155 



The trade in these amulets is of considerable dimen- 

 sions. Thus the Tahsildar of Chidambaram reports 

 that rings worth about Rs. 500 are sold yearly in his 

 taluk to the residents and to the thousands of devotees 

 who tlock to the great temple of Nataraja. The price 

 runs from two pies to one anna per ring— some are very 

 rouofh untrlmmed St7'0jnbus rinos, while the hiohcr 

 priced may be of real chank with a few oblique lines of 

 ornament sawed or filed on the outer surface. 



The rouo-h beads used in makino^ necklaces and 

 bracelets look very much like tiny carpal bones ; they sell 

 about eight beads for one pie — a whole necklace may be 

 bought for one anna ; the small bangles worn by babies 

 in Madura and Tinnevelly cost 3 to 5 annas per pair. 

 The latter are made largely in Kilakarai, a brge Muham- 

 madan settlement on the Ramnad coast, near the head of 

 the Gulf of Mannar. The majority are cut chicfiy from 

 under-sized shells too small to have anv value in the 

 Bengal market. By rights these shells should not be 

 fished ; they should be put back alive by the divers in 

 order to grow to adult dimensions. This precaution is 

 followed as far as circumstances permit in the Tuticorin 

 chank fishery which is conducted departmentally by the 

 Government of Madras ; in the Ramnad fishery the short- 

 sighted greed of the renter and his employees takes no 

 account of any such precaution tor the future prosperity 

 of the fishery. 



( /) Proverbs. 



No language is richer than Tamil in that peculiar 

 form of wisdom which is enshrined in the pithy saws of 

 the common people. Many are very wise indeed and 

 often have a Delphic turn confusing to a simple wit. 

 The works of Jensen ■'• and Lazarus f contain over 

 10,000 proverbs, mostly current at the present day, 

 and from these two collections ten typical proverbs 

 concerning the chank have been gleaned. 



From Jensen we get : — 



526. Like blowing a chank in the ear of a deaf man. 



* Rev. H. Jensen, A classified list of Tamil Proverbs, Madras, 1S97. 

 7 Dictionaiy of Tamil Proveibs, Madras. 



