COWRIES. 



39 



following table will shew: — Four Cowries make one gunder; 

 twenty Gunders one piinn; four Puuns one anna; four Annas 

 one cahaun; and four Cahauns one rupee. The value of the 

 latter coin is equal to two shillings and threepence, English 

 money, and this would be exchangeable for five thousand one 

 hundred and twenty Cowries; so that it would never do to 

 pay large sums in this kind of coin: a waggon would be 

 required to convey a few pounds with. In this country the 

 Money Cowries are frequently used as markers or counters in 

 social games; they are generally white, in shape rather broad 

 and flat, being much spread out round the edges, which are 

 slightly puckered, like frills. Here are two figures of the shell, 

 exhibiting the back and front view. 



On Plate YII, will be found a group of other Foreign Cowries, 

 most of which will be recognized as familiar ornaments of the 

 mantel and sideboard. Fig. 1 is the Spotted or Leopard Cowry, 

 sometimes also called the Tiger Cowry, {C. tigris,) which, in 

 the earlier stages of its growth, is simply marked with broad 

 bands of lighter colour across the shell. Fig. 2, the Map Cowry, 

 (C. mappa,) curiously marked and shaded, so as to resemble 

 a coloured map; there are several varieties of this beautiful 

 shell, such as the rosy and dark variety from the Pearl 

 Islands, in the Indian Ocean; the Citron and Dwarf Rich- 

 mouthed variety, from the Mauritius. Fig. 3, the Mole Cowry, 

 {C. talpa,) the last word being the Latin for a mole, is of a 

 more slender form than most other species of the Cyprmdce 

 family, so called on account of their beauty, Cijprea being a 

 name of Yenus, the goddess of beauty. Any one who has seen 

 d, mole, must be struck with the resemblance of its general 



