There also were more clay pots and bowls and plates in this place than he had ever seen, and the markets showed not only those made here, but also those that had come by ship from distant ports all around the sea, some with strange and intricate designs, or beautiful reds or blacks fired right in. Now and then he saw trinkets of copper, or gold that had come from beyond the deserts on the far side of the Sea of the South. And there were colorful seashells of many kinds, and coral, which was a delicately bubbly rock-like substance, but softer and of lovely hues, that could be found under the water. Sometimes he saw things called pearls, which were smooth and round and shiny and came, he was told, from the inside of clams. Occasionally someone would ask if he might wish to trade one of the m
