50 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 



take mussels and other shellfish from the shore, it is 

 equally important for the lord of the manor to do his 

 utmost to prevent these natural friends of his embank- 

 ments and jetties from being removed in large quanti- 

 ties from his part of the shore. 



Neumann tells us that calcined mussel- shells make 

 strong lime, and bind quickly, and that shell-lime is 

 generally considered stronger than stone-lime. Mussel- 

 shells, when polished, make pretty pincushions and 

 needlebooks, and at the colourists, they are filled with 

 gold, silver, and bronze, and sold for heraldic painting 

 and illuminating. It was in one of these shells, also, 

 in which the witch, in the quaint old story, put to sea 

 for the purpose of wrecking her enemy's ships. 



A large species of mussel, called awabi or awabee, is 

 used in Japan as a new year's gift. The day is spent in 

 paying respects, visiting, and giving presents to friends 

 and relatives, and they mostly consist of awabi. Awabi, 

 in days of yore, were the first sustenance and support of 

 the Japanese, as acorns were formerly the primitive diet 

 of the inhabitants of Europe, and the awabi is the em- 

 blem, or rather the memorial, of the frugality of their 

 forefathers.* 



There is another purpose for which these shells are 

 used, which would astonish the " Truefitts " of the pre- 

 sent day ; for Grey, in his ' Australia,' mentions that 

 amongst the contents of a native woman's bag was a 

 mussel- shell for cutting the hair. 



There is an interesting account in Captain O'Brien's 



'Adventures during the late War,' of the method of 



fishing for mussels in the Bay of Conoepcion. A man 



and woman in a canoe push off from the shore, to a certain 



* 'Eeligious Ceremonies,' vol. iv. p. 315. 



