Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-28

Their Origin and the Way I'm Which
They Are Gathered.

say . but LoHuon CtUHNdFu, LuAL IL SOUuue
like geographical blunder to read that
the Tay pearl fisheries have opened viii
unusual prospects OF success. Yet the
theme Of so many poets and the object O
so much extravaganza has perhaps beer
almost as long sought for in the Scottish
rivers as in the remoter seas Of the East
Great Britain was at one time celebrated
for its pearls, and we have the authority
Of suetOnius for affirming that il was the
reputation Of our islands for the posses
sion OF these treasures that stimulated
Caesar 70 undertake the most famous in
Vaslon OF which history has preserved am
record. We are told that after he con
quered England be presented as a thank
Offering to Venus Genetrix a buckler GOV
cred with pearls, which was hung I'D il
her temple. Whether these were actually
obtained from Britain cannot now bt
decided, but there is no doubt that, though
Pllny refers in disparaging terms to the
small size and poor water of the Northern
''Margarite," the patrician ladies OF Rome
were glad 10 barter the spOils Of MANY
plundered kingdom for the ornaments
which in more modern times have falleT
into such disrepute. At no time how
ever, during at least eighteen hundred
years have British pearls altogether
ceased to be among the commodities O.
commerce. Specimens are said to exist
| among the Scottish crown jewels, anC
one from the Conway, presented by Sir
Richard wynn TO the Queen Of Charles
H., ranks as an ornament of the British
crown. In our day large numbers have beer
purchased by the Queen and the Empress
OF the French, and the Weather of the
Scottish ladies have always set the
fashion Of encouraging the trade by wear
ing bracelets, necklaces and rings sci
with native pearls and-since the Lead
mills and the Strath of KildOnan still Weld
the precious metal-set in gold, which has
never crossed the sea.
The pearl Of the fresh-water mussel il
found IN almost every river where the
mOllusk in question can prosper, though
naturally sullen streams, with many un.
disturbed pools and muddy bottoms, are
most favorable to their growth. Hence
we have pearls from Norway and Sweden.
{, ON the rivers Of Tyrone and Donegal.
and from many Of the streams of the
Northwest of England and Wales. Very
line specimens also come from MOldau
and WOttawa, in Bohemia. and for ages a
fresh-water pearl fishery has existed in
the Iltz, in Bavaria, from which at times
valuable specimens reach the continental
jewelers.,
1t Is, however, manly in Scotland that
the business is followed with ANYTHING
like system. For ages the Tay, Doom,
Don, Teith, Forth, Ythan, Spey, Ugie and
Earn have proved more or less fruitful
the dull season being compensated for by
those in which a gem of more than Ordi.
nary value has been fished up. In all
these rivers and in some Of smaller impor.
lance few peOple-generally old men.
women and chIldren-are engaged during
the summer months in searching for the
mussels, buOyed up by hope of finding
in one out OF fifty or sixty the object they
are eager to obtain. Indeed, ever since
Mr.. Unger impaired a stimulus 10 the
business some of the smaller streams have
been so oyerfshed as to render the labor
of searching the mud scarcely remuner-
alive. In the river Earn, tributary to
the Tay, in some parts of the Tay itself,
and IN the Doom il is, however, still worth
| following, mussel-gathering being among
certain families not only a trade but
| their sole means of livelihood.
A more agreeable pursuit of the manual
order can scarcely be imagined so long as
the days are long and the sun is warm
and the shady river lovely with the um-
brageOus foliage of midsummer and early
autumn. Pearl fishing in Scotland has.
moreover, much of the gambling excite
ment attendant on the pearl diving of the
East, without the injury to health and the
| imminent danger of suffOcatiOn and
sharks, which impart a parlous emotion
to that teartully suicidal calling as prac-
ticed of the coast OF CeylOn, in the Per-
sian Gulf and in the Bay of Panama. AS
followed in the Earn or the Doom it is in
point of fact as pleasant as trout fishing
during hot day, infinitely more profit
able in the worst of times, and to the
hardy folks of the North, accustomed to
rough weather, bare feet and mountain
streams having their legs, scarcely so
risky to the constitution as landing a
salmon is to the well-coddled citizen, who
is afraid of the wind blowing on him for
eleven months in the year and passes the
twelfth wading in the icy rivers north of
the Tweed. Pearl fishing is, moreover, a
profession which requires no apprentice
ship. Like reading and writing to Dog
berry, it ''cOmes of nature to the humble
hunters after fortune, who have made
Unto collecting their own. The art is
simplicity itself. Elaborate apparatus is
not demanded, all the skill necessary
may be acquired in an hour, and expert
ence ayails little where there are no rules
and scarcely any dogma to guide the
manipulation. All that is required is to
search for the mussels nesting in the mud
and sand, seize them by the hand, if the
water is not deep, or, if beyond reach,
insert long stick between their gaping
valves, and then, when the shell closes,
lift the obstinate mollusk to the surface:
or, sometimes, should there be a cOnsid-
cradle number collected on one spot by
simply drawing split-ended pole among
them and taking the chance of one being
wedged into this rudely-imprOvised trap.
1t is, however, rare to find many together
They must be sought for in ones and twos,
and then tossed ashore until a heap worth
opening is accumulated,
There is of course no calculating when
a mussel viii or Will not contain a pearl,
or when the pearl will be of sufficient
value to return a fair days wages for
what the gem-seeker considers a fair
days work. About one in fifty or sixty is
said to reward the tOiler, but as a rule the
pearls are small, dark, and are only ''seed
pearls" which fetch low price in the
market, where they are bought chiefly for
the purpose of placing at the back or other
concealed part Of Orient pearl ornaments.
Some Of the better specimens will, how
ever, bring from 50 to Goethe latter
possessing pleasing pink hue, which is
permanent. Necklaces composed of this,
valued variety may now and then be seen
in the jewelers. shops Of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, priced at from $500 to 94O0. One
pearl in every fourteenth or fifteenth shell
is commonly said to return profit, and it
is affirmed that those from shingly beds,
or from the vicinity of fords, where the
sand is occasionally disturbed by horses
or cattle hOOfs, are most fruitful in the
eXcresence for which the mussel is es-
teemed. Wrinkled or deformed shells,
which presumably have been disturbed in
early life, are also considered by the mus
sci gatherers as more likely to contain
pearls than those with a smooth exterior
This is only in accord with what we know
of the mode in which pearls are formed
The interior Of many shells, the famous
Orient pearl oysters and the fresh-water
mussel, or URiO nldrgdriti ferd, included,
is lined by thick layer OF the glistening
substance known as nacre, or mother-of-
pearl.
This calcareOus matter is identical in
composition with pearl, and is deposited
wherever any irritating substance, like a
grain of sand or a bit of foreign matter of
any sort, finds an entrance into the body
of the mOllusk and cannot be eXtruded.
Then yearly, as the nacreous coat is de-
posted on the she'll, the irritating particle
receives its share, until it increases in
size and becomes a pearl, the ''water''
and shape of which depends entirely upon
the accidental manner in which the filmV
layers have been superimpOsed. So well
is this rationale of pearl formation under
stood that the Chinese have for ages
forced one species Of fresh-water mussel
to produce pearls by inserting between
the shell and the ''mantle'' of the mollusk
either small leaden shot or little spherical
pieces of mOther-Of-pearl, which in time
receive nacreOus covering, and resem-
bic the article they are intended to simu-
late. Small images of Buddha, covered
with nacre, are also another outcome of
this art. There is, therefore. no reason
for suppOsing that if the pearl oyster and