AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
their
pearly treasures have held desire constant and the eyes of modern
queens brighten when the opening of the gift casket reveals a string of
these spheres of beauty just as eyes did in the far-off Indies
thousands of years ago. When Europe was a land of barbarians and
America an unknown country of savages, dusky fingers that held the life
and destiny of millions, toyed lovingly with pearls, even as now the
favored few who enter the sanctum sanctorum of fortune, pride
themselves in the possession of them and find pleasure for cloyed
desire, in every addition to their store.
In
all ages, pearls have been the social insignia of rank among the highly
civilized. No other gem was so abundantly used for adornment by the
princes of the east. Above great diamonds from the mines of India or
glowing rubies from Burmah, the ocean gem became peerless among the
ancient nations of Asia and as their power began to wane and the tide
of empire swept westward, there went with it the love of pearls. The
rulers of Rome when she was Empress of the world sought pearls, so also
have the rich and powerful of every nation as it rose to affiu-
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