River Pearls ; British and Foreign. 241
among
certain families not only a trade, but their sole means óf livelihood.
A more agreeable pursuit of the manual order can scarcely be imagined,
and is, in point of fact, as pleasant as trout-fishing on a hot day,
and infinitely more profitable in the worst of times. Elaborate
apparatus is not needed, all the skill necessary may be acquired in an
hour, and experience avails little where there are no rules, and
scarcely any dogma, to guide the manipulator. During the years 1761 to
1764, Pearls to the value of £10,000 were sent to London from the rivers Tay and Isla.
The
following curious extract from "An Accompt current betwixt Scotland and
England," by John Spruel (Edinburgh, 1705), will give an idea of the
opinions then entertained of their value and importance:— ,
"
If a Scotch Pearl be of a fine transparent colour, and perfectly round,
and of any great bigness, it may be worth 15, 20, 30, 40 to 50 rix
dollars : yea, I have given 100 rix dollars (£16 gs. 2d.) for
one, but that is rarely to get such. ... I have dealt in Pearls these
forty years and more, and yet to this day I could never sell a necklace
of fine Scots Pearl in Scotland, nor yet fine pendants, the generality
seeking for Oriental Pearls, because farther
Q
