The Cowries. Venus Shells 



A collector describes the animal as creamy white, the mantle 

 elegantly veined with black, and fringed with numerous simple 

 processes, ringed with white and tipped with lilac. The snout 

 is buflp, the tentacles veined with black, and the siphon yellow 

 with fringed tip. 



Habiiat. — Indian Ocean, Pacific Islands, Australia. 



Various shells furnish the raw material out of which wampum 

 and other money of aboriginal tribes are made. The money 

 cowry is a ready-made currency, like the tooth shell. It requires 

 only to be strung. The use of cowries as money dates far back 

 into antiquity. They were found in the ruins of Nimrud. Marco 

 Polo found them in circulation in Yunnan, in the thirteenth 

 century. The earliest mention of them is contained in a Hindoo 

 arithmetic of the seventh century, a. d. Translated, the "ex- 

 ample" reads as follows: 



The I of yV of I^ of f of § of ^ a dramma was given to a beg- 

 gar by one from whom he asked an alms; tell me how many 

 cowry shells the miser gave. 



Traffic in cowries has made fortunes for Dutch and English 

 traders whose merchantmen get their cargoes in Zanzibar, or in 

 the Indian or Pacific Ocean, where the shells have no value. 

 These ships proceed to the West Coast of Africa, and follow the 

 rivers inland to where tribes live which eagerly exchange their 

 ivory and palm oil for the coveted money shells. Cowries figure 

 largely in the slave trade. The value of these shells differs in the 

 regions where they are the medium of exchange. They have been 

 demonetised in many places by contact with traders who have 

 introduced English money. The upper Nile country is an 

 example. 



Shells that lack the glossy finish or are blue are "dead" 

 and almost worthless. Bright, perfect, uniform shells are highest 

 in value. 



Table of the currency valuation of cowries on the west 

 coast of Africa. Values vary greatly in inland regions. 



40 cowry shells = i string 

 2 J strings (100 cowries) = i English penny 



50 strings (2,000 cowries) = i head 



10 heads (20,000 cowries) =1 i bag 

 3 heads (6,000 cowries) = i dollar 



In the Soudan, where the people are great traders, the only 



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