MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN NO. 7. THE SACRED CHANK OF INDIA ■i^y^.-'y^>j^^i^^^^^ AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF MADRAS GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS. IN INDIA. R. Cambkat » us. The formula to ensure a change in the current is short and most explicit ; it reads " With the help of the power of Siva and his consort, with the help of his grace, of his strength and of his priests, (I conjure you) Oh Subramanian, Lord of Earth, Oh Hanuman, and Oh Arjuna, supreme Lord, come, with a current from the south towards the shore " {i.e. to the northward). The calls made upon Hindu gods in spells used at the present day by Roman Catholic Parawas probably indicates great antiquity and may mark them as survi- vals from that time prior to the Portuguese arrival when, according to Marco Polo, the divers of Kayal had to " pay those men who charm the great fishes to prevent them from injuring the divers while engaged in seeking pearls under water, one-twentieth part of all that they 20 take. These fish-charmers are termed Abraianian and their charm holds good for that day only, for at night they dissolve the charm so that the fishes can work misch'efat their will. These Abraiaman know also how t ) charm beasts and birds and every living thing " (" The Book of Ser Marco Polo," Yule, London, 1871). Marco Polo's information on South Indian customs is so re- markably accurate in those points where we can check his statements that it becomes reasonably certain that the shark-charmers were Brahman priests (Abraiaman) during the days when the Parawas professed the Hindu religion. So long as catches are good, no people are less superstitious than these divers — their thoughts revolve around work and toddy alone ; with poor results al 1 manner of superstitions crop up — some one has laid a spell on the weather out of spite or they have done some unchancy thing such as meeting a Brahman or a widow when leaving home. With the approach of the south-west monsoon in May a heavy swell and current from the south are frequently experienced on the chank beds. Not infrequently this current brings shoals of medusae and siphonophorcs into the Gulf, and these the divers dread even more than sharks. At times the water is alive with shoals of the frilly Chrysaora pulsating their way along or with myriads of the beautiful purple-blue floats of the Portuguese man-o'-war [Pkysalia), and when this hap- pens, good-bye may be said to any further fishing. But the chief difficulty experienced in the successful prosecution of a chank fishery arises when a pearl fishery takes place the same season. The divers can think of nothing else, and live for weeks beforehand a ha))py careless idle life on money borrowed in anticipation of the big gains to be had, honestly or otherwise, when the pearl harvest begins. Persuasion is vain under such circumstances and when the pearl fishery begins, the chank one has to be closed. Whether their gains be great or not, the divers at the end of a pearl fishery come home tired out and in no condition to resume the hard labour of chank fishing. The philosophic attitude is to view these interruptions as useful intervals when the chank population may raise up seed to themselves in ^t abundance and so replenish the sea-bottom with new venerations The chank fishery although thus beset with its own minor troubles and particular difficulties has been a constant revenue yielder. During the it2 years since i8oi the total ;^6'/ revenue, after all expenses have been paid, has amounted to Rs. 15,41,731, as against a net revenue of Rs. 15,64,071 froni the pearl fishery. During these 112 years, chank fisheries were held yearly except on four occasions, 1839-40, 1851-52, 1871-72 and 1884-85, giving 108 fisheries for this period of 112 years. As a contrast only 13 pearl fisheries have been held during the same space of timie and as considerable expenditure is entailed annually upon inspection of the l)carl banks whether a pearl fishery takes place or not, the absolute profit obtained from the chank fishery consi- derably exceeds that obtained from the pearl fishery. Thus while both fisheries yield substantial profits to the country, the more showy pearl fishery, invested with the false glamour of a gambler's royal road to wealth, has over- shadowed the steady dividend payer which lures no man to ruin with false hopes but pays its way year by year with stolid and assured regularity. Well might Van I mhoff remark when Governor of Ceylon that the pearl fishery is more of glitter than of gold ! As carried on at the present day, the Tinnevelly chank fishery employs an average of 70 divers, so, allow- ing an average of 4 dependents each, some 350 persons look to this calling for their subsistence, to say nothing of the considerable number who derive substantial indirect profit —notably the arrack renters and the toddy-tavern keepers. The season opens about the middle or end of October, when the divers come forward with more or less feigned reluctance to register their names for the ensuing season. A present of Re. 1 is given each man in order to buy and prepare his diving rope and other gear while betel leaf and arecanut {pan supari) are distributed. An advance of Rs. 2 per man is also usually given, to be recovered when catches become large. rhe men provide their own canoes and diving stones, usually hiring the former at Rs. 7 to Rs. 9 per mensem. The usual crew of an ordinary sized diving canoe consists 25 ojf six divers and one thodai who tends the divers' lines, drawing up the stone and securing it at the gunwale ready for use again, after each man dives. He also looks after the baling of the boat, the supply of drinking water and such odd jobs. He is paid by a contribution either in cash or in shells from each diver. When the morning breeze be favourable — a land breeze preferably, the canoes set sail from shore by sun- rise, or as soon as all the laggards can be rounded in. Sometimes the thodai has a headache and does not appear, in which case, the divers of his canoe generally disperse and take a holiday ; it does not seem to occur to them to manao-e without him ! When catches are oood and winds light, the men go earlier, sleeping on the sands by their canoes till 2 or 3 a.m. when they set off. But the inducement must be considerable or such energy is not possible ! Now that a motor launch is available, the men have an easier time and when calms and headwinds prevail the launch tows the canoes to the fishing ground or until a favourable breeze comes. Usually a par-mandadi or fisherman-pilot, paid by Government, accompanies the boat to guide the divers to whatever chank bed or piral they may fancy. This par- mandadi is usually a line-fisherman with extensive know- ledoeofall the fishino- orounds within a radius of 10 miles from Tuticorin. Sometimes when beds which have a good reputation give poor yields or when a revisit to the place which gave good results the previous day is disa]:)point- ing, the divers vent their spleen on the par-mandadi in unparliamentary language ; a row ensues and a new par-mandadi may have to be sought for. The buoying of good banks was also carried out during the past two seasons and is to be further developed when a fisheries inspection vessel becomes available. Till a rich bed be found the canoes are allowed to drift, the divers descend- ing from time to time to prospect. When they are satisfied with the result, the canoe is anchored and serious work begins. Under favourable conditions about 25 descents are made yielding anything from nothing to eight shells j)er dive. I'lilike the custom followed in the local pearl fisheries no second line attached to a net bag is