great exhibitions of late years, a large number of articles have been exhibited, manufactured from this substance, as well as specimens of the silk for making up.

Pearl Oysters and Their Treasures.

The passion for pearls was at its height about the period when Roman freedom was extinguished, and in the imperial city pearls were valued as highly as precious stones. A pearl, celebrated in Pliny's time, was bought by Tavenier for $50,000. In Asia this taste was of more ancient date, nor has it ever declined. A string of pearls of the largest size is an indispensable part of an Eastern monarch's decorations. It was thus that Tippoo was adorned when he fell before the gates of his capital; and the rulers of Persia have for ages been similarly decorated. Shakespeare gives us the following colloquy:

Cleopatra.-How goes it with my brave Antony?
Alexas. Last thing he did, dear queen,

He kiss'd—the last of many doubled kisses—
This orient pearl ;-his speech sticks in my heart.
Cleopatra.-Mine ear must pluck it thence.
"Good friend," quoth he,

Alexas.

"Say, the firm Roman to great Egypt sends

This treasure of an oyster."

The pearl oysters, like those with which we are familiar, lie in banks, at greater or less depths in the sea. Such banks, for example, occur on the western side of the island of Ceylon, about fifteen miles from the shore, where their average depth is about twelve fathoms. Here the greatest of all pearl fisheries has been carried on for many centuries. They seem always to have been considered the property of the king or kings of Ceylon; but since the occupation of the island by the British, the privilege of fishing on them has been sold sometimes by auction, the sales being made only for one season.

The pearl fishery always begins in the month of April, because the sea has then a beautiful tranquility; and is generally continued to the middle or end of May. It attracts to the coast not only a multitude of the Cingalese, but the crowds of speculators from all parts of the vast Indian peninsula, whose variety of language, costume and manners is described as very striking and pleasing. On the eve of the fishery there is a curious and picturesque spectacle.

The signal for beginning the fishing is given at day-break by the discharge of a cannon; on which a countless fleet of boats, that have started for the shore at midnight, and, favored by a land breeze, have reached the oyster banks before dawn, cast anchor in the respective parts for which

their owners have contracted, or at which they are appointed to work. Inspectors are in attendance to prevent any irregularity in these respects. That they may descend through the water with greater rapidity to the bank round which the oysters are clustered, the divers place their feet on a stone attached to the end of a rope, the other end of which is made fast to the boat; they carry with them another rope, the extremity of which is held by two men in the boat, whilst to the lower part that descends with the diver, there is fastened a net or basket. Every diver is also provided with a strong knife to detach the oysters, or to serve him as a defensive

weapon if he should be attacked by a shark. On touching the ground, they gather the oysters with all possible speed, and, having filled their net or basket, they quit their hold of the rope with the stone, pull that which is held by the sailors in the boat, and rapidly ascend to the surface of the sea.

Pearls of an inferior description are formed in a fresh-water bivalve. It is probable that pearls from this source, collected by the ancient Britons, may have given rise to the statement by Tacitus in his "Life of Agricola," of pearls not very orient, but pale and wan," being among the indigenous products of Great Britain.

The origin of pearls has led to much discussion, but it should be remembered that the instinct of every shell-dweller is prepared to meet all the exigencies of its being. However rough and rugged be the exterior of its abode-gradually adapted to its growth-the interior is invariably made exquisitely smooth, and often highly iridescent. And should some grain of sand or other substance enter its dwelling, and be likely to irritate its tender body, it wraps it up in the iridescent substance which it secretes at pleasure, and changes it into a pearl!

In our sea-side walks, we may often see—

Rocks, rough with limpets and brown tangle weed,
Jut here and there-whilst on the sturdy cliff

Its cable sure the crafty mussel spins,
Lashing itself for safety to the rock.

Here and there,

Speckled with slaty spots of green, that tell
Where 'neath their emerald fringes cockles hide,
Strange shells, the marvels of old ocean's bed,
Are strewed around. Have they been always here?
Or came they hither from far distant shores,
Unwilling captives of careering waves?

CHAPTER XI.

SHIPWRECKS AND OCEAN ADVENTURES.

