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PEARL FISHERIES
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is
called is taken in great quantities. The two most beautiful species
found on this coast are, the Haliotis splendens, a magnificent shell of
rainbow coloring in which peacock green predominates, and H.
rufescens, the lining of which is red. When found, the latter is
usually thickly incrusted and coated with vegetation. The green and red
range from seven to ten inches, the latter being generally the larger.
Another
variety, H. cracherodii, very dark green or black without, and with no
apparent beauty, has a small opalescent bit inside the shell which is
cut out and made into articles of jewelry. This is common in crevices
of rocks. A variety called bluebacks has a bright clayey blue exterior.
The Indians of the Pacific coast have used these shells as material for
jewelry and decoration for centuries, but not until the button-makers
of Europe and New York began to utilize them did they become an item of
importance among the exports of the Pacific coast.
Few
pearls are found in the abalone but they yield a considerable number of
large rounded baroques and excrescences, rich and beautiful
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