a Mosk to the Kings of the Moors who reigned in those places In the Fleet which came from the the Indies in the year 1587 there were two great Chests of Emeralds from whence we may judge of the great quantity which is found in America In a word as there is nothing but the rarity that gives value to things so the price of the Emerald would be much enhanced if it were as rare as the Diamond CHAP. III. Of PEARLS THe Pearl hath been at all times so much esteemed that the Gospel does not disdain by this to represent to us the Excellency of the Kingdome of Heaven and it belonged formerly onely to Royal Persons to wear them without dispute 't is one of the richest productions of Nature and if we believe the Naturalists Pearl is ingendred of the dew of heaven in those parts of the Earth where it is most pure and serene And the Cockle opening at the first Rayes of the Sun to receive those precious drops plungeth into the Sea with its booty and conceives in its Shell the Pearl which resembles the heavens and imitateth its clearness this admirable Pearl which men seek with so much industry so that heaven does visibly contribute to its generation and impresses the most Celestial Vertues and Qualities which Physick was ever able to boast of and whereof she makes use for a Sovereign Remedy yet for all that all the World does not agree as to this with the Ancient Naturalists and the sequel of this Discourse will make appear that they are deceived in some things But before we speak of the manner how they fish for Pearl and of their different Qualities we must make report of the divers places of the World where they are found First of all then they have discovered four Fishing Places for Pearl in the East the most considerable is performed in the Isle of Bahren in the Persian Golph the which appertains to the Sophy of Persia who receives thence a great Revenue While the Portugals were Masters of Ormus and Mascati every Vessel which went to fish was obliged to take a Passport from them at a dear rate and they maintained alwayes five or six small Galleys in the Gulph to sink those Barks which took no Pasports but at present they have no farther power upon those Coasts and each Fisher payeth to the King of Persia not above one third of what they gave to the Portugals The second Fishing is over against Bahren upon the Coast of Arabia Foelix near to the City of Catif which belongeth to an Arabian Prince who commandeth that Province The most part of the Pearls which are fished in these two places are carried into India because that the Indians are not so hard but give a better price for them than we they are therefore carried thither the unequal as well as the round the yellow as well as the white every one according to its rate some of them also are sold at Balsora and those which are transported into Persia and Moscovy are sold at Bandarcongue two dayes journey from Ormus They fish twice in a year in the Moneths of March and April and in the Moneths of August and September the depth where they fish is from four to twelve fathoms and the deeper the Oister is found the Pearls are the whiter because the water is not so hot there the Sun not being able to penetrate so deep The third fishing is by the Isle of Ceylon at a place which is called Manar the Pearls which are found there are of a good water but small and the greatest do not surpass two Carrats and it is seldom that they are found of that weight but in recompence of this there is great quantity of Seed Pearl fit to powder The fourth and last Fishing in the East is at Japan the Pearls there are of a water white enough and heavy but unequal those of Japan sell them all to the Holland Company for they make no account as I shall let you know in order of any Jewel In the West are discovered five Pearl Fishings the first is in the Island Margarita two and twenty leagues from the firm land this Isle is thirty five leagues about and hath a good Haven towards the North at the East point it is all encompassed with rocks it is fruitful enough but there is want of water and the inhabitants go up into the Countrey to furnish themselves with it yet there are great store of Cattel and it beareth Maize and other things necessary for those who live there The second Fishing was discovered in the year 1496 by the Isle of Cubagua a league from the former in the Gulph of Mexico it is in ten degrees and an half of Northern Latitude an hundred and threescore Leagues from St. Domingo in Hispaniola and an hundred from Santa Cruz one of the Careeby Islands and four Leagues from the Province of Aria which is part of the Continent it is much less than Margarita without Cattel or any other thing which may serve for the sustenance of man particularly it wanteth water but the inhabitants are furnished from the Continent from a River called Comana seven