go Shells as evidence of tJic Migrations. 



it is also a very ancient custom in China, and, more 

 interesting still, in the New World, where it appears to 

 have been carried b}' the great wave of megalithic culture 

 compounded of so many curious and remarkable elements. 

 In no other wa\' can it be accounted for here, as it is in- 

 conceivable that such an arbitrary practice could have 

 developed independent!}' in Asia and in America. 



India is the home of many strange ideas concerning the 

 origin of j^earls. From ver}^ early times they have been 

 considered as consolidated dew-drops, which Buddha in 

 certain months showered upon the earth, when they were 

 caught up by the gaping oysters whilst floating on the 

 waters to breathe.'"'-* Streeter"'* quotes many other ecjuall}^ 

 curious superstitions regarding their origin, from a work 

 by a native Indian Prince, the Rajah Sourindro Mohun 

 Tagore. In his ' Mani-Mala or a treatise on Gems,' ■'■' 

 this writer, in addition to the dew-droj) theor\% refers to 

 the general belief that pearls originate in clouds, ele- 

 phants, boars, conch-shells, fish, serpents, and bamboos. 

 The cloud-begotten idea seems to be a variant of the 

 dew-drop origin. " Pearls that originate in the head of 

 the Elepiiants of Khambogia are large as the fruit of the 

 eiiitlic Myrobahui, heav}', and more yellow, but not more 

 lustrous than the (jther kinds." " Pearls which originate 

 in the head of the l>oar are generall)- white, like the tusks 

 of that animal."' " A pearl derived from the conch-shell 

 is of large dimensions, has the same colour as the inner 

 surface of that shell-fish, and is productive of good fortune 

 to its possessor.'""'' " Pearls attained from the mouth of sea- 

 fish are singular])- round, small and light. Those which 



"'■' I'f'vcll, op. nt., p 47. 

 '"'■' Strceler, op. cil ., pp. 57-62. 

 "•"■ 2 vnl.s..CaIcmin, uS8i. 



■'■ ]\-ails ate \V(.H-kiiov\ n IVoiu Si>o»tl'US, 'I'lirbiiiiila.^w^ other conch- 

 sliell>. 