employed. On reaching the bottom by means of 23 his sink stone, the diver quits the stone, which is at once pulled up by the thodai, and swims slowly over the bottom hunting for the brown lump that denotes a shell or for the rut or track the animal makes when slowly crawling about. The local men are good trackers— they follow up the faintest of spoors and many shells are obtained in this way. It is this s|:eciai skill which enables the local men to hold their own against divers of stronger physique. Thus the Arab pearl-fishers, better divers than the Tamils, take several weeks before they acquire this faculty of tracking home the chank and till they do, their catches are poor. The divers take very little food with them, but have a hot meal before they set out. They seldom take more than one-eighth measure of rice atloat with them and when the catches are good they frequently throw this overboard. If a man oets loo chanks he is assured of Rs. 3 for the day's earnings and he argues that if he takes a meal of rice he won't have room for all the toddy he can afford to buy — so the rice goes overboard and the fortunate diver has acquired a first-class gold mohur thirst when he reaches shore. Between three and four o'clock the little fieet of eight or nine canoes head into the bay before the spanking sea breeze that usually comes on in the afternoon. The Chank Department staff are ready at the godowns which are s'tuated about three-fourths of a mile north of the town in order that the distinctive odour of decaying chanks may not disturb the appetites of the over-dainty. A clerk is there with a big bag of rupees, the rule being to give cash on the spot for all shells brought in ; a second clerk or gumastah supervises and assists in the gauging and a peon or counter and one or more lascars examine, gauge, and count the piles of shells as laid out by the divers. Usually each diver works for his own hand and so there are as many heaps as there are divers. The gaugmg is a ticklish operation and requires great patience and tact on the part of the gumastah and counter as the divers wax argumentative over every shell that is rejected as under- sized (under 2^ inches in diameter) and a wrangle goes on over many of the " worm-eaten" shells which are confiscat- ed as useless. The total catch of each canoe is paid for 24 in a lump, the head of the crew giving a receipt or making his mark. The division of the money among the indivi- dual divers is often protracted and somewhat heated as they are men who are obstinate as mules and do not understand a give and take policy when applied to money matters. PLach man wants his full pound of tiesh or rather his uttermost pie. On one occasion the money received, after division was tuade, lelt a single pie over and how this was to be shared among seven men was a puzzle that caused protracted argument. Eventually a brilliant solution was evolved and they went ofl and bought a cheroot in the bazaar which was solemnly divided into seven equal- sized fragments and shared out — a most happy consummation whereby no m^n could grieve that his neighbour had had more ihan his fair share. This childish fear of one beino- favoured more than another is a well-marked characteristic of these men. On several occasions after getting our first motor launch, she proved unable to tow the whole fieet to sea at any reason- able speed in the teeth of a strong wind owing to the weight of the canoes. In consequence the boats got to the fishing ground very late and catches were small. To remedy this as far as possible, I ordered the launch to tow half the fleet onlv and so h;ecure to these boats a oood day's work ; to equalize matters I instructed the tindal to take the other half of the Meet out the second day and so on alternately, returning each day for the second half of the Meet after taking the first lot to the banks. To my sur- prise the men point blank refused. " Take us all or none " they said ; " by your arrangement some boats will get a "good day's fishing and the others nothing ; rather than this should happen we would prefer not be towed at all !" Again, a system for awarding substantial money prizes to the canoes which fished most regularly through a season was refused — the men told me they would be very glad if a present were divided equally among them, but they would have nothino- to do with a scheme under which some boats would gain prizes and others none. Suspicion of each others honesty explains largely, I believe, this dog- in-the-manger attitude. From their shells the divers usually set aside each day one shell per man as a contribution to the church, 25 and as some men owe alleoiance to the old Portuguese Mission and others to the rival Jesuit Mission, two heaps are made, and the value of these put on one side to be handed over to the respective parish priests. In return the priests give each diver a consecrated candle once a year, which is lit by the bedside during- the illness of any in the family. Another voluntary contribution is usually made to the head of the Parawa caste, whose title of Jadhi Talaivan is an old and honoured one. To him the customary dues paid by the divers are two annas per loo shells paid out of the proceeds. Until recent years this contribution was regularly paid, but to-day the men refuse to pay it to the Jadhi's peon when catches are disappointing or when they are in a crotchety humour as is often the case. In passing it is interesting" to note that small dues in kind are also paid irregularly by the net-fishermen, and whenever a dugong is caught, the head is sent to the Jadhi Talaivan as his prerogative. The oauoe used in measurino- chanks brouoht in by the divers is a small wooden board about 9 inches long by /\^ inches wide having a brass bound aperture in the centre, 2| inches in diameter. Those which cannot pass through this aperture are paid for at the full rate, those which pass being rejected. Of these latter, those over 2 J inches in diameter as measured by a gauge opening of this diameter are confiscated in order to deter the divers so far as is possible from bringing in immature shells to the detriment of the continued prosperity of the beds, while the smaller shells (under 2~ inches gauge) are returned alive to the sea whenever possible. Prior to the great famine of 1877, the divers did not eat the fiesh of the chanks, but since that year their habit is to extract on the run home from the fishino- oround as much of the fiesh as they possibly can with the aid of a pointed iron rod. On arrival ashore each man has a little palmyra- leaf basket more or less filled with " chank meat " (. 3 >) 3^ 1 1 ») 3* M 4 H 3i j> M 3i »> 5 M 3 >i )» 3i „ 6 ;» 2i M >) 3 M 7 1) 2fV >l >> ? 3 ^4 n 8 >> 2|- J» ?> ■^ 1 6 ?> . 9 !) 2I J> U ,3. •^8 M The following table shows the average proportion of shells of the different sizes fished in an average season, 1910-1 1, viz : — Grade. Number. Diameter. Percenlage I 314 Of and above 4 inc hes. i' 1 2 1.130 .. 3f ». 4 ^ J 3,369 . ) 3k >. I 4 10.153 .1 3^ .. 4 5 41,668 .> J ». 15 6 75.725 ) . 2f .. 27 7 53.430 5. 2A .» 19 8 69,623 ^ » ) . 25 9 25,91s . 1 2:1- .. 9 2,81,330 In addition to the above were : — 22,316 undersized shells (under 2^ inches diameter) . 