Leagues from New Cadis This Island Cubagua was discovered by that famous Genouese Christopher Columbus who having perceived a small Boat with some Fishers in it and a Woman who had three rows of fair Pearl about her Neck said to his Companions That he thanked God he had now discovered the most rich Countrey in the World He broke an Earthen Plate of divers Colours and for a piece or two of it this Woman gave him very willingly a row of these Pearls and for another Plate he received many others and I darned of the Indians the place and manner of their Fishing for Pearls The third is at Comana near the Continent The fourth is called Comanagote twelve Leagues from the former The fifth and last is at the Isle of St. Martha threescore Leagues from the River La Hache All the Pearls of these five Fishings are of a white water weak dry faint milky or leady not but that they find some fair ones but they have not so live a water as those of the East in recompence they are great ones in weight from eighteen to forty two Carrats and are almost all of the shape of a Pear These Five Fishings of which I have spoken are all in the North Sea but they find also great quantities in the South Sea near to Panama they are long rather than round but not so fair as the other and ordinarily are somewhat black for the Indians opened the Oyster by Fire till Vasques Nugnez taught the Cacique to open them without it and since they find the Pearls whiter Experience teacheth us that Oysters change their places as well as other Fish and that they pass sometimes to one side of the Island and sometimes to the other It is is a considerable curiosity to know how they fish for Pearls
seven eight or nine men at most go in one Bark two of which descend to the bottom of the Sea six nine or twelve fathoms doep About the Isles of Margarita and Cubagua the water is very cold but the greatest difficulty in fishing is holding the breath under water sometimes a quarter of an hour or longer and that these poor Slaves may the better endure it they feed them with dry meats and in a little quantity avarice putting them upon these abstinences but besides this they use other expedients they put upon their Nose little Pincers made of Buffalo's Horn which stoppeth their Nostrils they stuffe their Ears with Cotton Wool Others hold Oil in their Mouths especially those who cannot hold their breath long Others hold their Mouth under their Arm-pits and after that manner breath two or three times under water There is a Sack of Stones or Sand tied to each of their Feet to make them sink strait to the bottom and another Bag tied about their Waste to put their Oysters in there is a Cord fastened under their Arm-pits held by them who remain in the Boat and they under water hold another Cord in their hands which they draw to give notice to those in the Boat that they can now hold their breath no longer and that they must draw them up quickly When they have found a thousand or two of these Oysters they sell them at adventure without knowing what is within them the Meat of the Oyster is without relish and of very ill digestion and is so far from being so good to eat as the meat of our Oysters of Spain or those of England that the very Fishermen disdain them and seldom eat any of them Acosta in the Fourth Book of his History glorieth that he had eat of thes◠Oysters and found Pearls in the middle of them When the night cometh the Fishermen retire to the Island and carry the Oysters home to him who employeth them Upon the opening they find in some none in others from one to six Pearls more or less and in some great number of grains which we call Seed-pearl These Oyster-shels are within of a lively colour towards an Azure they make Spoons of them and other Toys such as we call Mother of Pearl The Pearls are of very different forms bigness figure colour and polish and differ also much in their price It was an error of the Ancients as of Isidorus and Albertus Magnus to believe that the Pearl was bred by the dew of heaven seeing that they are fished out of the Sea so deep as twelve fathoms as also to think that there is but one found in an Oyster seeing that in some there are five or six in which Pliny also disagreeth with them while he relateth what Aelius Stilo writeth how that in the war of Jugurtha they gave the Name of Vniones to all great Pearls and that he had seen four or five in one Oyster It is true that seldom two of the same form greatness and colour are found in the same Oyster and for this reason as the same Pliny writeth the Romans called them Vniones When it happeneth that two are found which resemble one another perfectly it encreaseth their price very much and it may be those two famous ones of the Queen Cleopatra were of this sort each of which were valued at an hundred thousand Ducats with one of these that