HORNELL THE INDIAN CONCH 73 



the chank-bangle industry in the Deccan and Cambay provinces. A striking confirmation 

 of this conclusion is afforded by Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese writer of the sixteenth 

 century, whose colloquies on Indian drugs and simples have recently been translated 

 by Sir Clements K. Markham (London, 1913). In the thirty-fifth colloquy this old 

 physician remarks : ' There is another (shell) they call chanquo, of which they make 

 boxes, tables, and counters, for though it is rough outside, inside it is very smooth 

 and beautiful. This chank is an article of trade to Bengal, and used to be worth more 

 than it is now. The large ones, which we call Buzios, go to Bengal and are worked 

 up very beautifully, remaining very smooth and white. For this only a small quantity 

 is used, the rest being wanted for bracelets and other ornaments. It was the custom 

 in Bengal that no person of distinction who was a virgin could be corrupted unless 

 she had bracelets of the chank shell on her arms. 1 After the arrival of the Patans this 

 custom was neglected and the chank became cheaper in consequence. You see here a 

 chess table at your service where you may see the chank when you like." 



1 Another translation renders this sentence rather differently, to wit : " There was formerly a 

 custom in Bengal that no virgin in honour and esteem could be corrupted unless it were by placing 

 chank bracelets on her arms." Da Orta's statement refers really to the fact that an essential ceremony 

 in a Bengali marriage consists in placing a chank bangle on each of the bride's wrists ; the marriage 

 would not be formally valid if this were to be omitted. 



