Swimming out in the salt water, the mermaids would go in quest of pearls, coral, ambergris and other pretty things.
"Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks"
William Elliot Griffis
Oscar Wilde, who wrote, with a style dipped in ambergris, was truly a manifestation of the German spirit which began to invade us subtly at about that time.
"The Orchard of Tears"
Sax Rohmer
It seemed impertinent to make a convenience of such a splendid, early Roman sort of receptacle for a mere five minutes' splash; a bath of such magnificence ought, I felt, to be what Americans call a "function"; a ceremony for which you would prepare with perfumed ointments and ambergris, and protract for half a day, at least, not to be wasteful.
"Lady-Betty-Across-the-Water"
Lowell, Orson