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38
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THE BOOK OF THE PEARL
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view
is held even yet by the Arabs of that region. In giving their
explanation for the present scarcity in the Red Sea, he states :
"There is a belief among them that a pearl is formed from a drop of
rain caught in the mouth of the pearl-oyster, which by some chemical
process after a time turns into a pearl ; and as there has been very
little rain in that region for several years past, there are few
pearls."
So
firmly established throughout Europe was the belief in dew-formed
pearls, that its non-acceptance by the native Indians of America
excited the commiseration of the Italian historian Peter Martyr, in his
"De Orbe Novo," one of the very first books on America, published in
1517. He states : "But that they [pearls of Margarita Island on the
present coast of Venezuela] become white by the clearnesse of the
morning dewe, or waxe yelowe in troubled weather, or otherwise that
they seeme to rejoice in fayre weather and dear ayre, or contrary-wise,
to be as it were astonished and dymme in thunder and tempests, with
such other, the perfect knowledge hereof is not to be looked for at the
hands of these unlearned men, which handle the matter but grossly and
enquire no further than occasion serveth."1 Peter Martyr
was distinguished for his learning, was an instructor at the court of
Spain at the height of its power, and came in contact with the most
enlightened men of Europe, consequently it may be assumed that he
reflected the best opinions of his time.
It
was not long before the aborigines of America were not alone in
discrediting the views which had. prevailed in Europe for more than
fifteen hundred years. That practical old sailor Sir Richard Hawkins
concluded that this must be "some old philosopher's conceit, for it can
not be made probable how the dew should come into the oyster." 2
A similar view is expressed by Urbain Chauveton in his edition of
Giro-lamo Benzoni's "Historia del Mondo Nuovo," published at Geneva in
1578. From his reference to pearl-oysters on the Venezuelan coast, we
translate :
Around
the island of Cubagua and .elsewhere on the eastern coast, are sandy
places where the pearl-oysters grow. They produce their eggs in very
large quantities and likewise pearls at the same time. But it is
necessary to have patience to let them grow and mature to perfection.
They are soft at the beginning like the roe of fish; and as the mollusk
gradually grows, they grow also and slowly harden. Sometimes many are
found in one shell, which are hard and small, like gravel. Persons who
have seen them while fishing say that they are soft as long as they are
in the sea, and that the hardness comes to them only when they
are out of the water. Pliny says as much, speaking of the Orientals in
Book IX, of his Natural History, ch. 35.
1 Richard Eden edition, London, 1577, 10th ' Hawkins, "Voyage to the South Sea in
ch. of 3rd Decade, fol. 148α. 1593," London, 1847, p. 133.
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