12,952 wormed (of all sizes). The above gauges are adopted from the gradation of gauge sizes employed by the Calcutta buyers in sorting their shells; prior to 1910, this sorting of shells was not practised by the Government staff, the 'shells being divided into three lots only, (a) those above 2f inches diameter, {/?) " medium " shells, below 2^^ inches diameter, and (<;) wormed shells, and sold en bloc on these figures. Sorting into grades before sale enables purchasers to assess the value of the shells with accuracy and is one of the improvements introduced since the conduct of the fishery passed into the hands of the Fisheries Depart- ment. "Wormed" shells are those tunnelled by the laby- rinths made by decalcifying burrowing sponges of the genus Clione. The extent of infection varies "reatlv from bed lo bed : usually it is greatest on the near shore 27 beds, especially those interspersed with many rocky patches giving' foothold to luxuriant animal and plant life. The less mixed the sands of the chank-bed are with islands of coral and sponge life the less infected with Clioiie are the shells. Again, on beds regularly fished year after year the percentage of wormed shells is always low, and the shells of regular size. On beds seldom fished, the proportion of large and badly infected shells is always very high, and remains so till a thorough weeding out of the old shells has taken place. Tuticorin chanks are noted for their solidity, weight and hardness. Samples of loo shells containing average numbers of all sizes above 2f inches diameter have been repeatedly weighed and in all cases the weight exceeded 90 lbs. per 100 shells, the actual average of all lots being 93 lbs. Shells between 2^ and 2^ inches diameter weigh 54 lbs. to the 100 shells. The chank godowns are large rooms divided into a number of temporary divisions or bins to accommodate the various- grades of shells. Cleaning is left to nature which here takes the form of innumerable fly-maggots. These eat out the contents of the shells, windows being thoughtfully provided in the godowns for the entry of the parent flies. The odour evolved from the heaps of shells is twin to that of pearl-oysters when being " rotted ;" the local golf links come within 100 yards of the godowns and at one hole there is occasional complaint that the spicy breeze is somewhat rank in flavour. Previous to 19 10, the season's catch was advertised and sold yearly by tender to the highest bidder. In some years (i885 to 1891) the shells were put up to public auction, but this method led to abuse — the rich men buying off competition — and the old system of calling for offers by sealed tender was reverted to. In 19 10 a contract was made for a three -years term with a Dacca firm of chank-merchants and as this modification in the manner of disposing of the shells has proved of advantage both to the buyers and to Govern- ment, it is probable that, whenever possible, this system will be followed in future. The form of advertisement used in calling for tenders is given in the appendix. 28 The Cliank-beds. — These fall Into two categories [a) fine sands admixed with a certain amount of mud and known as /'/;-«/5 (^^(nj"sv) * in contradistinction to pars, the rocky banks where pearl oysters live, and [b] chankiL 7iilani or chank places — sands more or less mixed with dead madrepore branches {challi) and other par detritus adjacent to the margins of the pars or pearl banks. Up to the present neither survey nor tabulation of these chank'beds has been made — an investigation shortly to be undertaken. The principal are of course known and their positions have been shown tentatively in the sketch plans which accompany my Report to the Government of Madras on the Indian Pearl Fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar, (Government Press, Madras, 1905) but no detailed work has been attempted, and the boundaries given are certain to be largely amended when we have more exact knowledge. We have yet to learn the relative fishing value of the different beds and are ignorant how far these are stable or variable from year to year. The principal food of the chank consists of various tubicolous polychait worms, chiefly small Terebellids, Eunicids and the like. A piral indeed connotes the presence of vast multitudes of these worms ; it may be defined as a stretch of fine sand probably with a definite admixture of mud, supporting a profuse polychcet fauna living in arenaceous tubes, on which the chanks prey. This constitutes a characteristic chank-polychict forma- tion widely spread between the 8 and 10 fathom lines off the Tinnevelly coast. It is noteworthy that m and around the pearl banks on the opposite Ceylon coast few chank- beds are found and chanks are not numerous except in a few restricted areas. In this connection w^e have to note that the Ceylon sands on the Pearl P^ishery coast between the 5 and 10 fathom lines consist of coarser sand grains than those of the Tinnevelly shallow water plateau and, unlike the latter, are generally very clean and almost free from admixture with mud. The principal piral ground lying off Tuticorin is sub-divided into a number of separate pirals actually * This luimu iippcais to l)c' very iincient in uii^in ; its deiivati'iTi is unknown and the word does not appear in a,ny Tamil dictionary I have consulted. 29 continuous but given distinctive names according to their position relative to one another and to the depth of water over them. These divisions are — (i) Karai Piral, the inshore section lying in 8|- to 9 fathoms to the eastward of the inshore or karai group of pearl banks comprised in the Nagara, Utti, Uduruvi, and Kilathi and Attuvai Arupagam pars. (2) The great Vattaikal Piral co-terminous along its west side with the Karai Piral but lying in 9 to 9^ fathoms. This again is sub-divided into northern, middle and southern sections (Vadai Piral, Nadu Piral and Cholava Piral). The southern end comes as far to the south as the Pulipundu Par. (3) Velangu Piral, the eastern section of this great sand stretch. It is bounded on the east by a chain of j^ars called Ennu Par stretching from the Athompathu Par in the north to Saithompathu Par in the south. Usually the pirals yield large catches of shells, as the chanksappear to congregate there to feed upon the tube- worms which give the piral sands the name of ptichchi nianal (insect or worm sand). But as already mentioned chanks are often to be found in quantity on the gravels and coarse sands margining any large extent of rocky ground. None of these chank grounds have distinctive names and the men specify their fishing" ground by such lengthy descriptive phrases as "the chank place a little on the distant side of the Utti Par" (Utti par velangu arugu chank u nilam). (2) THE RAMNAD FISHERY. This chank fishery appears never to have been worked by either the Portuguese or the Dutch. From time immemorial it has been the monopoly of the Sethupathi Rajas of Ramnad, who held it as feudatories, first of the Pandiyan kings, and later of the Naiks of Madura, and the Nawabs of the Carnat'c. They also seem to have enjoyed pearl-fishery rights but when they ceased to occupy the status of feudatories and the dis- trict was formed into a zamindari, the right to the pearl- fishery |)assed to the sovereign power as represented by the Flast India Company as the successors of the Nawab. For some obscure reason the chank fishery was left to the zamindari and constituted one of the eioht heads of revenue on which the permanent assessment or peshkash was fixed when the permanent settlement of the zamin- dari was made in 1803. In 1792, the Nawab of the Carnatic ceded Ramnad along with other territory to the East India Company, the Raja continuing to hold his territory under feudal tenure as before. In 1795, the Company removed the then Raja and recognized his sister as the ruler but administered the country direct through its own officers. For eight years (1795 — 1803) these conditions continued, and during this period the Company collected the entire revenue of the estate, including the proceeds of the chank fishery. Then in 1803, the feudal tenure was converted into a permanent zamindari settlement and the status of palayagar or feudal chief liable