pearl
weighing only ten grains has been sold at the river for $1000; but it
is frequently the case that a fine gem will sell for more at the place
where found than in the great markets. During the spring of 1907, three
pearls were found in the Wabash near Vincennes, which weighed
forty-one, fifty-one, and fifty-three grains respectively. One of these
was white, one faint pink, and the third was yellow. The finest pearls
have been reported from the vicinity of Mount Carmel near the lower end
of the river. Very large quantities of baroques or slugs are found in
the Wabash and the Illinois; 30,000 ounces were reported from those
rivers and their tributaries in 1907, for which the fishermen received
a total of $50,000. A large symmetrical pearl found during 1907 weighed
a trifle under 150 grains, and a slug was found which weighed fully one
ounce, or 606 grains.
The
pearl-hunting excitement has been felt even on the Atlantic seaboard,
as a result of the publication of the discoveries in the Mississippi
Valley. In Maine many pearls have been reported, especially in the
vicinity of Moosehead Lake. In 1901 over one hundred were found in that
vicinity ; most of them were of little value, but more than a dozen
were worth $10 or $15 each. Three found by Kineo guides were sold for
an aggregate of $300. The choicest one reported in that year weighed
twelve and one half grains and sold for $150; had it been perfect in
form and luster its value would have been several times that amount.
Most of these pearls were found by Moosehead guides, who found
purchasers among the visiting fishermen and hunters.
Since
1901 many farm-boys as well as guides have devoted much attention to
the business, some of them deriving as large a revenue therefrom as
from the use of the rifle. Good finds have been made, during the last
year or two especially. In 1906, one choice pearl sold for $700, and
many have sold for $10 to $75 each. The search has proven so alluring
that returning visitors have complained that some of the guides care to
do little more than search every rill, brook, and creek they come
across looking for the mollusks. Just at present the principal
attention seems to be directed to the streams in the western part of
Maine, where the river-beds are more sandy and the shell-fish more
abundant than in the northern and eastern part of the State.
In Massachusetts pearls have been collected from many of the ponds and brooks. In Nonesuch Pond in Weston, the Unio complanata has
yielded many small ones of attractive appearance, but not of sufficient
size or luster to sell for more than $10 each. Ponds in the town of
Greenwich and also in Pelham in Hampshire County are among the best in
Massachusetts for pearls. The Sudbury River above Concord also yields
many. Relatively few of the Unios contain pearls, and the gem-bearing
individuals seem to be grouped in special localities. Out-
