238 ISLES OF SUMMER. 



our position. They constitute an important item in the daily 

 stock in trade of the negroes who frequent the court of the Royal 

 Victoria Hotel. Excepting the conchs, they are generally of 

 small size and very delicate. No lady, and very few gentlemen, 

 leave Nassau without securing a large supply for home use 

 and distribution, and they constitute when away, happy re- 

 minders of amusing scenes in the hotel court, and of occasional 

 rambles upon the honey-combed and shell strewn shores of the 

 islands and keys, when healthful pleasures filled the flying hours. 

 Large, richly but darkly colored and finely polished turtle shells 

 are secured by many at a cost of from two to fifteen or twenty 

 dollars each. 



The common Conch, [stronihus gigas) the ''winged-shell," is 

 by far the most valuable shell-fish of the Bahamas. It is from 

 six to twelve inches in length, and weighs from one to five 

 pounds. It weighs from four to sixteen ounces after it is dressed. 

 It constitutes an important article of diet, and its shell is utilized 

 in various ways. The conch often secretes a pearl of a light pink 

 tint, mottled with water marks and having much the appearance 

 of the eggs of dragon flies. Many persons obtain a livelihood by 

 diving for conchs, in which they become quite expert; some di- 

 vers, it is said, being able to thus secure them in water ten fath- 

 oms (sixty feet) deep. The local market for them is at Nassau, 

 where they are carried when alive. After breaking off the apex 

 of the shell, the animal is taken from its shell and first examined 

 for pearls, and then sold for food. They are considered, by some, 

 a very good substitute for clams. Some are eaten raw, and 

 others made into fritters. They are generally considered pala- 

 table, and are said to be nutritious. The shells are used in the 

 States for ornamenting gardens, and in Europe in the manufac- 

 ture of cameos. Lime is made of them in the Bahamas. 



The King Conch is less useful than the strombus gigas, being 



