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the needful ornament. There is no special ceremony 
followed at the time a girl puts on her chank necklet for 
the first time. Asarulethe men of the family attach 
the rings to the cord. 
This custom seems tu be losing ground quickly, for 
while many people knew of it further south in Malabar, I 
never saw this ornament in use in North Malabar. Many 
Cherumans were seen between Cannanore and Mount 
Dilly, but all said few use it now, preferring glass or imi- 
tation coral beads for their necklets. There is no doubt 
that formerly the custom was widely spread among 
the servile population of Kerala, and as these people's 
religious beliefs consist almost solely of the dread of 
malignant spirits, it is extremely probable that originally 
the necklet was used as an amulet against demons and 
the evil eye, though now it is more generally considered 
as asept badge. The custom of long-settled Malayali 
immigrants (Mukuvans, etc.) on the South Canara 
coast, of putting similar necklaces round their children’s 
necks already referred to on p. 153, appears to furnish 
strong corroboration of this conclusion. 
In Bengal a few ornamental finger rings are now made, 
carved in simple patterns and highly polished. These 
are not in great demand and I am uncertain as to whether 
they are worn as ornaments or as amulets. At Kila- 
karai a few roughly decorated thin finger-rings to be 
used as amulets are also produced, in addition to the 
roughly made, thick and clumsy sections cut from Strom- 
bus shells. 
The first mention of the use of discs cut from chank- 
shells to ornament caps and headdresses occurs in 
Tavernier’s ‘Indian Travels’. In 1666 he was in Dacca 
and records the fact that Bhutan merchants took home 
quantities of “round and square pieces (of shell) of 
the size of our 15 sol coins.” He also states that “all 
the people of the north, men, women, girls and boys, 
suspend small pieces of shell both round and square from 
their hair and ears”. 
Whether the trade is as large as in former days, I 
cannot say. It is now of small monetary value: the 
Thibetans, Bhuteas, Nagas and some wild tribes on the 
Chinese border seem to be the only people who now 