to render military aid to his overlord changed into that of territorial magnate paying a fixed contribution in money to the Government of Madras. On two occasions, 1803 and 1874, the chank fishery has been attached by Government for arrears of revenue, while in 1899 and 1900 the Madras Government leased the fishery from the Raja and conducted it on the same lines as the Tuticorin fishery. For the former year a rent was paid of Rs. 2,501 and for the second year Rs. 3,501. The results were disappointing owing to a variety of causes. During the 1899- 1900 season (fasli 1309) 28,728 shells only were collected as against an estimate of 1,25,000. During the succeeding year, as the fishery was beoun earlier and terms were arrano-ed more satis- factory to the divers, the total fished of all kinds reached ^'52)373- Great difficulty was experienced in disposing of the shells at a satisfactory price and it was not till October 1903 that they were sold. Exactly what they fetched is difficult to ascertain as they were offered in an undivided lot with the shells fished in 1902- 1903 at Tuticorin and at Negapatam (Tanjore). The price obtained averaged Rs. 55-15-3 per 1,000 for large, medium and wormed from all three fisheries, and if we take the sale price of the Ramnad shells at this rate the gross proceeds would amount to Rs. 10,133-2-8. De- ducting the rental paid for the two years, Rs. 6,002, the amount remaining was only Rs. 4,131-2-8, a sum which 31 fell short of the other expenses of the fishery and left the Government with a loss of over Rs. i,ooo on their speculation, due partly to the price received beino' unduly low, and partly to mistakes made and to difficulties experienced in organizing the first year's fishery, which proved an utter failure in consequence. If the second year be judged on its merits, the results may be consi- dered as quite satisfactory and it is greatly to be regretted that Government did not give the experiment the benefit of a longer trial, not with the specific object of making- money out of it but to ensure the organization of the fishery on lines satisfactory to the fishermen and condu- cive to the increased prosperity of the chank-beds. At present no attention is given by the lessees to this latter object, their aim being to squeeze the uttermost pie out of the fishery irrespective of the future well-being of the beds. A very great number of immature shells are in consequence brought ashore, instead of being returned alive to the sea. Fishimj localities. — Unlike the Tinnevelly fishery where all the shells may be classed as of one and the same quality, those from the Ramnad coasts vary con- siderably, and fall into three classes according as they are fished {a) off the mainland north and south of Kilakarai, (/;) between the north of Rameswaram Island and Kachchetivu islet midway to the Jaffna islands in Ceylon, and {c) oft' the mainland of Ramnad to the north of Mandapam (Pamban). The first named are very scarce but fetch a high price on account of their exceptionally large size and fine quality. Only 7,000 are said to be fished in an ordinary season. The Rameswaram shells are very similar in quality to those from the Tinnevelly coast and except that they contain a larger proportion of small sizes, a parcel of these shells is difficult to distinguish from one from Tuticorin. The market price is only a few rupees less than that of the Tuticorin quality. Of these shells from 40,000 to 60,000 should be fished in a good year. The third locality, the beds off the mainland between Pamban and Tondi, yields shells inferior in size, shape, and colour. The whorls are much telescoped and the colour inclines to a reddish tint at the mouth. These beds are chiefly in shallow water, the beds composed of 32 dirty muddy sand. The quantity fished is large and amounts to from 1,00,000 to 1,20,000 per annum. They are mostly obtained from beds lying 7 to 8 miles east of the villages of 1 iruppalagudi and Mudirampattanam. During the only two years whereof we have statistics, 1,45,206 full-sized shells were fished off the Tiruppala- gudi coast and 23,158 off Rameswaram; the latter number is, however, believed to be considerably below a normal average, the disparity in the catches from these two places being due to the fact that the Government officers were thwarted by underground influence from getting a suffi- ciency of the Kilakarai divers, who are necessary for this section of the fishery. The rates paid to the divers by the lessee are usually h'orher than those rulino- at Tuticorin as the divers incur extra expenses having to work away from home. The great majority are Muhammadans (Labbais) from Kila- karai Twelve years ago the rate for chanks fished to the north of Rameswaram" Island and as far as the island of Kachchetivu was Rs. 30 per 1,000, Rs. 27 per 1,000 for those from the beds between Pamban and Tondi, the port of the Sivaganga zamindari, and Rs. 50 for those taken off the Kilakarai coast. At the present time rather higher rates rule, Rs. 40 being reputed to be paid to imported Labbai divers fishing in Palk Bay and Rs. 25 to 30 to the local divers who may either be Roman Catholics or Hindus of the Karaiyar caste. The employers by means of the advance system keep the men eternally in their debt and power. A certain contribu- tion or tithe of their catch is generally set on one side by the divers for the benefit of one of their mosques In 1904, the question of the jurisdiction of the Raja of Ramnad over certain chank beds lying from 5 to 7 miles from shore in the vicinity of Mudirampattanam was brought before the High Court of Judicature at Madras in the case of Annakumaru Filial versus Muthu- payal and others The defendants or their agents had removed chanks from the chank bed at the place named and were charged at the instance of the Raja with theft of property (chanks) belonging to him. The defendants relied chiefiy on the fact that the place whence the shells were taken lay beyond three miles from shore ; they arguedthat theplace was in the open sea beyond territorial 33 ~ limits and hence that no jurisdiction could affect any action at that place. In the judgment of the court as reported in the Madras Law Journal (Vol. XIV, No. 7 Madras, July 1904), it was declared that — {a) Palk's Bay, where the bed is situated being a land-locked arm of the sea, surrounded on all sides by territory under the rule of the King-Emperor, cannot be regarded as the high sea ; within this Bay, no part of the water area can, therefore, be outside the territorial juris- diction of the Government of India whose predecessors have granted a limited right, that of fishing chanks therein within certain limits, to the Raja of Ramnad or his assignees. {b) Chanks are not fish. They are not ferae naturae, but are domitae naturae and are to be placed in the same category as oysters and so may become the subject of theft. (<:) Further, the effective exercise of the right to fish and lease these chanic beds had been exercised by the Raja of Ramnad and his predecessors both while they were feudatory chiefs prior to 1803 and since then as zamindars under a permanent settlement which included the chank fishery revenue as one of the heads of revenue upon which the peshkash was calculated. This effective occupation, reinforced by explicit Government sanction, would of itself confer a prescriptive right to the fishery. The judgment further stated that, as the Gulf of Mannar is also similarly situated to Palk Bay, chanks in the chank beds of that gulf may also be the subject of theft. The court held indeed that if the beds from which the chanks were taken had been off that part of the coast of Ramnad situated in the Gulf of Mannar their decision would have been