"One of the favorite fishing-grounds for pearls is at Bahrein, on the Persian Gulf. The divers bring in the oysters from the fishing-banks in the gulf, and pile them on the shore in great heaps. Here they lie till they are rotted; and the stench that arises is enough to turn any inexperienced stomach. When the substance of the oyster is quite decomposed, the shells are opened, and the mass of matter they contain is thrown into tubs and washed with water. It is necessary to pass the pulp very carefully through the fingers for fear that some of the pearls will be lost, and consequently the washing is very slow. When a pearl beyond a certain size is found, the washer receives a handsome present; but below the regulation figure he gets nothing but his daily wages. Large pearls are very rare, and consequently the chances that a pearl-washer will make a fortune by a lucky find are exceedingly small.
PERSIAN GULF DIVER.PERSIAN GULF DIVER.
"There is a belief quite current through the East that the pearl is a drop of rain-water which has fallen into the shell of the oyster when he was at the surface, and been afterwards hardened. This is a pretty bit of sentiment; but as the oyster never goes to the surface unless he is carried there, the story does not have much foundation to rest upon."
"If the pearl is so valuable, and so difficult to get, I should think there would be men who would try to imitate it," Frank remarked.
"You are quite right," was the reply; "and men have tried a great many times to make false pearls."
"Have they succeeded?"
"Partially; but not altogether. No counterfeit pearl has yet been made that could pass all the tests of the genuine; but their lustre is quite equal, sometimes, to the best pearls of Ceylon, and they can be made to deceive anybody but an expert."
"How do they make them?"