IS 



glected ; they ma}* probably, froi^ theii- constant 

 occuiTence or uninviting appearance, have not 

 been thought worthy of notice: whilst on the o- 

 ther hand, carved nautili, and large green shells, 

 which have been ground, (and therefore injur- 

 ed), to display their pearly lustre, have been 

 seized with avidity, but have failed to repay 

 the collector, or gratify the connoisseur. 



Gold and diamonds, (which are found in th^ 

 soil of the rivers), have been brought from Bor- 

 neo, but we are totally ignorant of what shells 

 may be produced there. 



From the cluster of the Celebes, we have a 

 few fine varieties, which have been noticed by of- 

 ficers of ships of war, or circumnavigators ; but, 

 strange as it may appear, the Author of the 

 Narrative on the Peliew Islands has not noticed 

 or described one single shell from thence. 

 One of the rarest and finest shells ever seen was 

 brought up in the mud sticking to an Indiaraan's 



