S II A 
93 
above ground. The Shangalla then seek their winter quar¬ 
ters in caves dug in the heart of the mountains, from a soft 
gritty sandstone, easily excavated, and formed into different 
apartments Here they make their abode during the rainy 
months, living upon the flesh which they have dried and 
prepared during the more favourable season. Their food is 
procured by hunting. The elephant is taken and killed by 
various devices, as is the rhinoceros, and the other large 
animals. Those who reside where water abounds, kill the 
hippopotami or river horses, which are exceedingly numerous 
in the pools of the stagnant rivers. In sandy tracks, ostriches, 
and a beautiful species of lizard, form the principal food. 
Some feed chiefly upon locusts 5 others live in districts 
abounding with a considerably greater variety of game. 
These various tribes have been correctly described by Pto¬ 
lemy, according to their food, under the titles of Rhizo- 
phagi, Elephantophagi, Acridophagi, &c. The meat thus 
caught in the fair season is cut into tliongs as thick as a 
man’s thumb, like so many ropes, and hung up on the sur¬ 
rounding trees. The sun dries and hardens it almost to the 
consistence of leather, or the hardest Newfoundland fish. 
In winter, when preparing it for use, they first beat it with a 
wooden mallet, then boil it, and then roast it upon the em¬ 
bers. The Shangalla are subject to little subordination, 
though there is an union of families and tribes for commoh 
defence in danger. They are continually exposed to a most se¬ 
rious calamity during the dry season; this being the only part 
of Abyssinia favourable for hunting, the princes undertake 
expeditions on a great scale for that purpose. Along with 
the elephant and rhinoceros, they hunt also the Shangalla, 
for the purpose of carrying them off as slaves. These unfor¬ 
tunate savages, destitute both of horses and fire-arms, main¬ 
tain a very unequal warfare-, yet by their natiye valour they 
often prevail, and have even invaded and occupied the 
neighbouring provinces of Tigre. 
SHANK, s. [pceanc, pcanc. Sax., schin/c. Germ., 
sehenckel, Dutch.] The middle joint of the leg; that part 
which reaches from the ankle to the knee.—A stag says, if 
these pitiful shanks of mine were but answerable to this 
branching head, I can’t but think how I should defy all my 
enemies. L'Estrange .—The bone of the leg. 
Shut me nightly in a charnel-house, 
O’er cover’d quite with dead men’s rattling bones. 
With reeky shanks, and yellow chapless skulls. Shakspeare. 
Leg or support of any thing.—In Somersetshire they have 
a way of setting their mows of corn on a frame, standing 
upon four stones cut with a shank. Rap. —The long part of 
any instrument.—The shank of a key, or some such long 
hole, the punch cannot strike, because the shank is not 
forged with substance sufficient. Moxon.—[hryonia, Lat] 
An herb. 
SHANK, the Shanscrit name of that species of shell, 
which gives its name in Europe to this branch of natural 
history. French and foreign writers spell the word chank. 
The easy substitution of a hard for a soft initial, has led to a 
supposition that conch may, by early writers, have been 
taken from the same source as shank, or even derived from 
it. The shank, or chank, or conch, is the large buccinum, 
and is often seen beautifully coloured like a pheasant’s 
breast. 
The shells in question are articles of commerce in India, to 
no inconsiderable extent. A chank fishery on the island of 
Ceylon is noticed by Mr. Cordiner. It is in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Manaar (see Manaar), and yields, Mr. Cordiner 
says, a considerable revenue to government. The shells, he 
says, are brought from the depth of two fathoms by divers, 
who in a calm day can, from a boat, see them crawling at 
the bottom. Such as are of a spiral form, are chiefly ex¬ 
ported to Bengal, where they are sawed into rings of various 
sizes, and worn on the arms, legs, fingers and toes of the 
Hindoos, both male and female. A chank opening to the 
right, that is, with its spiral line contrary to its usual direc¬ 
tion, is rarely met with, and is highly valued by mystics 
and zealots. 
Vob. XXIII. No. 1556. 
