290 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



revenue to the island government of ;^4000 per annum for 

 licenses. The fishery is now free. 



These shells are often used as oil vessels or lamps in 

 Indian temples, for which purpose they are carved and 

 sculptured or otherwise ornamented. When the volute 

 turns to the right, the shell is held in peculiar estimation 

 — a right-handed chank being so highly prized for its 

 rarity as sometimes to sell in Calcutta for its weight in 

 gold, or at from £^0 to ;^S0. In Ceylon also, the reversed 



Fig. 20. 



Saw used by natives for cutting segments of the shell. 



variety is held sacred by the priests, who administer medi- 

 cine by it. This shell, from its weight and smoothness, 

 is used in Dacca for calendering' or glazing cotton, and in 

 Nepal for giving a polished surface to paper. 



The principal demand for these shells is for making 

 bangles or armlets and anklets, and the manufacture is still 

 almost confined to Dacca. The shell is cut or sliced into 

 segments of circles, or narrow rings of various sizes, by a 

 rude semicircular saw, the hands and toes being both 

 actively employed in the operation. 



