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224 GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES IN THE
Mexico.
Every woman above the rank of a peasant must have at least one pearl to
ornament the pin that fastens her shawl or mantilla upon the top of her
head." It is common to see girls with strings of pearls around their
necks that would bring a large price in London, and there are women in
La Paz who have pearls of extraordinary value, but are so poor that
they have not means to buy food.
The
pearls of the Countess de Regia, of the Marquesa de Guadeloupe, and of
Madame Velasco are from these fisheries and are remarkable for their
size and value. The great pearl presented to Gen. Guadeloupe Victoria,
while President, was from the same locality. The pride of the Spanish
regalia is an enormous Mexican pearl which was secured near Loreto by a
Mexican diver. This most perfect pearl weighs 400 grains. In the Bay of
Muleje a pearl was taken weighing 400 grains and as large as a small egg. During
1883 several notable specimens were found, among them a light-brown
pearl, flecked with darker shades, weighing 260 grains, and valued at
$8,000. It was sent to Paris. Another one was pear-shaped, white, with
dark specks, weighed 176 grains, and sold for $7,500. About the same
time the pearl merchants of La Paz secured a pearl from some unknown
Indian diver for which they paid $10, and received for it $5,500 in
France. It was oval-shaped, of a light sandy color, perfect in contour
and brilliant in lustre, and weighed 32 carats. In 1881 a black pearl,
weighing 162 grains, was sold in Paris for $10,000. During 1884 two
other pearls, weighing respectively 140 and 124 grains, and of
surprising lustre, brought $11,000. Recently a pearl from these beds,
weighing 48 grains, was sold in London for $7,500. A black pearl
weighing 108 grains, taken from the San Lorenzo Channel, was sold for
$3,000. A year later one of the principal shipowners found a pearl
weighing 300 grains, and in the same year another weighing 180 grains
was sold in Paris for $1,000. More recently a fine pearl was found in
the Bay of Guaymas that weighed 372 grains. At the World's Fair held in
Paris during 1889 there was exhibited a set of seven black pearls from
this district valued at $22,000. The poorer pearls are sold in Germany,
the finest in the United States and France.
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