the same, since the evidence of effective occupation of the chank beds in both localities {i.e., in Palk Bay and the Gulf) is similar. At the present time the Ramnad fishery is leased for Rs. 4,060, which represents rather more than the average of the past 30 years (Rs. 3,047-7-6) as shown by the table of annual revenue included in the appendix. The Sivaganga cha^ik fishery is of little importance, its lease seldom realizing more than Rs. 100 or Rs. 200 per annum. A tabulation of the annual revenue 34 derived from it during the past 25 years appears in the appendix. Originally it was a portion of the Ramnad fishery, its present separation dating back to the first quarter of the eighteenth century (about 1730 A.D., vide Nelson's Madura Manual, Part 1 1 1, page 249) when the original Ramnad territory was parcelled out between two rival claimants to the Ramnad gadi, one of whom received the north-western section which became known as Sivaganga, the other retaininor the district whereof Ramnad is the geographical centre, Sivaganga was and is an inland district, without coastline, but that it might have access to the sea, the port of Tondi and a short adjoining strip of coast were made over by Ramnad and this proved to be a matter of some inconvenience to the Madras Govern- ment in the last Poligar war as the Sivaganga rebels sent out from Tondi several small privateers — armed coasters — to prey upon the local shipping.* (3) THE CARNATIC COAST FISHERIES. {a) Tanjore District. The fishery off the eastern coast of Tanjore is another very ancient royalty of the sovereign power holding Tanjore. Prior to 'the annexation of Tanjore in 1800 this fishery had formed one of the heads of revenue enjoyed by the Rajas of Tanjore, being farmed out in the same way as the Tinnevelly and Ramnad fisheries. When the district was ceded to the British, the right to the fishery continued to be sold to the highest bidder ; for many years the lease was given in single terms ; from fasli 1233 (A.D. 1823-1824) the custom grew up of leasing it for terms of several years, varying from two to five. During 26 years following the British acquisition of the district, the fishery continued in a flourishing condition, seldom realizing less than Rs. .^,000 per annum and fre- quently exceeding Rs. 5,000. In one year, fasli 12 16 (A.D. 1 806- 1 807) this revenue rose to Rs. 10,198. Theaverage for these 26 prosperous years was Rs. 4,901-10-6 (see appendix No. 6 for details). From fasli 1252 the returns gradually declined till. In 1883, the Collector had difficulty * Since the above was written the Madras Government have acquired the lease of the Ramnad fishery and it will in future be worked departmentally. 35 in obtaining a bid of Rs. 1 15 per annum for a five years' lease Some slight improvement took place when Govern- ment abandoned the system of leasing out the fishery and conducted it departmentally through the agency of the Custom Houses on the Tanjore coast, but even these improved figures are quite paltry, seldom exceeding Rs. joo per annum. Under the present system, the fishermen bring the shells from time to time as they col- lect them to the custom houses at the ports of Negapatam, Tranquebar, and Tirumalavasal where they are given payment at the rate of Rs. 20 per 1,000 for all above 2| inch diameter. In 1910-11 the number thus collected totalled 13,381 while in 1911-12 they reached 12,149. All these shells are obtained fortuitously in the course of net fishing by catamaran fishermen. The bulk of the shells are taken in the vellai valai, a kind of light trawl operated by two catamarans. Neither beam nor otter bpard is used with this net, the mouth being kept distended by the two catamarans which maintain a definite distance apart as they sail a parallel course. The Government records do not furnish any light on the reason for the remarkable depreciation in the value of this chank fishery, and the days of prosperity are so long vanished, that up to the present I have obtained no direct enlightenment from enquiries made in the fishing villages visited. I incline to think that in former days divers were employed in this fishery in a systematic man- ner ; the opening up of other and more lucrative callings, especially the great increase in recent years in the demand for boatmen to carry on the lighterage work of Negapatam and other ports has, I believe, brought about the extinction of the divers' trade on this coast, just as the same factor is tending rapidly to the same result at Tuticorin, where the scarcity of available divers has been a source of anxiety and trouble for several years past. The only hope for any considerable improve- ment lies in the adaptation of mechanical means such as dredging, to the raising of the shells. (6) South Arcot Fishery. As in Tanjore, the fishermen living along the South Arcot coast catch considerable numbers of chanks when using the thuri- valai, or catamaran-trawl. In times long 3-A 36 gone by this fishery probably was counted in with the Tanjore fishery or worked separately according as the northern boundary of the Tanjore kingdom waxed or waned. With the declension of the Tanjore fishery proper, the more northern section was neglected and it was left to the Madras Fisheries Department in 1910 to begin the process of revival. Pending means to inspect and assess accurately the actual potentiality of the chank beds lying off the coast of this district, it was considered advisable to lease the fishery. Accordingly tenders were called for and although the highest bid amounted to the trivial amount of Rs. 235 for the period from ist January 191 1 to 31st March 191 2, it was decided to accept this tender, as a tentative measure. On the expiry of the lease fresh tenders were called for and a healthy competition for the lease resulted in its renewal for three years at a substantial advance, Rs. 516-10-8 per annum being given for the privilege of working this royalty. The system adopted by the renter is to appoint agents in the various fishing villages, who buy the shells from the fishermen at such rates as they can arrange, varying, I believe, according to the size, and forward them from time to time to the lessee's head-quarters at Cuddaiore. The proximity of the French territory of Pondicherry is conducive to smuggling and it is alleged that quantities of shells fished in British waters are clandestinely taken to Pondicherry, where probably slightly higher prices for chanks may rule than in the British coastal villages. The quality of the shells fished on this coast is the same as that of those from Tanjore. (4) THE TRAVANCORE FISHERY. This fishery is carried on in the same way as that of Ceylon, an export duty being the means taken by Government to collect the revenue due on this industry. Any one may engage in it without payment of any special dues other than this export tax. The fishery appears to be a petty one producing not more than 100 bags of shells per annum. The fishing season runs from December till April. A few particulars gleaned when in Bengal are given elsewhere (p. 89). The shells as fished are purchased from the divers by petty 37 traders in the coast villages who resell to merchants who export them to Calcutta from time to time. The fishermen are mostly Parawas living in the villages between Velinjam, near Trivandrum, in the north and Kolachel in the south — the beds being situated off this part of the coast. From what I can glean from divers who have been to this fishery, it is capable of consider- able development although the merchants say the shells are soft under the saw and inferior both in colour and in hardness to Tuticorin shells. This fishery was used by the Tuticorin chank fishers in 1900 as a lever whereby to