prodigal Princesse won the wager she laid with Mark Anthony that she would spend above an hundred thousand Ducats at one Supper she dissolved it in Vinegar and drank it off at the latter end of Supper the other was cut into two pieces and carried to Rome to the Pantheon to adorn the Statua of Venus The Pearls of those Oysters which stick to the Rocks are greater than those which are in the Sand or Mudde and those which are found in the Mudde incline somewhat to a dark colour for the rest as the Pearl seemeth to depend on the air as well as the water if in that time when the Oyster breedeth the Pearl the air be cloudy it inclineth to be black if the sky be clear it is the whiter The Pearls grow by little and little in an Oyster as the Eggs in a Pullet so that the greatest come forward towards the orifice or opening while the small ones remain at the bottom until they are brought to perfection And lastly the Pearls grow old and wrinkled and by consequence become less beautiful by losing of their lustre Scotland also produceth some Pearls but such as are not of the value and beauty of the Oriental Pearls One curious and intelligent in these matters furnished me with the following Rule for the price of Pearls according to their weight A Pearl weighing 1 Grain is worth 1 Crown 2 4 3 9 A Pearl weighing 1 Carrat is worth 16 Crowns 1 ¼ 25 1 ½ 36 1 ¾ 49 2 Carats 64 2 ¼ 81 2 ½ 100 2 ¾ 121 3 Carats 144 3 ¼ 169 3 ½ 196 3 ¾ 225 4 Carats 256 4 ¼ 289 4 ½ 324 4 ¾ 361 5 Carrats 400 5 ¼ 441 5 ½ 484 5 ¾ 529 6 Carrats 576 6 ¼ 625 6 ½ 675 6 ¾ 729 7 Carrats 784 7 ¼ 841 7 ½ 900 7 ¾ 960 8 Carrats 1024 CHAP. IV. Of CORALL ALthough that Corall and Yellow Amber are not ranked amongst Jewels yet they very well deserve a place in this History because both of them have something admirable in them and serve for Ornament nay some Nations have the same esteem for these as we have for Pearls and Diamonds There will then be three things to consider in this Chapter the Places where they fish for the Coral the manner how they fish and the Countreys where it is sold at the best rates First There are three Fishings for Coral upon the Coasts of Corsica and Sardinia one called Argueil which is the best and fairest the second called Baza the third is near to the Island of St. Peter That which groweth upon the Coast of Corsica is of the fairest colour and longest Upon the Coast of Africa there are two other Fishings that near to the Bastion of France and that of Tabarca The Coral of this is big enough and long but of a pale colour There is another Fishing upon the Coast of Sicily near to Drepanum the Coral of which is small but of a very good colour Another on the Coast of Catania by Cape Quiers where the Coral is thick and of an excellent colour but the Branches are very short There is also another Fishing in the Isle of Majorca where the Coral is of the same nature with that of Corsica so that the Coral if not onely is chiefly found in the Mediterranean Sea Let us now come to the manner of Fishing for it The Coral groweth under hollow Rocks at the foot of which the Sea is deep so that the Fishers proceed thus They fasten cross-wise two great Pieces of Timber and place a great Piece
of Lead in the middle to make them sink afterwards they tie Hemp about the Timber and wreath it about negligently to the thickness of an Inch they tie to the Wood two Ropes one hangeth at the Prow and the other at the Poop of the Vessel and so as they run along by the Rocks they let go the Wood and the Hemp windeth it self about the Coral There is need many times of fifteen or twenty Boats to draw up the Pieces of Timber but by plucking up the Coral thus by force there falleth as much into the Sea as can be drawn out and the bottom being ordinarily of Ouse or Mudde the Coral is corroded continually as if it were worm-eaten so that the sooner it is drawn up the less waste is made of it some think Coral to be soft under water though it be really hard yet true it is that at certain moneths of the year there is drawn from the end of the branch by pressing it a kind of Milk like that out of a Womans Breast which may very well be the seed of the Coral the which falling upon something or other in the Sea accidentally produceth another branch of Coral as it hath been really found upon a Skull and upon the Blade of a Sword The Fishing of Coral is performed from the beginning of April to the end of July and commonly two hundred Barks and upwards are employed to that effect seven men and a boy in each They are built all along the Coast of Genoa are very light and bear so great sail that no Men of War can bear up with them and it is by this means they escape the Corsairs The Fishing is performed forty miles along the Shore over against certain Capes that jet out where they presume there is Rocks under water There was lately to be seen