, by boring them
and attaching them to the ear by means of a deer sinew. Lesser stones
are pierced, then strung on sinews and worn as neck-laces. Even the
nobler Ute Indians, when stripping the ornaments of turquoise from
the ears of the conquered Navajos, value them as sacred treasures, and
refuse to part with them even for gold or silver.

All the Spanish accounts of the invasion of Mexico agree in the great
abundance of emeralds, both in the adornment of the chiefs and
nobles and also in the decoration of the gods, the thrones and the
paraphernalia. The Mexican historian Ixtlilxochitl says the throne
of gold in the palace of Tezcuco was inlaid with turquoises and other
precious stones--that a human skull in front of it was crowned with an
immense emerald of a pyramidal form.

The great standard of the republic of Tlascala was richly ornamented
with emeralds and silver-work. The fantastic helmets of the chiefs
glittered with gold and precious stones, and their plumes were set
with emeralds. The mantle of Montezuma was held together by a clasp of
the green chalchivitl (jade), and the same precious gem, with emeralds
of uncommon size, ornamented other parts of his dress.

The Mexicans carved the obdurate jade and emerald with wonderful
skill, using, like the Peruvians, nothing but silicious powder and
copper instruments alloyed with tin. They also worked with exquisite
taste in gold and silver, and they represented Nature so faithfully
and so beautifully that the great naturalist Hernandez took many
of these objects thus portrayed for his models when describing the
natural history of the country.

When Cortes returned home he displayed five emeralds of extraordinary
size and beauty, and presented them to his bride, the niece of the
duke de Bejar. On his famous expedition along the Pacific coast and up
the Gulf of California he was reduced to such want as to be obliged to
pawn these jewels for a time. One of them was as precious as Shylock's
turquoise, and Gomara states that some Genoese merchants who examined
it in Seville offered forty thousand golden ducats for it. One of the
emeralds was in the form of a rose; the second in that of a horn;
the third like a fish with eyes of gold; the fourth was like a little
bell, with a fine pearl for a tongue, and it bore on its rim the
following inscription in Spanish: "Blessed is he who created thee!"
The fifth, which was the most valuable of all, was in the form of a
small