of the sale of the 372–grain pearl found near Mulege furnishes an instance of this. It is related in La Paz that in 1883 an Indian sold for ten pesos a gem weighing 128 grains, for which the purchaser received 27,500 francs in Paris. On another occasion a Mexican sold two pearls, easily worth $4000, for $16 worth of groceries.

In the eighteenth century, the Notre Dame de Loreto possessed a remarkable collection of Mexican pearls, which had been presented from time to time by the fishermen. During the régime of the Jesuits, it was customary to devote the proceeds of the last day of the fishery to the decoration of the altar of that mission. After the expulsion of this religious order in 1767, the mission was pillaged and the collection dissipated. From the old aristocracy of Mexico, family heirlooms of many choice pearls were placed on the European market during the civil wars in Mexico to contribute to the support of the contending armies. One lady in Sonora is said to have disposed of her collection for 550,000 francs. A fine collection of these pearls, accumulated from 1760 to 1850, and showing them in a great variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, was in Chihuahua until recently.

AMERICAN FRESH WATERS

The most recently developed pearl fisheries are within the limits of the United States, in the rivers and fresh-water lakes, and especially those in the Mississippi Valley. As an important industrial enterprise, these fisheries are less than two decades old, yet they are very productive, yielding annually above half a million dollars’ worth of pearls, many of which compare favorably in quality with those from oriental seas.

The prehistoric mounds in the Mississippi Valley present evidence of the estimation in which pearls were held by a race of men who passed away ages before America was first visited by Europeans. In some of these mounds, erected by a long-forgotten race, pearls have been found not only in hundreds and in thousands, but by gallons and even by bushels. Some of these equal three quarters of an inch in diameter, and in quantity exceed the richest individual collections of the present day. Damaged and partly decomposed by heat and through centuries of burial, they have lost their beauty, and are of value only to the archæologist and to indicate the quantity of pearly treasures possessed by these early people.

Owing to the great wealth of pearls which had been uncovered on the Spanish Main, at Panama, and in the Gulf of California, Eldorado explorers, in the sixteenth century, were particularly eager in searching for them within the present limits of the United States; in the reports of their wanderings, much space is given to these gems, and these reports aided largely in inducing and encouraging other expeditions. Some of these accounts read like the marvelous stories of Sindbad the Sailor, quantities of pearls—hundreds of pounds in some instances—being secured by the exchange of trinkets and by more questionable means. It would be easy to bring together numerous accounts of apparently reliable authorities to show that in the sixteenth century pearls were obtained here in far greater quantities than were ever known in any other part of the world; but this conclusion seems not wholly correct.

The unfortunate wanderings of Hernando de Soto from 1539 to 1542 gave rise to most of the reports of rich pearl finds within the limits of this country. Of this voyage there are three principal accounts. The first was by Luis Hernandez de Biedma, who had accompanied De Soto as factor for Charles V of Spain. His brief report was presented to the king in 1544, although it was not published until 1841, nearly three centuries later, when it appeared in a French translation.^[300] The second, and in our opinion the most reliable account,^[301] published at Evora in 1577, was by an unnamed Portuguese (in English editions, commonly spoken of as the Gentleman of Elvas), who was a member of the expedition. The third account,^[302] by far the longest and most widely known, but which was not written until 1591, was by Garcilasso de la Vega, who represented that his information was from a Spanish cavalier who had accompanied De Soto.

The only reference made to pearls in Biedma’s report seems to be his allusion to the large quantity secured at the village of Cofaciqui, on the east bank of the Savannah River. He states: “When we arrived there, the queen ... presented the governor with a necklace of pearls of five or six rows, procured for us canoes to pass the river, and assigned the half of the village for our quarters. After having been in our company three or four days, she escaped into the forest; the governor caused search to be made after her, but without success; he then gave orders to break open a temple erected in this village, wherein the chiefs of the country were interred. We took out of it a vast quantity of pearls, which might amount to six or seven arrobas,^[303] but they were spoiled by having been underground.”^[304]

The Portuguese narrative alludes to the pearls at Cofaciqui, stating that the queen “took from her own neck a great cordon of pearls, and cast it about the neck of the governor.... And the lady, perceiving that the Christians esteemed the pearls, advised the governor to search certain graves in the town, where he would find many; and that if he would send to the abandoned towns, he might load all his horses. He sought the graves of that town and there found fourteen rows of pearls, and little babies and birds made of them.”^[305] This account makes no further mention of pearls, except to state that at the battle of Mavilla this great collection was burned, and that when the Queen of Cofaciqui escaped from the Portuguese she carried with her a little chest full of unbored pearls, which some of the Spaniards thought were of great value;^[306] and further, that on one or two other occasions a few pearls were received from the Indians as presents.

The account of De Soto’s wanderings, given by Garcilasso, the Peruvian historian, contains many references to pearls, which read more like romance than reality. With his knowledge of the jewels, temples, etc., in Mexico and Peru, and recognizing some similarities in the manners of the people of those countries and the ones with whom De Soto came in contact, Garcilasso was easily led to statements which, though possibly true in the one case, seem fictitious in the other.

