33 



this hole are discarded as being too small, and returned to 

 the sea on the chance that the animal may revive and con- 

 tinue to grow ; those which are too large to pass through the 

 hole are stored in a " godown/' where the animal substance 

 is got rid of by the process of putrifaction, assisted by flies 

 and other insects. In the month of July the shells are sold 

 by auction in one lot to the highest bidder. In 1886 the 

 highest offer was Es. 96 per 1,000 by a native of Kilakarai, 

 which was accepted. 



The following statement shows the number of chank 

 shells fished, and the net amount realised from 1876-77 to 

 1885-86 :— 



Years. 



1876-77 



1877-78 

 1878-79 

 1879-80 

 1880-81 

 1881-82 

 1882-83 

 1883-84 

 1884-85 

 1885-86 



Total 



It would seem from Simmond's " Commercial Products 

 of the Sea " that the chank fishery was, in days gone by, 

 more lucrative than it is at present ; for it is there stated 

 that " frequently 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 of these sheUs are 

 shipped in a year from the Gulf of Manaar. In some years 

 the value of the rough shells, as imported into Madras and 

 Calcutta, reaches a value of £10,000 or £15,000. The 

 chank fishery at Ceylon at one time employed 600 divers,, 

 and yielded a revenue to the Island Government of £4,000 

 per annum for licenses." 



A right-handed chank {i.e., one which has its spiral 

 opening to the right), which was found off the coast of 

 Ceylon at Jaffna in 1887, was sold for Bs. 700. Such a 

 chank is said to have been sometimes priced at a lakh of 

 rupees; and, writing in 1813, Milburn says^ that a chank 



^ Oriental Commerce, vol. I, p, 357. 



