Use of Cowry-shells for Currency, Afiiulets, etc. 177 



that man is formed from ^ species of mussel and that 

 gods are present in some of the shell-fish.'"' A similar idea 

 concerning the possibility of human beings living in shells 

 is current among the Indians of the N.W. coast of 

 America. According to the Haida and Kaigani the first 

 people sprang from a cockle-shell.™ 



In the Far East, cowries, both large and small, were 

 used as a medium of currency long before the Christian 

 era. Frequent allusions are made to them in ancient 

 Chinese literature, but the authenticity of some of these 

 I'ecords and of the dates assigned to the period when 

 cowries were in use is open to some criticism. M. 

 Terrien de Lacouperie™ has presented us with some re- 

 markable views on the origin of Chinese civilization, based 

 upon the study of numerous Chinese works, and from his 

 statements it would appear that cowries were used as 

 money in China as early as 2,000 years B.C. But the 

 fact that many of the works which he studied are, to a 

 large extent, based upon tradition renders them unreliable 

 as evidence as to date. It seems certain, however, that 

 cowries were in circulation among the people of Eastern 

 China in the seventh century B.C., and the southern country 

 of Ts'u figures largely in connection with supplies of these 

 shells for currency. Contact with the west through sea- 

 traders of the Indian Ocean (Erythrsan Sea), who are 

 claimed to have established a colony in the Gulf of Kiao- 

 chou (South Shantung) in 675-670 B.C., had made them 

 familiar with many western practices, and it is not im- 

 probable that the use of the cowry was one of them. 

 Some time about 600 B.C., the king of Ts'u issued two 



»«» Turner, "Samoa, etc," London, 18S4, pp. 8, 12 and 17. 



"» Niblack, "The Coast Indians of Southern Alaska and Northern 

 British Columbia," Kept. U.S. Nat. Mus., 1887-8 {1890), p. 378. 



'''"■ Terrien de Lacouperie, "Western Origin of the Early Chinese 

 Civilisation from 2,300 B.C. to 200 a.d." London, 1894. 



