Other whiles we entertained our selves in gathering of pearles out of mussels, whereof there are aboundance in all places, from Cape Froward to the end of the straites.
The pearles are but of a bad colour, and small; but it may be that in the great mussels, in deeper water, the pearles are bigger, and of greater value; of the small seed pearle, there was great quantitie, and the mussels were a great refreshing unto us; for they were exceeding good, and in great plentie. And here let me crave pardon if I erre, seeing I disclaime from being a naturalist, by delivering my opinion touching the breeding of these pearles, which I thinke to be of a farre different nature and qualitie to those found in the East and West Indies, which are found in oysters; growing in the shell, under the ruff of the oyster, some say of the dewe, which I hold to be some old philosophers conceit, for that it cannot bee made probable how the dew should come into the oyster; and if this were true, then questionlesse, wee should have them in our oysters as in those of the East and West Indies; but those oysters were, by the Creator, made to bring foorth this rare fruite, all their shels being, to looke to, pearle itselfe. And the other pearles found in our oysters and mussels, in divers partes, are ingendred out of the fatnesse of the fish, in the very substance of the fish; so that in some mussels have beene found twenty, and thirty, in severall partes of the fish, and these not perfect in colour, nor clearenes, as those found in the pearle-oysters, which are ever perfect in colour and clearenes, like the sunne in his rising, and therefore called orientall; and not, as is supposed, because out of the East, for they are as well found in the West, and no way inferior to those of the East Indies.
Other fish, besides seales and crabbes, like shrimpes, and one whale, with two or three porpusses, wee saw not in all the straites. Heere we made also a survay of our victuals; and opening certaine barrels of oaten meale, wee found a great part of some of them, as also of our pipes and fatts[168] of bread, eaten and consumed by the ratts; doubtlesse, a fift part of my company did not eate so much as these devoured, as wee found dayly in comming to spend any of our provisions.