In
Florida and South America, the conditions, when the country was
discovered by the Spaniards, were different. The ancient races,
corresponding with the mound-builders of the north, undisturbed by the
incursions of stronger tribes, had continued to progress and had
reached a high degree of barbarous luxury.
In
Mexico, when Montezuma gave audience to Cortez, he was ablaze with gold
and silver and precious stones. His cloak and sandals were adorned with
pearls. Pearls were used to decorate temples, canoes and even the
paddles. Indian women had great strings of them coiled around their
necks and arms, and the chiefs used them freely on all occasions of
state. It was-the same on the Colombian coasts.
At
the island of Cubagua and on the main coast, Columbus found great
quantities of pearls, as did De Soto and his followers when they landed
at Tampa Bay, known by the Spaniards as'' Spiritu Santo,'' in Florida
in 1539. The Incas of Peru also owned many fine pearls. Though
the natives of all these countries ignorantly injured the gems by
cooking the oyster to extract them, or by their crude methods of
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