extort better terms ; in this year they struck work at Tuticorin and proceeded to Travancore to fish on their own account. The manoeuvre was successful, and the rate being raised, they returned to Tuticorin and resumed work. (5) KATHIAWAR FISHERY. The shells fished off this coast are of good quality, well esteemed in the Bengal trade where they are known as Surti shells — an echo of the day when Surat was the great emporium of the Kathiawar and Konkhan coasts. To-day tiie shells are sent to Bombay, whence they are shipped to Calcutta. The quantity yielded is approximately 200 bags per annum. Okhamandal, the north-western extremity of Kathia- war, which forms an outlying portion of the Gaekwar of Baroda's dominions, furnishes a considerable proportion of this export. The right to collect the shells is leased out at intervals for a term of years, the proceeds for the five years ending 1906 amounting to an average of Rs. 151 per annum. Unlike other Indian chank fisheries the shells on this coast are all collected at spring tides when great areas of the littoral are uncovered at the time of low water. A certain proportion of the shells are sold to pilgrims who resort to the holy shrines at Bet and Dwarka, the district of Okhamandal from its association with Krishna forming one of the chief holy lands of the Hindus, who delight to take home as a sacred souvenir, one of the shells loved of this god. Full details of this fishery and of the enactments made to safe- guard it, are to be found in Part I of my " Report to the Government of Baroda on the Marine Zoology of Okhamandal in Kathiawar," London 1909. 38 (6) THE CEYLON FISHERY. To omit any account of the Ceylon chank fishery would be to leave the part of the Prince of Denmark out of Hamlet. It has the largest production at the present day and in former days was the object of much solicitude on the part of the Dutch and British rulers of Ceylon. To-day it still remains a source of revenue, but its value to Government has dwindled to small proportions and is represented by the produce of an export tax, bringing in some Rs. 5,000 to 6,000 per annum. Up to 1890, the Ordinances Nos. 4 and 5 of 1842* regulated both the fishery for live chanks and the digging of dead (sub-fossil) chanks. Under these laws the divers were under obligation to take out licences for themselves and their boats, paying specified fees, while permits had to be obtained for the erection of stores for " dead " shells. In consequence of the various abuses which crept in, it was deemed advisable to repeal these regulations and a new Ordinance, No. 18 of 1890, was issued. Under this, all restrictions alike on diving and digging were removed and in lieu of the fees relinquished an export duty not to exceed one cent (2 pies) per shell was substituted. Export of chanks except through specified ports was prohibited. The use of dredges or related apparatus in the fishery was forbidden under pain of imprisonment or of fine while it was declared unlawful and punishable by six months' imprisonment for any person to fish for or collect chanks, beche-de-mer, coral or shells anywhere "eastward of a straight line drawn from a point six miles westward of Talaimannar to a point six miles westward from the shore two miles south of Talaivilla." The limits specified are so chosen as to include the whole of the long shallow bay wherein all the important pearl banks are situated. Thus the territorial waters of this part of the coast of Ceylon were constituted for the special object in view, as a strip six miles in m idth outside of a line connecting the two horns of the Pearl Fishery Bay. Owing to the curvature of the shore the seaward limit in certain places is twenty miles from nearest land. This safeguard against interference * It is interesting to note that the former was entitled " An Ordinance for the protection of Her Majesty's rights in the digging for dead chanks," and the latter " An Ordinance for the protection of Her Majesty's chank fishery." 39 with the pearl banks was subsequently still more expressly- defined by law. As mentioned above Ceylon chanks fall into two categories, live or "green" chanks and dead or sub- fossil ones. The former are fished by divers in the sea around the northern part of Ceylon, from Dutch Bay on the west, northwards past Mannar and the Jaffna islands round to Mullaittivuonthe north-east coast. The depths of water and the method of fishing are very much the same as prevail in the Tuticorin fishery modified in many places by the fact that the beds there lie in shallow water so enabling the divers to dispense with the diving stone and rope. To fish such shallow beds, parties of divers go out in their canoes or ballams to the selected ground. There they leave the canoes and swim about diving from time to time whenever they think they can get a chank. The shells taken they place in a bag suspended from their loins ; this goes on until the bag is full or they feel tired, when they return to the canoe, empty their catch into a basket and rest awhile. Much of the diving is done in three to five fathoms. The men are principally Labbais (Muhammadans) from Kilakarai, reinforced in recent years by a number of Arab divers who, after attending certain of the Pearl Fisheries, settled on the coast near Jaffna, married Tamil women and took to fishing chanks and beche-de-mer while waiting for the next pearl fishery. The best and largest shells are reputed to be fished on rocky bottom off the island of Nayinativu, very good quality being also characteristic of those fished off Pun- kudutivu and Mannar Island and on the north-east coast towards Mullaitivu and Trincomali where the bottom is mingled sand and rock ; the poorest quality comes from shallow water with grassy bottom, as for example off Kalmunai and Nachchikarai. The scale of rates paid to divers for shells from these different localities as supplied to me by an Arab diver who has worked over the whole coast, is as follows : — RS. Nayinativu ... ... ... ... 7 per 100 Punkudutivu ... ... ..."j Trincomali and ... ... ... }■ 5 per 100 Mullaittivu ... ... ...j North side Mannar island ... ... 3 per 100 Kalmunai and Nachchikarai... 2-8-0 per 100 40 The dead or sub-fossil chank industry is carried on In the Jaffna Lagoon, a vast sheet of very shallow landlocked water some 24 miles long by 6 miles wide. The chief collecting grounds are between Tannankelappu and Kilali along the north shore and around Punaryn on the south side. The shells are found both buried in the mud of the lagoon, and in pits dug along the shore at Tannankelappu. Latterly some deposits have also been found and worked in the shallow strait between the islands of V^elanai and Punkudutivu. These dead chanks are collected by the people of the villages scattered along the lagoon. They wade out into the shallows, sometimes even up to their shoulders, and with the assistance of a long iron rod probe about in the mud till the point strikes against a chank, when they use the second instrument they carry, a hook fastened to the end of a pole, to hook the shell and haul it to the surface. These men become wonderfully expert in the use of the probe and hook ; to hook the shell properly and get it out require no mean dexterity. Stores are situated along the shores of the lagoon wher'e the shells are collected by the merchants who buy up the catches from the villagers. The catch of dead shells is estimated at from twelve to fourteen lakhs per annum, while that of live shells is a'ljout ten or eleven lakhs, varying according to the amount of labour available. 41 PART II.