We  found  large  cream-colored  volutes,  crawling
over  the  sand  in  the  shallow  water,  as  the  tide  re-
turned ;  sometimes,  away  up  above  the  highest  tides,
with  the  dried  animal  still  occupying  the  outer  cham-
ber, we  picked  up  that  little-known  sailor  of  the  trop-
ical seas,  the  pearly  nautilus.  But  it  is  for  the  pearl
oyster  (Meleagrina  margaritifera)  that  these  shallow
seas  are  best  known,  and  for  them  men  risk  their  lives
and  hazard  their  fortunes.
They  are  large,  flat,  pearly  shells,  in  places  an  inch
thick ;  and  are  generally  known,  the  world  over,  by
the  name  of  mother-of-pearl.
There  are  several  varieties,  and  three  or  four  grades
in  the  quality  of  shell.  They  all  bring  good  prices,
and  large  fortunes  have  been  made  at  the  business.
The  owner  of  a  pearl-shell  station  has  several  boats,
for  each  one  of  which  he  hires  a  diver  and  crew ;
these  are  generally  South  Sea  Islanders.  The  boats
are  equipped  with  the  best  of  modern  diving  armor,
air-pumps,  and  provisions,  and  bedding  for  the  men.
174


COLLECTOR  S   RAMBLES


Thus  they  start  out  for  the  shell  banks,  which  are
often  out  of  sight  of  land,  covered  with  from  fifty  to
seventy-five  feet  of  water.  When  the  boat  arrives  at
the  banks,  the  sail  is  lowered,  the  diver  descends  in  his


PEARL   OYSTER    AND    PEARLS.
