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characteristic of the coloration of the S¢romdus employed, 
is clearly recognizable. Many are sold in the bazaars 
or by pe: \dlers throughout the Tamil and Malayalam dis- 
tricts, usually as amulets against the evil eye and against 
such minor ailments as pimples on the face and various 
skin troubles. So far as I can ascertain, the only people 
who use these rings in personal adornment are two tribes 
of low civilization living in the Malayalam country—the 
Hill Vedans of Travancore and certain sections of 
the Cheruman tribe in Cochin and Malabar. The former 
I have not seen. They are described by Thurston 
(VI, p. 333) as living in wretched huts and employed 
chiefly as rice-field watchmen. He states that both the 
men and women of this tribe wear numerous bead neck- 
laces interstrung or otherwise associated with a few of 
these rings. Ina photograph given by the same authority 
(Vol. III, p.. 177), a man is shown wearing numerous 
strings of glass beads passed ¢hrough eight Strombus 
rings. - In the case of the women these necklaces hang 
down as far as the abdomen. 
The Cherumans were formerly the agrestic serfs of 
Malabar, Cochin and ‘Travancore--the Malayalam 
country or Kerala. To-day they still remain largely in 
a servile condition, carrying on for their masters the 
heavy labour of the fields ; they receive their pay almost 
always in kind. They are divided into a considerable 
number of endogamous sections differing in appellation 
in different districts--a sign of long-continued residence 
in a country of difficult intercommunication. 
All Cheruman women are greatly addicted to the use 
of necklaces, particularly of the showy strings of beads 
now put within the reach of the poorest by the enterprise 
of Austrian and Italian manufacturers. Of other clothing 
they wear the scantiest—-a very dirty, once white 
cloth, pendant from the waist, being their usual garb. 
Certain sections wear as a distinctive badge, in addition 
to numerous bead necklaces, a long cord whereon are 
strung large numbers of Strombus rings (chanku modt- 
ram) they believe them to be of chank-shell. The 
bead necklaces are usually wound many times round the 
neck itself, roughly forming a collar often reaching as 
high as the chin. The chank necklace is worn. at a 
lower level, and lies on the shoulders and on the upper 
