of
pearls around the neck of a woman. Having a plate of Valencia-ware, a
kind of porcelain painted and varnished with gaudy colors, he broke it,
and presented the pieces to the Indian woman, who gave him in exchange
a considerable number of her pearls. These he carried to the admiral,
who immediately sent persons on shore well provided with Valencian
plates and hawks'-bells, for which, in a little time, he procured about
three pounds' weight of pearls, some of which were of a very large
size, and were sent by him afterward to the sovereigns as specimens.
At
the time of the Spanish invasion, the pearl was held in high esteem by
the Mexican people as an ornament, and, upon occasions of state, its
beauties were invoked to increase the magnificence of the apparel and
lend additional lustre to the pomp of royalty. When Montezuma alighted
from his regal palanquin, " blazing with burnished gold " and
overshadowed by a " canopy of gaudy feather-work powdered with jewels
and fringed with silver," to grant personal audience to Cortez, his
cloak and golden-soled sandals were sprinkled with pearls and precious
stones.
To
Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Tumaco gave jewels of gold and 200 pearls of
great size and beauty, although they were somewhat discolored.
Observing the value which the Spaniards set upon them, the cacique
sent a number of his men to fish for them. The largest pearls were
generally found in the deepest water, sometimes in three or four
fathoms, and were sought only in calm weather. The smaller pearls were
taken at a depth of two or three feet, and the oysters containing them
were often driven in quantities on the beach during the violent storms.
The party of pearl divers sent by the cacique consisted of thirty
Indians, with whom Balboa sent six Spaniards as eyewitnesses. A number
of the shell-fish were driven on shore, from which they collected
enough to yield pearls to the value of twelve marks of gold. They were
small but exceedingly beautiful, not having been injured by heat like
those collected by the Indians, who, opened the shells by putting them
in a fire, and many of these pearls were sent to Spain as specimens.1
1 Life and Voyages of Columbus and his Companions, by Washington Irving (New York, 1849), Vol. 3, p. 181.
