There is also a white which is not dark and is yet dead. To some extent it is characteristic of all fresh-water pearls. It is a chalky, milky white that even when lustrous, carries a reminder of chalk in the texture and lacks the essential life of the ideal pearl. Color in the highest perfection is found in the pearls of the Ceylon and Australian waters, the former being also very lustrous, and such are sometimes termed by the trade "Madras," after the city where the Indian pearls have been marketed for ages. It must not be inferred however that pearls equally good are not found in other localities, but that the color averages better, and the number of gems of ideal color and luster is greater from the Ceylon fisheries than elsewhere. The color and texture, and therefore luster, of fine Indian pearls is seldom equalled, never surpassed. To those who are without experience, and see for the first time a large quantity of pearls apparently alike in color, it would seem an easy matter to match any required number; but in attempting to gather sufficient for a single strand necklace, one would learn that a parcel or series of pearls, seemingly all white, contains a surprisingly great variety of shades or tones of color; that which appears at first sight quite easy becomes in the attempt extremely difficult. Probably nothing requires a sharper eye, a more delicate sense of color and greater patience, than the assembling of a finely matched string of pearls. Bearing in mind that size, shape, color, and perfection, must all correspond, it is not surprising that few strings exist which are above criticism. Those who buy them seldom realize what enormous quantities of pearls, and skilful and painstaking effort is necessary, to match perfectly, thirty or more, especially of large size. Pearls which, separated by a few inches seem alike, when brought close together reveal differences of texture and tone of color sufficiently pronounced to arrest the eye and destroy that ideal perfection of purity which permits no spot to mar the symmetry of an assemblage of these emblematic gems. It was said in old times that to match a pearl perfectly was to double the value of both; one may imagine therefore the difficulty which confronts the modern jeweller when he undertakes in this critical age to match thirty or forty. The color most common in pearls of all seas is yellow, but it is not so with fresh-water ones. Other colors are seldom found except as tints in white pearls, but distinctly yellow oriental pearls are abundant. The tones of color in the white are, yellow, blue, pink and green. They are so slight that it is difficult to recognize them except by comparison. The blue and pink are considered best, the champions of each being about equal. The green come next in favor and the yellow last. This order applies fully however to the Occident only. Some Oriental peoples do not draw such fine distinctions, and the Chinese prefer the creamy yellow to any other.