THE COWRIES. 



323 



the rich mottling of the surface. A larger species is called the Tiger Cowry. One of these 

 shells is largely used by the natives of the Sandwich Islands as sinkers for their nets, and a 

 singularly ingenious bait is made from the same shell for the capture of the cuttle-fish. 



A number of Cowries are cut into fragments and so fitted together as to form an oval 

 ball of considerable size, with a smooth and mottled surface. Something by way of a tail, or 



POACHED EGG.— Omlum ovum. . 



COMMON COWHT.-W euro P «a. WEAVER'S SHUTTLE.-^ ^*$«^^^-Z^^ 

 PANTHER COWRT.-Cypraa panthenna. WARTY EGG.- Ooulum verrucosum. DEEP-TOOTHED cOWRiu uw<* 



balance, is fastened to one end of the ball, and the fishing-line tied to the other. The bait is 

 now complete, and is quietly lowered near the spot where the cuttle is known to live, ana 

 drawn slowly along the around. The ever-watchful cuttle is immediately attracted by tins 

 novel object, and thinking it to be some hitherto unknown delicacy, darts at it, and arrests its 

 progress by attaching one of its arms to the smooth surface. The fisherman then gives a 

 slight jerk to his line, and the deluded cuttle, fancying that its prey is trying to escape, makes 



