( 'Si- of Qy:^<ry-s/icIIs for Ciin\un\ . \iinilcts, <7< . .171 



I 



iCL;ardc(l as an c\[)ansi(iii and ehihoiatioii uf the type of 

 l^ame rcpresentctl by th.e Korean .\'\\>/i/, and sacifd and 

 di\iiMlor)- in ils oiii;in." Ayoii/ is |)l,i\cd with staves. 

 " riic two faces of tlie staves, black and white, may be 

 rci^arded as sij^nifyinL; the (hial i)rincii)les of natnic, 

 masculine and femiin'iie. A feminine siL;nifKaricc is uidcl)- 

 attributed to the a[)erture of the cowrie sliell. Its convex 

 side woukl naturall\- be rci;arded as masculine ; hence its 

 substitution for the staves would seem to have been an 

 easy transition." 



(j.imes like I'achisi, in which cowries are useil as dice, 

 are known in the Aialdive Iskuuls undei" the name Dholo, 

 and in Sj-ria uinler the name of lidris a /in; also in 

 l^urma as /\?y;V.'^' 



In parts of l^'urther India the cowry is still in circula- 

 tion as mone\'. In .Siam anil Lat.)s it serves as a form 

 of currenc}', and in the former ctnintry 6,400 cowries are 

 said to eijual about is. 6d."' At the end of the 17th century 

 La Lcnibere found it in use in all .Siani ; it was obtained 

 from the Laccadives, from Jlorneo and the rhilipi)ines, 

 where it was taken in as ballast \)y the slii^js. A.bout the 

 middle of the 18th centur)-, accordin;^- U) Gervaise, the 

 Siamese small-change consisted of small shells, which the 

 Europeans called cowries and the Siamese l^ia. .Accord- 

 ing to llerl/. they were no loiiLicr in wsc as small-ch.mi^c 

 at Bangkok in iSSi.'^^ 



In Hnrma the women of the Taungthas weai" a loose 

 skirt adorned with a widc^ belt ot' cowries or sih-ei fdigree 

 work.'^* 



■" Culin. o/'. .//., pp. >S.S*'i-7- 



' -■ Deniker, op. -v/., [). 324 : Sec 



*'■ Sciiiiciik-r, fl^.ii/., pp. 107S. 

 '** " Women ul ail Nations," p. 574. 