— THE CHANK BANGLE INDUSTRY- ITS ANTIQUITY AND PRESENT CONDITION. INTRODUCTORY. At the present day the general use of bangles made from sections sawn from the shell of the sacred Indian chank or conch ( Ttirbinella pyrttm^lAnn.) is confined to the people of Bengal and of certain of the adjacent provinces. In India proper the custom does not appear to range further west than Behar, nor further south than Orissa. On the north and east the limits are less deterrriinate as there the people are wilder and the means of obtaining articles of ornament difficult and uncertain. We may say however that throughout Thibet from Ladakh in Kashmiri Thibet to the Kham country in the east, the women, whenever their means and opportunities permit, wear heavy and coarsely made bangles manufactured from this shell. In Assam and Bhutan the same custom is observable, but owing to the diversity in origin and to the differences in the manners of the tribes in this region, the custom is sporadic ; in one valley all the women may wear these ornaments ; in the next valley or in the adjacent hill villages none may be seen. The women of Bengali race are the main observers of this practice and were the fashion of wearing chank bangles to become c>bsolete among them, the industry would languish and probably soon die out. It is they alone who provide a steady market for richly carved and highly polished chank bangles ; their humble sisters among the Santals, Kochhi, Thibetans, and Maghs are satisfied with plain or rudely carved bangles without polish — they prefer strength and quantity to ornamental designs and fine finish. The industry of bangle cutting, as will be detailed in the following paper, is located at the present day almost entirely in Bengal. Dacca is the chief centre of the manufacturing trade, Calcutta the emporium where the raw material is gathered from the different chank fisheries in the south of India and in Ceylon and whence the shells are distributed to Dacca and numerous local centres scattered throughout the length and breadth of Bengal. 42 The followinof notes are intended to show that in ancient days the custom of wearing these peculiar orna- ments was widely spread throughout the greater part of India and that bangle-workshops, equally widely scat- tered, stretched from Tinnevelly in the extreme south to Kathiawar and Gujarat in the north-west, through a lonof chain of factories located in the Deccan. The general condition of the industry as it exists at the present day in Bengal will be described together with such notes as I have been able to gather with regard to the various tribes and castes whose women now wear bangles made from the chank shell. (i) THE ANTIQUITY OF THE INDUSTRY. {a) In the Tinnevelly District. Reference to ancient Tamil classics furnishes evidence scanty but conclusive of the existence of an important chank-cutting industry in the ancient Pandyan kingdom in the early centuries of the Christian era. Similar evidence is also extant of a widespread use of carved and ornamented chank bangles in former days by the women of the Pandyan country which may be considered as roughly co-extensive with the modern districts of Tinne- velly, Madura, and Ramnad, forming the eastern section of the extreme south of the Madras Presidency. Among the more important references which prove the ancient importance of this industry on the Indian shore of the Gulf of Mannar, is one contained in the '" Madiiraikkaiichi'' a Tamil poem which incidentally describes the ancient city of Korkai, once the sub- capital of the Pandyan kingdom and the great emporium familiar to Greek and Egyptian sailors and traders and described by the geographers of the ist and 2nd centuries A.D. under the name of Kolkhoi. From the purity of the Tamil employed in this poem and the similarity of the names of the towns, ports and goods mentioned incidentally with those employed by Ptolemy and the author of the " Periplus of the Erythraean Sea," we may date it as approximately contemporaneous with the writings of these authors and certainly not later than the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. In one passage ( LL. 140-144) the Parawas are described as men who dived for pearl oysters and for 43 chank shells and knew charms to keep sharks away from that part of the sea where diving was being carried on. Another passage depicts the city of Korkai, then a sea- port at the mouth of the Tambraparni, as the chief town in the country of the Parawas and the seat of the pearl fishery, with a population consisting chiefly of pearl-divers and chank-cutters. The great epic, the Silappathikkarram or *' Lay of the Anklet," written about the same period by a Jain poet gives further information about Korkai from which we gather that on account of the great value of the revenue derived from the pearl fishery, this city was a sub-capital of the Pandyan realm and the usual residence of the heir-apparent, boasting great magni- ficence and adorned with temples and palaces befitting its wealth and importance. Another valuable reference to the chank trade is contained in two Tamil stanzas which chronicle a passage at arms between a Brahman and Nakkirar, the cele- brated poet-president of the Madura Sangam in the reign of the Pandyan king Nedunj Cheliyan II, who flourished probably about the beginning of the 2nd century A.D. The Brahman, named Dharmi, presented to the Sangam a poem purporting to be composed with the aid of Siva. Nakkirar, the President, in spite of its alleged divine origin criticised the poem mercilessly, and rejected it as unworthy of literary recognition. The Brahman took revenge by presenting another poem also purporting to be inspired by Siva ; in it he held the President up to ridicule on account of his caste trade in the following pungent lines uiEiSihui— (oQsrsm'Q a'r&)uirLJi3id' — ff^iEiss^Sssr ikjiriTfraj Qpe(T"en- ous civilization in North India or Hindustan. With them in particular, is the conch most definitely associ- ated ; there is strong presumption on this and other grounds already referred to, to believe that it was the * With the contradiction which exists between East and West in so many matters, the abnormal twist in these shells is termed left-handed or sinistral by Europeans, whereas Indians term it right-handed. They view it from the mouth end, we frijm the apex and accordingly confusion is fretpienl in conversation on this subject with Intlians. i23 Dravidians who first employed the chank as a battle- conch and that this custom was adopted by the Aryan invaders as blood connections began to be formed in increasing numbers with the Dravidian nobility of the land and when certain of the Dravidian gods were admitted to the Aryan pantheon. The Aryans would be particularly eager to acquire fine conchs both tor use and ornament ; their deep- voiced boom would prove their utility as battle-trumpets to enspirit and to give signals, while their rare white beauty would appeal to the religious sense as makino- them fit vessels where- with to offer libations to their o-ods. To an inland people the beautiful products of the sea assume a double value from their strangeness and rarity and mysterious origin. To-day the people of Thibet, cut off from all knowledge of the sea, esteem pearls and red coral, tortoise-shell and amber, amono- the greatest treasures within their knowledge. The wild Nagas of the Assam hills equally prized the snow-white chank shell itself till some 50 years ago, using it as part of their accepted currency at the rates enumerated on page 1 66. And when the extreme rarity of a reversed or left-handed chank found its way perhaps once in several centuries to the primitive trading centres of the people of Hindustan — to the people of the inland middle land, — can we wonder at the enormous value they set upon it and the mystic powers they endowed it with ? As the Aryan hosts advanced