at Marseilles in a Shop where they deal in Coral a piece of the bigness of ones Fist which they cut in two because it was somewhat worm-eaten and there was found within it a Worm which stirred and lived some moneths being put again into its hole 'T is observable that round about some branches of Coral there is bred as it were a Sponge resembling Cells wherein there lie small Worms like Bees so much Nature pleases her self in the diversity of her productions We must finish this Chapter by a pretty curious Observation Those of Japan contrary to all the rest of the World make no account of Pearls or Precious Stones and all their Jewels consist in a grain of Coral Now as they carry by their sides a great Bag such as our Mechanicks wear so is he the best man that hath the biggest grain of Coral to slip in his Purse String of Silk and to him who can bring them one of the bigness of an Egge they will not onely give a thousand Crowns but fifteen or twenty thousand or whatsoever he shall demand Moreover throughout all Asia and especially towards the North in the Great Mogol's Dominions and beyond the Mountains of Tartaria part of which hath lately conquered China the bravery of the Common sort of People is of Coral and they wear it as well about their Necks as upon their Arms and and Leggs and so much for Coral CHAP. V. Of Yellow Amber YEllow and White Amber are found no where in abundance but only upon the Banks of Prussia the Sea throwing it up time after time at certain Winds The Elector of Brandenbourgh lets out all these Coasts and the Farmers do there maintain Guards who lie all along the Coast to the end none may take it away which is very Criminal the Sea casts up the Amber sometimes on one side sometimes on the other As I have made an Observation of Coral in respect of Japan so I must make another of Amber in respect of China When any great Lord makes a considerable Feast to shew his magnificence and splendour at the close of the Feast they bring into the Hall three or four Perfuming Pots upon which they throw a large quantity of Amber sometimes to the value of a thousand Crowns and upwards seeing the more there is burnt of it so much the greater splendor it adds to him who treats Besides they make use of it after this manner because Amber thrown into the Fire giveth a certain Smell which is not unpleasant and because the Flame excels all other Flames Hence it is that Amber is one of the best Merchandices that one can bring into China and whereof the Holland Company does reserve to themselves the particular Commerce the Chineses coming to buy of them in Batavia I leave to Naturalists to treat of the Proprieties of Yellow Amber which is not the Subject of our Discourse CHAP. VI. Of Metals Amber-gris Bezoar Indico and other rich Productions of the East and West ALthough nothing that appears in this Title may come into the List of Jewels any more than Yellow Amber or Coral yet I may touch upon them as things the most precious which we receive from the East and West Metals are like Plants hidden in the Bowels of the Earth and there is some resemblance between them in the manner of their production Minerals have branches and a trunck from whence they grow and great and small Veins which are bound together and do seem to imitate Vegetables These Minerals are produced by the vertue and force of the Sun and the other Planets and in a long space of time are increased and multiplied in these obscure Caverns but there is this difference in the Earth which brings forth Plants and that which produceth Minerals that this is fat and fertile for the nourishment of that which it sendeth forth but on the contrary the other is rude and barren like the matter which it generates within Metals were created for the use of Physick for Agriculture and for the Defence and Ornament of Man not to speak of the Species of Gold and Silver so necessary to the entertaining of Society and Commerce Upon which one understanding enough said That as a Father giveth a great Portion to his Daughter by that means to provide her a more advantageous Match so God hath given to the Earth great riches in Mines to the end that Men might enquire into her with the greater care Iron Lead Copper and Tinne are found in so many places of the Earth that the Americans who have divers Mines of them neglect to dig them I will not give these therefore any place in this discourse and will content my self to say onely this that there is great quantity of Copper in Sweden that the best Tinne is brought out of Cornwal in the West of England and that the Peruvians make use of no other Lead Iron or Copper but what is brought them out of Europe although they have Mines of their own I will speak therefore onely of Gold and Silver which are the most pretious of all Metals and of Quicksilver which serveth to refine them both