He gives the story of the Queen of Cofaciqui, with some additional particulars. The string of pearls which she presented to the governor made three circuits of her neck and descended to her waist. In his account, the graves in Cofaciqui became a temple containing, among other riches, more than a thousand measures of pearls, of which they took only two. Near Cofaciqui was the temple of Talomeco, over a hundred steps long by forty broad, with the walls high in proportion. Upon the roof of the temple were shells of different sizes, placed with the inside out, to give more brilliancy, and with the intervals “filled with many strings of pearls of divers sizes, in the form of festoons, from one shell to the other, and extending from the top of the roof to the bottom.” Within the temple, festoons of pearls hung from the ceiling and from all other parts of the building. In the middle were three rows of chests of graded sizes, arranged in pyramids of five or six chests each, according to their sizes. “All these chests were filled with pearls, in such a manner that the largest contain the largest pearls, and thus, in succession, to the smallest, which were full of seed-pearls only. The quantity of pearls was such, that the Spaniards avowed, that even if there had been more than nine hundred men and three hundred horses, they all together could not have carried off at one time all the pearls of this temple. We ought not to be too much astonished at this, if we consider that the Indians of the province conveyed into these chests, during many ages, all the pearls which they found, without retaining a single one of them.”^[307] In the armory attached to this temple were long pikes, maces, clubs, and other weapons mounted with links and tassels of pearls.

Garcilasso has an interesting story of an incident said to have occurred a few days after leaving Cofaciqui, when the troops were passing through the wilderness.

Juan Terron, one of the stoutest soldiers of the army, toward noon, drew from his saddle-bags about six pounds of pearls, and pressed a cavalier, one of his friends, to take them. The cavalier thanked him and told him that he ought to keep them, or rather, since the report was current that the general would send to Havana, send them there to buy horses and go no longer afoot. Offended at this answer, Terron replied that “these pearls then shall not go any farther,” and thereupon scattered them here and there upon the grass and through the bushes. They were surprised at this folly, for the pearls were as large as hazel-nuts, and of very fine water, and because they were not pierced they were worth more than six thousand ducats. They collected about thirty of these pearls, which were so beautiful that it made them regret the loss of the others, and say, in raillery, these words, which passed into a proverb with them, “There are no pearls for Juan Terron.”^[308]

At the capital of Iciaha, De Soto received from the cacique or chief, a string, five feet in length, of beautiful and well-matched pearls as large as filberts. Upon De Soto’s expressing a desire to learn how the gems were extracted from the shells, the chief immediately ordered four boats to fish all night and return in the morning.

In the meantime they burnt a great deal of wood upon the shore, in order to make there a great bed of live coals, that at the return of the boats they might put thereon the shells, which would open with the heat. They found, at the opening of the first shells, ten or twelve pearls of the size of a pea, which they took to the cacique, and to the general who was present, and who found them very beautiful, except that the fire had deprived them of a part of their lustre. When the general had seen what he wished, he returned to dine; and immediately after, a soldier entered, who instantly said to him that, in eating oysters which the Indians had caught, his teeth had encountered a very beautiful pearl of a very lively color, and that he begged him to receive it to send to the governess of Cuba. Soto politely refused this pearl, and assured the soldier that he was as obliged to him as if he had accepted it; and that some day he would try to acknowledge his kindness, and the honor which he did his wife; and that he should preserve it to purchase horses at Havana. The Spaniards valued it at four hundred ducats; and as they had not made use of fire to extract it, it had not lost any of its lustre.^[309]

Notwithstanding the strong indorsement given to Garcilasso’s narrative by Theodore Irving and some other writers, his tendency to exaggerate depreciates greatly the historical value of his account, and it seems wholly unreliable as an authority relative to early resources in America. We may reasonably doubt whether De Soto’s expedition came in contact with more pearls than those mentioned by Biedma and the Portuguese writer.

The account of the first voyage along the coast of the United States, that of the Italian, Juan Verrazano, in 1524, contains no reference to pearls, although he penetrated into the interior a score or two of miles, and was frequently in contact with the natives, who lived largely by fishing, and who prized many ornaments of different colored stones, copper rings, etc.

The first expedition which went far into the interior was the ill-fated one under command of Pánfilo de Narvaez in 1528. A thrilling account^[310] of this journey was written by Cabeza de Vaca, who was one of the four survivors, after eight years’ wandering through America to Mexico. Cabeza had been controller and royal treasurer of the expedition, and in that position it was his particular duty to acquaint himself with all the pearls, gold, and similar riches found by the party. Notwithstanding his tradings with the Indians and their efforts to gain his friendship by means of presents, his account makes no mention of pearls, except to refer to a statement made by some Indians that on the coast of the South Sea there were pearls and great riches.

