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work of shell cutting are carried on in partly open sheds 
or verandahs at the rear, whereas the carving, lacquer- 
ing, and finishing of the shell sections proceed in rooms 
and verandahs open to the street. 
The workers belong exclusively to the Sankhari sub- 
caste of Vaisyas ; they appear to be very conservative 
and have the reputation of being exceedingly clannish. 
Educationally their condition is or was till quite recently 
distinctly backward. Their quarter was held in ill odour 
by their fellow-townsmen as the reputed scene of fre- 
quent robbery and undetected crime. Of recent years 
trade has been very good and with increased prosperity 
and greater municipal and police supervision the Shak- 
hart Bazaar has shown marked material and moral 
improvement. When I visited this locality, cne street 
and the houses appeared up to the average of working- 
class quarters of an Indian city. Personally | met w ith 
perfect courtesy and I am glad to be now enabled to 
express my appreciation of the helpful attitude shown 
towards myself by everybody with whom I conversed, as 
well the workpeople themselves as their employers. 
My enquiries necessitated many questions and much 
cross-examination upon details of work and of trade and 
never once did I meet with discourtesy or impatience. 
An interesting account by Dr. Wise (Zamindar Wise, 
whose house is still a landmark in Dacca) of the char- 
acter and habits of the Dacca Sankharis is quoted by 
Risley (II, p. 221) and is well worth full quotation. — Dr. 
Wise says, ‘ The Sankhari have the character of being 
very penurious and unusually industrious, young and old 
working toa late hour at night. Boys are taught the 
trade at a very early age, otherwise their limbs would 
not brook the awkward. posture and confined space in 
which work is carried on. When sawing, the shell is 
held by the toes, the semi-circular saw, kept perpendi- 
cular, being moved sideways. The caste are notoriously 
filthy in their domestic arrangements. A narrow pas- 
sage, hardly two feet wide, leads through the house to 
an open courtyard, where the sewage of the household 
collects and is never removed. E pidemic diseases are 
very prevalent among them, and owing doubtless to their 
unhealthy mode of life the men as a rule are pale and 
