It is very natural to suppose, that some people of the East had a communication and trade with the new world, before we attempted to share it with them; and that the emeralds, they had brought from that quarter, were those which came afterwards into Europe, and were called the _Oriental_, till they were confounded with the [160]Peruvian, by the quantity of that kind brought into the East Indies, by the Jews and Moors, after the discovery of the new Continent.
But what invincibly proves, that the ancients and we are not agreed as to the same stone, is, that [161]Theophrastus says, that in the Egyptian commentaries he saw mention made of an emerald four cubits, (six feet long,) which was sent as a present to one of their kings; and in one of the temples of Jupiter in Egypt he saw an obelisk 60 feet high, made of four emeralds: and Roderick of Toledo informs us, that, when the Saracens took that city, Tarik, their chief, had a table of an emerald 365 cubits, or 547½ feet long. The Moorish histories of the invasion of Spain are full of such emeralds.
Having satisfied my curiosity as to these mountains, without having seen a living creature, I returned to my boat, where I found all well, and an excellent dinner of fish prepared. These were of three kinds, called Bisser, Surrumbac, and Nhoude el Benaat. The first of these seems to be of the Oyster-kind, but the shells are both equally curved and hollow, and open with a hinge on the side like a mussel. It has a large beard, like an oyster, which is not eatable, but which should be stript off. We found some of these two feet long, but the largest I believe ever seen composes the baptismal font in the church of Notre Dame in Paris[162]. The second is the Concha Veneris, with large projecting points like fingers. The third, called the Breasts of the Virgin, is a beautiful shell, perfectly pyramidal, generally about four inches in height, and beautifully variegated with mother-of-pearl, and green. All these fishes have a peppery taste, but are not therefore reckoned the less wholesome, and they are so much the more convenient, that they carry that ingredient of spice along with them for sauce, with which travellers, like me, very seldom burden themselves.