THE PEARL OYSTER. 827

a great age, and often undergo intense suffering, besides
the dread of the ground shark, which proves a constant
source of apprehension, as many divers are killed, or at least
lose their limbs, by this terrible enemy almost every season.
It is not uncommon for these men to die from apoplexy ; it
is said that one expired immediately on reaching land,
having brought with him one shell containing a pearl of
great size and exquisite lustre. The following beautifal
lines form part of a poem written on this incident, and ¢ en-
titled ‘The Pearl-wearer :’"—

“ Within the midnight of her hair,
Half-hidden in its deepest deeps,
A single, peerless, priceleas pearl,
All filmy-eyed for ever sleeps.
Without the diamond’s sparkling eyes,
The ruby’s blashes—there it lies,
Modest as the tender dawn,
When her purple veil ’s withdrawn.—
The flower of gems, a lily cold and pale!
Yet what doth all avail ?—
All its beauty, all its grace,
All the honours of its place ?
He who pluck’d it from its bed,
In the far blue Indian ocean,
Lieth without life or motion,
In his earthly dwelling—dead |