into India they must have captured numbers of battle conchs from time to time and there can be no doubt they early adopted them in place of their own less sonorous cow-horns. Indeed the boom of the conch has been the battle sisrnal throuohout the aq-es in India, and this custom has lasted almost to the present day. Ancient Tamil and Rajput poems de- scriptive of battles and raids continually refer to the clamour of the conchs blown as the opposing parties approached each other; the etiquette of old Indian chivalry required a prelude of challenging conch-blowing before the serious fight was begun ; the long-drawn hollow sonorous note of the chank often greeted early British commanders as tliey led their forces to the assault; even until the beginning of last century Marathi and Pindari chiefs called their followers together and 124 heartened them for the fray by loud blasts on conch-horns. Even in very recent days the chank's voice has called our enemies to the attack, and this too by other foes than Hindus. The graphic pen of Percival Landon in his " Lhasa' — an account of the British Mission to Thibet in 1903-4, in describing a night cannonade of the British Commissioner's post outside of Gyantse by the ^J'hibe- tans, paints a word picture worthy of quotation " As one peers out into the warm night, a long monotone is faintly droned out from the darkness ahead. It is one of the huge conch shells in the jong and it may oniy mean a call to prayer — the * hours ' of Lamaism are unending — but as the moaning note persists softly and steadily, a vivid speck of tiame stabs the darkness across the river. A second later the report of the gun accom- panies a prolonged ' the-e-es ' overhead." From the earliest times the conch has also been used in India to call the people to their sacrifices and other religious rites and as an instrument of invocation to call the attention of the gods to the ceremonies to be performed. With this intimate association with the chief religious rites, the people gradually came to reverence the instrument itself, and to adore and invoke it (see p. 133 for details) as is also done with regard to many other instruments or articles of sacrifice in Hindu rites at the present day ; these latter do not, however, appeal in equal measure to the religious feelings of the multitude, for around them have not been woven the myths and legends pertaining to the chank. In the ceremonies attending the coronation of great kings the chank naturally played a great part. At the time when the Mahabharata was put into its present form, this custom was fully developed to judge from the description of the coronation of King Yudtiistira given in the Shantiparwa of that epic. To quote from an interesting summary by Rao Sahib P. B. Joshi * "Kings of different countries, learned Brahmans and sages were invited for the ceremony. A Vedi or sacrificial altar was prepared. There were hroughx. S am id lias or pieces of sacred wood, five kinds of sacred leaves, waters of the * The Tivies of India llluslrated Weekly, 20lh SciUcmbcr igi i. 125 holy rivers and of the four seas, seven kinds of holy earth, the sacred conch shell, a white umbrella, and white C/iamars. The horses and elephants used in connection with the coronation ceremony were also white. Yudhistir was then made to sit on a throne of gold, and other members of the royal family sat on seats made of ivory, and close by sat the king's spiritual guide and other sages. The king was now requested to touch such auspicious articles as corn, white flowers, swastika, gold, silver and jewels. The king's ministers and other high functionaries were now brought before him by the royal priest and they all paid their homage to their sovereign. The sacred fire was then kindled, the king and queen sat in front of the holy fire on seats covered over with tiger's skin, and made oflerings to the fire. Shri Krishna then got up, took in his hand the sacred conch-shell, which was filled with holy water, sprinkled the water over the heads of the king and queen and said : " I sprinkle this holy water over you to indicate that from this day you have become the paramount sovereign of Bharat Varsha." At this time dJnindnbi and other musical instruments were sounded, drums were beaten, the king's bards sang the praise of the king and wished him victory and long life," In Bengal every marriage conducted according to Hindu ceremonial, includes the placing of chank- bangles, lacquered red, upon the bride's wrists. An iron bangle placed on the left wrist is also essential to the ceremony. Elsewhere this particular marriage cus- tom is scarcely ever practised, but sufficient instances are recorded among a few widely scattered castes and caste-sections of the existence of a similar marriage custom elsewhere to tempt us to believe that at one time it was the general custom of all fully Hinduised castes throughout India. Finds of frag- ments ot chank-bangles in places where the use of these ornaments is non-existent at the present day strengthen the theory. Legendary lore can also be quoted in support. For instance, among the Balijas of Telueu districts, who there constitute the chief tradinQ- caste, a legend is current (Thurston, I, p. 137) that " on one occasion Siva wanted his consort Parvati to appear before him in all her glory. But, when she stood before 126 him, fully decorated, he laughed and said that she was not as charming- as she might be. On this, she prayed that Siva would help her to become so. From his braid of hair Siva created a being who descended on the earth, bearing a number of bangles and turmeric paste, with which Parvati adorned herself. Siva, being greatly pleased with her appearance, told her to look at herself in a lookino-o-lass. The beino- who brouoht the bang-les, is believed to have been the ancestor of the Gazula Balijas." The latter sub-division of the Balijas peddle glass bangles only at the present day, but it is reasonable to suppose that before the discovery of glass, their stock in trade consisted instead of chank-bangles. It is indeed probable that the introduction of glass dealt a heavy blow to the employment of the chank-shell in feminme adornment in certain districts, particularly for instance in those where, as in Vizagapatam, glass factories being established, glass bangles were put on sale at a fraction of the cost of comparatively expensive chank ones, which require the expenditure of much time and labour to render them attractive. Another legend, prevalent among the Sangukatti Idaiyans, the great pastoral or shepherd caste of Tamil India, narrates that when Krishna desired to marry Rukmani, her family insisted on marrying her to Sishupalen. When the wedding was about to take place, Krishna carried off Rukmani and placed a bangle made of chank-shell on her wrist (Thurston, II, p. 354). These particular Idaiyans belong to one of the sections of this caste which to-day require their married women to wear these bangles — now a very rare custom in South India. Indian sources give the barest indications of the traffic in:, chank-shells that must have been brisk for 3,000 years or more between the fisheries in the Gult of Mannar and on the Kathiawar coast and the inland nations of the Deccan and Hindustan. In another !^ection — that dealino- with the chank-banoie industry, oroofs are o-iven from archseoloo-ical sources and from ancient Tamil writings of the great antiquity of this trade and industry. Apart from this evidence we have nothing of importance till we come to the sixth century 127 when the travelled monk, Cosmas Indico-Pleustes, alter mentioning the island ofGeylon, proceeds to say "and then again on the continent and further back is Marallo which exports conch shells (a:o;3^X