Hernando D’Escalante Fontaneda, who was shipwrecked on the Florida coast about 1550, and was detained there a prisoner for seventeen years, wrote:

“Between Abolachi [Appalachicola] and Olagale is a river which the Indians call Guasaca-Esqui, which means Reed River. It is on the sea-coast, and at the mouth of this river the pearls are found in oysters and other shells; from thence they are carried into all the provinces and villages of Florida.”^[311]

The European narrators also reported great stores of pearls along the Atlantic seaboard. Among the first of these may be mentioned David Ingram, who is represented as traveling by land from the Gulf of Mexico to the vicinity of Cape Breton in the years 1568 and 1569. As it appeared in the first edition of Hakluyt’s Voyages, this relation states:

“There is in some of those Countreys great abundance of Pearle, for in every Cottage he founde Pearle, in some howse a quarte, in some a pottel [half a gallon], in some a pecke, more or less, where he did see some as great as an Acorn; and Richard Browne, one of his Companyons, found one of these great Pearls in one of their Canoes, or Boates, wch Pearls he gave to Mouns Campaine, whoe toke them aboarde his shippe.”^[312]

Estimation of Ingram’s wonderful relation is decreased by Purchas’s comment:

As for David Ingram’s perambulations to the north parts, Master Hakluyt, in his first edition printed the same; but it seemeth some incredibilities of his reports caused him to leave him out in the next impression; the reward of lying being, not to be believed in truths.^[313]

Even the members of Raleigh’s Roanoke Colony of 1585 reported pearls. Hariot stated:

Sometimes in feeding on Muscles we found some Pearle: but it was our happe to meet with ragges, or of a pide colour: not having yet discovered those places where we heard of better and more plenty. One of our company, a man of skill in such matters, had gathered from among the Savage people about five thousand: of which number he chooses so many as made a faire chaine, which for their likenesse and uniformity in roundenesse, orientnesse, and piednesse of many excellent colours, with equality in greatnesse, were very faire and rare: and had therefore been presented to her Majesty, had we not by casualty, and through extremity of a storme lost them, with many things els in coming away from the countrey.^[314]

So far as we can learn, there is no evidence to show that, during the sixteenth or the seventeenth century, any pearls of value were received in Europe from within the present limits of the United States, as was the case with the resources of Venezuela, Panama and Mexico. Many of the accounts quoted above seem wholly fictitious, some of them possibly drawn up for the purpose of promoting exploring expeditions. It is also probable that knowledge of the enormous collections at Venezuela and Panama misled some of the narrators into recognizing as pearls the spherical pieces of shell or even the cylindrical wampum which the Indians made in large quantities and used as money.

However, it is unquestionable that pearls of value were in the possession of some of the wealthier tribes. Biedma’s account of the 150 pounds or more of damaged pearls in the graves at Cofaciqui seems wholly reliable, and likewise many other statements; and it is an interesting problem to determine the source from which the Indians obtained them.

Most of the narratives refer to the pearls as coming from the coast of the South Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The evidence of Fontaneda, who had spent seventeen years in the country, throws some light on this. He states that pearls were obtained at the mouth of Reed River near Appalachicola, whence they were distributed throughout Florida. This seems to indicate that on the west coast of Florida there might have been extensive reefs of pearl-bearing mollusks, which have since become extinct, although existing shell-heaps do not confirm this.

While it is possible and even probable that many of these pearls in the possession of the Indians came from the Gulf of Mexico or even from the Caribbean Sea, it seems much more likely that they came largely from the Unios of the inland lakes and rivers.

The voyages of Narvaez, Ayllon, De Soto, Ribault, etc., had been so unfortunate that for a century little exploration was made in the territory of the southern part of the United States. When this territory was again invaded, little was seen in the way of pearls.

Iberville, who established the French settlement near the mouth of the Mississippi in 1699, was specially directed to look for them. His instructions state: “Although the pearls presented to his Majesty are not fine either in water or shape, they must nevertheless be carefully sought, as better may be found, and his Majesty desires M. d’Iberville to bring all he can; ascertain where the fishery is carried on, and see it in operation.”^[315] Pearls were found in the territory of the Pascagoulas, but they were not worth the trouble of securing them. It appears that from these the Pearl River in Mississippi derived its name.

The only reference to pearls in the seventy-one volumes of Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, from 1610 to 1791, is a note by Father Gravier stating that he saw no choice pearls: “It is true the chief’s wife has some small pearls; but they are neither round nor well pierced, with the exception of seven or eight, which are as large as small peas, and have been bought for more than they are worth.”^[316]

Daniel Coxe’s description, in 1722, of pearl resources in America, is of special interest because of the extended experience of his father as a trader in the country. He states:

Pearls are found to be in great abundance in this country; the Indians put some value upon them, but not so much as on the colored beads we bring them. On the whole coast of this province, for two hundred leagues, there are many vast beds of oysters which breed pearls, as has been found in divers places. But, which is very remarkable, far from the sea, in fresh water rivers and lakes, there is a sort of shell-fish between a mussel and a , wherein are found abundance of pearls, and many of an unusual magnitude. The Indians, when they take the oysters, broil them over the fire till they are fit to eat, keeping the large pearls they find in them, which by the heat are tarnished and lose their native lustre; but, when we have taught them the right method, doubtless it would be a very profitable trade. There are two places we already know within land, in each of which there is a great pearl fishery. One about