S H A 
SHANK, or Shank-Painter, in a Ship, is a short chain 
fastened under the foremast-shrouds, by a bolt, to the ship’s 
sides, having at the other end a rope fastened to it. On this 
shank-painter the whole weight of the aft-part of the anchor 
rests, when it lies by the ship’s side. The rope by which it 
is hauled up, is made fast about a timber-head. 
SHANK, Sheep, a sort of knot made on backstays, &c., 
to shorten them. 
SHANK’S ISLAND, an island in the South Pacific 
Ocean, about 15 miles from east to west, and 18 from north 
to south; discovered in 1802. Lat. 28. S. long. 163. E, 
SIIA'NKED, adj. Having a shank. 
SHA'NKER, or Cha'ncre. A venereal excrescence. 
SHANKLIN, a parish of England, in the Isle of Wight, 
Southamptonshire; 7 miles south-east of Newport. 
SHANNON, the chief river in Ireland, which takes its 
rise from Lough Clean, and pursuing a south and south¬ 
west direction, divides the provinces of Leinster and Munster 
from Connaught. It passes Limerick, where it turns nearly 
to the west, and 60 miles below this city, falls into the At¬ 
lantic Ocean, between Kerry Head and Cape Lean, after a 
course of 200 miles. It is navigable nearly to Limerick for 
ships of the greatest burden, and for smaller vessels through¬ 
out the whole extent of its course. It traverses several large 
lakes, and forms many extensive bays and estuaries, inter¬ 
spersed with beautiful islands. The largest lakes through 
which it passes, are Lough Boffin, Lough Ree or Regith, 
aud Lough Derg or Dergart. The first, which is about 10 
square miles in extent, is situated at the confines of the coun¬ 
ties of Leitrim, Longford and Roscommon. Lough Ree 
extends nearly from Lanesborough to Athlone, a distance of 
about 16 miles, and is from two to five miles in breadth: it 
contains above fifty islands, many of which are covered 
with wood and good pasture. Lough Derg is 18 miles long, 
and from 2 to 7 broad: it is diversified with about sixty 
islands, one of which, called Innismore, contains above a 
hundred acres of good land; and on another, called the Holy 
Island, are the ruins of seven churches, and a round tower. 
This lake extends nearly from Portumna to Killaloe. There 
is also below Limerick, at the confluence of the Fergus river, 
an immense estuary or frith, of many square miles in extent, 
interspersed with several rich and romantic islands. The 
Shannon receives above thirty other rivers in its course, and 
diffuses verdure and fertility over the banks of ten counties, 
namely, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and Clare, on the 
right; and on the left Longford, Westmeath, King’s County, 
Tipperary, Limerick and Kerry. The principal rivers that 
fall in from the right bank, or Connaught side, are the Key, 
Suck, Scariff and Fergus. The confluence of the Key is at 
Garrick, and the Suck, which divides the counties of Ros¬ 
common and Galway, flows in at Clonfert, above Banagher. 
Several smaller rivers fall in from the county of Galway; 
and from Clare flow the Scariff and Fergus; but the great 
weight of water comes from the other side, by rivers running 
from east to west. The Inny is the first great river on the 
left bank: it is the boundary between the counties of Long¬ 
ford and Westmeath, and falls into Lough Ree, where it 
forms a large estuary. The second river on this side is the 
Great Brosna, which forms a fine confluence with the Shan¬ 
non above Banagher; and the Lesser Brosna, united with 
the Birr river, falls in a few miles below that town. From 
hence to Limerick many smaller rivers flow in on the Or¬ 
mond side, and below that city there are some larger ones: 
the principal are the Maig, Deel, Ovan, Cummage, Feale, 
Gale and Cashin. Several of the above are navigable to a 
considerable distance from the Shannon. From such an ac¬ 
cumulation of rivers, lakes and springs, the mouth of the 
Shannon is increased to an immense magnitude, being nearly 
10 miles in breadth for the last 15 miles, and from 20 to 30 
fathoms deep. The principal towns situated on its banks 
are Leitrim, Carrick, Jamestown, Lanesborough, Athlone, 
Banagher, Portumna, Killaloe, Castleconuel, Tarbert and 
Kilrush; besides the city of Limerick, which it encompasses 
by different branches, and in some measure insulates. The 
tides in the mouth of the Shannon rise from 9 to 14 feet per- 
2 B pendicular 
