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WELL, SINCE I'M TALKING ABOUT CLEOPATRA,
I ASKED BUTTERBYE TO TRANSFORM ME INTO
THE GREAT CLEOPATRA HERSELF!
I'M THE CUTE LITTLE GOLD NUMBER AT THE TOP!
HOW DO I LOOK? NO COMMENT, HUH?

NOW, YOU MAY WONDER,
WHAT HAVE PEARLS GOT TO DO WITH CLEOPATRA..
WELL, THIS IS THE SCOOP!

NOW LET ME JUST CHECK MY MAGE

AND CONSULT THE ALL SEEING EYE

OK....... HERE GOES....
ACCORDING TO LEGEND.......

"There have been two pearls that were the largest in the whole of
history; both were owned by Cleopatra, the last of the Queens of Egypt.
They had come down to her through the hands of the Kings of the East.

She is said to have bet Mark Anthony that she could host the most
expensive party. Antony was full of curiosity to see what in the world she
was going to do to keep that bet!

You just wouldn't believe what that girl did!

What did she do?

Well, she dissolved a large pearl earring in vinegar and drank it!

Now that's going some way to win a bet, wouldn't you say?

In accordance with previous instructions the servants placed in front of
her only a single vessel containing vinegar, the strong rough quality of
which can melt pearls. She was at the moment wearing in her ears that
remarkable and truly unique work of nature. She took one earring off
and dropped the pearl in the vinegar, and when it was melted swallowed
it!

With this goes the story that when Cleopatra, who had won on this
important issue was captured, the second of this pair of pearls were cut
in two pieces, so that half a helping of the jewel might be in each of the
ears of Venus in the Pantheon at Rome."

The value of the pearl that Cleopatra dropped in her cup was said by
Pliny to be worth ten million sesterces or a hundred thousand gold aurei.
The aureus was 95% pure gold or 22 carat. So what could a gold aurei
buy? Well, for example: 8 aurei would buy 23 acres of woodland in Kent
or 1 aureus would buy 200 pounds of flour!

Girl, what a waste of fantastic jewelry!

How Cleopatra could manage to drink her vinegar-and-pearl concoction,
I really don't know!

But, it can be explained......

Wine, if it still is to be drinkable, is not more than 0.1% acetic acid and
not sufficiently acidic to dissolve a pearl, at least not quickly enough to
have impressed Antony! But wine vinegar, on the other hand, is
approximately 5-6% acetic acid, a concentration necessary if the calcium
carbonate is to be readily dissolved by the acid-base reaction that takes
place, the acid being neutralized by the calcium carbonate, much like an
antacid. Intriguingly, there is a name for the residue obtained from the
precipitate of an acid solution: it's called....."magistery".

Well......Cleopatra�s magistery of pearl, offered in toast to Antony, was
thought to be an aphrodisiac, probably because pearls were associated
with Venus and both were born of the ocean.

WELL... CLEO DRINKING PEARLS IS ONE THING!

BUT LEGENDS AND CURSES? WELL....THAT'S ANOTHER STORY!

ONE OF THE STRANGEST STORIES CONCERNS

THE CURSE OF THE ROSEATE PEARL!

The mysterious fabled Roseate pearl is an Akoya pearl from western
Australia. It is said the this pearl has a curse linked to it, much like that
of the Hope Diamond! Oh my!

The Roseate Pearl's last purported owner was Abraham de Vahl Davies.
Davies was, among other things, a prominent entrepreneur in the Broome
pearling industry around the turn of the century.

As legend goes, Davies had just purchased the famous Roseate Pearl for
�20,000 pounds. This gem had been attributed to several mysterious and
violent deaths, even murders of the previous owners after acquiring this
pearl. Curious and more curious.......

After purchasing the pearl, Davies set out for a voyage aboard the SS
Koombana with what else but the pearl in his possession.....

The SS Koombana was a coastal passenger and cargo
steamship which sank at an unknown location north of
Port Hedland, Western Australia during a cyclone on
20 March 1912, with the loss of approximately

138 lives, including 20 crew. Other than some floating wreckage, no
trace was ever found of the ship.The Koombana had sailed into the full
fury of the cyclone and was never seen again. There were no survivors.

Abraham Davies died aboard the Koombana, taking the pearl and its
mystery with him to his death during the cyclone.

Ninety years later, there are still questions being asked about the sinking
of the Koombana ...especially by Graham De Vahl Davies .... Abraham
Davies' grandson. Where does the ship rest? Why has it never been
found?.......Is the pearl still aboard the ill fated ship? Was Abraham
Davies a victim of the curse of the Roseate Pearl? Did the pearl ever
exist?

We may never know the secrets of the Roseate Pearl
BUT................the mystery continues...........

Do you believe in Ghosts?

There were claims that the ghost of Mr Davies haunted
the historic Bishop�s Palace in Broome, his original home,
before it was demolished in 1980.

Was he trying to tell us something?

As the story unfolds, his house later became the palace of the first
Anglican Bishop of the North-West, Bishop Gerard Trower (1860-1928).
One night, Trower awoke to see a ghostly figure standing in a pool of
light. The figure was dressed in the garments of a Rabbi. When the
Bishop called to the figure it promptly vanished. The same figure was
seen by others on a number of further occasions, usually late in the
afternoon or early in the evening.

The Roseate Pearl seems destined to enter into the company of cursed
stones, Egyptian Mummies...and lost gold mines, all of which are said to
put a curse and bring ill-luck to its possessor.

Perhaps in time, the answer will be brought to light.....
Until then.......it's up to you to decide!
Or, maybe one day your sense of adventure
will lead you to discover the answer!

WE'LL LEAVE THE CURSES BEHIND US FOR NOW...
ONE CURSE AT A TIME......IS QUITE ENOUGH FOR ME!
BUT MY.. O.. MY......... MY LEGENDS ARE FAR FROM DONE!

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BLACK PEARL?

The beauty and mystery of the black pearl has inspired many legends!

DID YOU KNOW...............

The ancient Chinese believed that pearls
were conceived in the brains of dragons?

In Imperial China, the black pearl was
regarded as a symbol of wisdom. As such,
it was guarded between the teeth of the
dragon.

Greeks & Romans thought pearls were born from a drop of rain or dew
collected by oysters.

In Ceylon, legend tells how the tears of Adam & Eve created a lake
that gave birth to pearls, white or pink pearls from Eve's
tears, and the more precious and rare gray or black pearls from
Adam's tears.

Why the difference?

Man knows better how to control his emotions, according to legend.
Therefore his tears are more valuable. If you believe that.....I'll sell you
some snowy mountains in the Up-the-Creek...Down-the-Creek desert on
Puppy World! Then you'll really be up the creek!

Well......my legends and curses are done for now.....
but don't you worry your head, I'll be back..... That's a promise!

Now what are the others up to? Guess we better find out!

Come on....Let's FLY!