I
have to thank pearls and precious stones, and other stones not so
precious, for my very existence. If I am not like the cheese-mite in
the Gorgonzola, "all cheese", at least my interests are almost as
exclusive and for the same reason. The cheese-mite and I were both
born in the business.
A
rough count for the purposes of this survey has revealed, to my
astonishment, that no fewer than forty-seven members of my family, more
or less closely related, have thought the gem business good enough for
them. Nor have their activities been confined to one country or even
one continent. In the fullest sense of the word they have looked upon
the world as their oyster. Poland, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Australia, Spain, Belgium, England, U.S.A., Venezuela, Panama, the
Philippine Islands, South Africa, China, Japan, Turkey, Brazil,
Colombia, Malaya, are some of the countries whither the feet of my
far-flung kin have strayed. Truly, like the British Empire, the sun
never sets on them! They also inhabit the older centres of the gem
trade where from time immemorial men have dealt in precious stones and
in pearls. The Habibs and the Rosenthals of Bahrein in the Persian
Gulf, and the Menasses of the Levant and Salonika and of India, are
also connections of mine, and these are names which men know honourably
wherever gems are the merchandise.
Success
in a material sense may not have come to all these relatives of mine.
But they fought their battles in a tough trade bravely enough and there
is success in that. Some of them were pioneers. I think, for instance,
of an uncle who went out to South Africa, lured by the early tales of
great discoveries of diamonds in the Cape. I believe
