95 



labour ; others necessitate a long training and great 

 expertness on the part of the workers. Of the former is 

 the preliminary rubbing down to smoothness and regu- 

 larity of the inner and outer surfaces of the working 

 sections. The first stage after the latter come from the 

 sawing shed is to remove as much as possible of the 

 inwardly projecting " beak" which is the remnant of the 

 septum between adjacent whorls left after removing the 

 columella. The projection has to be chipped off with 

 the utmost care as this part of the ring is its weakest 

 point as it marks the junction of adjacent shell whorls 

 and if the work be done roughly or carelessly, the ring 

 is frequently fractured at this place. The tool used is a 

 small form of the hammer used to break away the 

 columella and the apex, one end of the head being sharp, 

 the other blunt. With its aid any acutely projecting 

 portions of the margin are also broken off in order to 

 reduce to the utmost the labour of rubbing down. It 

 may here, be noted that owing to the shell having to be 

 cut obliquely and not transversely to the long axis the 

 sections appear to be cut askew, particularly those below 

 the shoulder of the shell, and in consequence the ring in 

 transverse section shows one outer obtuse and one outer 

 acute angle ; when the latter is specially prominent it is 

 usually reduced by careful chipping with a light sharp- 

 edged hammer. 



The rubbinQ--'down of the inner surface of the working 

 circlet is accomplished in an ingenious manner by means 

 of a wooden spindle 18 to 20 inches long, covered with an 

 abrasive coating of fine river sand embedded in a rough 

 lac basis. Several sections are threaded on the spindle 

 which is wedged tightly between the low stool whereon 

 the grinder sits and some rigid second support — a tree 

 trunk outside the house or a post of the verandah work- 

 shop. Smoothing is effected by rubbing the rings up 

 and down the spindle till the required effect is attained. 

 For this work, the pay given in one workshop visited, 

 was 5 annas per 100 sections finished, //?/.? i^ anna per 

 100 as the cost of the lac with which the abrasive is 

 incorporated. The lac used is a coarse quality obtained 

 from the Garo hills and elsewhere in Assam. If the 

 bangles to be made are of the heavy plain pattern 

 required by low-caste Hindu women, the sawn (lateral) 



