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 " 

 (<F/B7(^.^<?sjp^) consisting of the muscular parts — the foot 

 and the head region — for conversion into dried slices to be 

 subsequently sold in the bazaar. 



After the shells have been received and payment 

 made to the divers, they are sorted into nine grades for 

 sale purposes, by means of a set of 9 gauges of diameter 