The Benefits of the Ocean very Costly-A Devouring Moloch-Human Victims and Horrible Gifts-Rich Cargoes Swallowed Up-Innumerable Human Victims-Ships on Fire-Taking to the Boats-Sailors Familiar with DangerHorrors of the Great Abyss-Washington Irving's Graphic Description of a Shipwreck-Dismal Stories-Startling Adventures of a Ship Captain-A Drowning Cry Mingling with the Wind--Perils of Arctic Voyages-Loss of the Ship "Jeannette"-Ice Hammering at the Vessel-Melville Taking a PhotographHasty Preparations to Leave--Three Boats Lowered-" There She Goes!"— Encamping on the Ice-Boat Mounted on Sleds-Long and Toilsome Journey— Silk Flag Unfurled on Bennett Island-Capturing Arctic Animals--The Great Sea-Cow-"Funny Wee Fishes”—Terrific Battle with Walruses-Fast Loading and Firing-Loss of the "Essex"-Captain Pollard's Vivid Narrative-Repeated Attacks of an Immense Whale-The Ship Stove-Three Little Boats in the Great Deep-A Barren Island-Frightful Sufferings-Again on the Trackless SeaMiraculous Escape-Rescue of Men from the Island-Horrid Cannibalism-Tornadoes and Water-Spouts-Elements at War-A Thousand Ships Go DownWreck of the Royal Fleet-Immense Loss of Life-Huge Cannon Blown Away by the Hurricane—An Appalling Scene.

HE benefits of ocean are immense; but we must own that they are very dearly purchased. Certain ancient races made for themselves deities of the most greedy and sanguinary character; the Moloch of the Canaanites, the Teutates of the Gauls, granted nothing to the prayers of their votaries unless their prayers were accompanied with the most horrible gifts. Perfumes, gold, precious stones, the blood of animals, could not suffice them; they demanded human victims; the more tears these offerings cost, the more they were valued; they were required to be renewed at definite epochs, which however did not prevent the god from insisting upon an increase under certain circumstances. War and peace, harvests, great enterprises, public calamities, were so many occasions for which the poor wretches submitted to the caprices of these monsters to pour out piously the blood of their prisoners, their slaves, their fellow-citizens, even of their own children.

Alas! human sacrifices have not ceased with the worship of these false gods; and it is not only some few barbarous races, but even the most polished Christian nations, the most civilized and the most enlightened, who pay a ghastly tribute to Ocean, the new Moloch. We

do not speak of the ships lost, of the rich cargoes swallowed up—these would be little; but one trembles to think of the innumerable victims who have perished in the bosom of the waves, and of whom every year increases the funeral record.

If mariners had only the rock, the reef, the hidden shoal, and the tempest to fear! But so many other dangers threaten, and may at any moment overcome them, even when they imagine their security complete. For those who go down to the sea in ships, no element is more formidable than fire. It can only be extinguished by sinking the vessel, so that the unhappy mariner has but to choose between two kinds of death. There is no refuge, no means of safety, except the boats, into which the panic stricken crew often precipitate themselves headlong, and frequently capsize them by overloading.

Another too frequent cause of disaster is collision. Two ships at night, or in a dense fog, encounter each other, to the serious injury of both, and usually to the utter ruin of one. This danger would seem the most easily avoided; and such, indeed, might be the case, if the nautical regulations were more strictly preserved, and if ships in bad weather invariably showed their lights. But men grow familiar with danger, and neglect these precautions, which, moreover, under certain circumstances would still be insufficient.

Washington Irving's Description of a Wreck.

Washington Irving, poet and historian, one of the literary glories of America, has described with his wonted elegance and vivacity the impressions produced upon his mind by his first voyage. We will quote the most characteristic episode of his charming narrative :—

We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. At sea everything that breaks the monotony of the surrounding expanse attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have been completely wrecked, for there were the remains of handkerchiefs by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to the spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by which the name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months; clusters of shell-fish had fastened about it, and long sea-weeds flaunted at its sides.

"But where, thought I, are the crew? Their struggle has long been over-they have gone down amidst the roar of the tempest-their bones lie whitening among the caverns of the deep. Silence, oblivion, like the waves, have closed over them, and no one can tell the story of their end. What sighs have been wafted after that ship! what prayers offered up at