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THE PEARL
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Europeans, all watching sharply for great finds and ready to enter into the combat of wits which marks an oriental trading.
If
one remembers that there are probably twenty-five thousand traders
congregated on the hot sands of this far-off shore, the fair dame,
whose neck is clasped by a string of these precious globules, may
conjure from their lustrous skins, scenes as wild and weird as any
fairy tale that set her youth to dreaming.
The
pearls are sorted into a number of grades. Those perfect in sphericity
and luster are called'' ani.'' Anitari meaning '' followers'' or
"companions," are of the same general character, but poorer in those
important qualities. Masanku are somewhat irregular in shape and
faulty, especially in luster and color. The poorest of this class,
lacking the essential qualities, are separated into another grade and
called "kallipu." Next come "kural," double or twinned, and "pisal,"
are misshapen or clustered. Folded or bent pearls are " madanku," and
what we would call "rejection," a mixed lot of all sorts and sizes too
poor to include in any of the regular classifications, are termed
230
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