127 The Cowries. Venus Shells A collector describes the animal as creamy white, the mantle elegantly veined with black, and fringed with numerous simple processes, ringed with white and tipped with lilac. The snout is buff, the tentacles veined with black, and the siphon yellow with fringed tip.
Indian Ocean, Pacific Islands, Australia.
Various shells furnish the raw material out of which wampum and other money of aboriginal tribes are made. The money cowry is a ready-made currency, like the tooth shell. It requires only to be strung. The use of cowries as money dates far back into antiquity. They were found in the ruins of Nimrud. Marco Polo found them in circulation in Yunnan, in the thirteenth century. The earliest mention of them.is contained in a Hindoo arithmetic of the seventh century, A. D. Translated, the "ex ample" reads as follows: The of -A- of 4-of of of 4Z a dramma was given to a beg gar by one from whom he asked an alms; tell me how many cowry shells the miser gave.
Traffic in cowries has made fortunes for Dutch and English traders whose merchantmen get their cargoes in Zanzibar, or in the Indian or Pacific Ocean, where the shells have no value. These ships proceed to the West Coast of Africa, and follow the rivers inland to where tribes live which eagerly exchange their ivory and palm oil for the coveted money shells. Cowries figure largely in the slave trade. The value of these shells differs in the regions where they are the medium of exchange. They have been demonetised in many places by contact with traders who have introduced English money. The upper Nile country is an example.
Shells that lack the glossy finish or are blue are "dead" and almost worthless. Bright, perfect, uniform shells are highest in value.
Table of the currency valuation of cowries on the west coast of Africa. Values vary greatly in inland regions.
40 cowry shells = I string 2i strings (i oo cowries) = I English penny 5o strings (2,000 cowries) = i head io heads (20,000 cowries) = i bag 3 heads (6,000 cowries) = i dollar In the Soudan, where the people are great traders, the only 128 The Cowries. Venus Shells currency they have is cowry shells. For a dollar's worth of any thing a purchaser must pay 2,000 cowries, which weigh from five to seven pounds. It is not to be wondered at that the wheels
of trade drag heavily with this burdensome currency, and progress of all kinds is impeded. In some parts of Africa 3,000 shells are worth a dollar. The price of a young wife is 6o,000 to Ioo,000 cowries—from 4 to g sterling. This is $20 to $4.0. An older, more ordinary wife may be had for 20,000 cowries or 25 shillings, about $6.
The Ring Cowry (C. moneta, var. annula, Ads.) has already been mentioned. Mr. Arthur Adams saw the young of this mollusk clinging in a glutinous mass to the mantles of their parents. Each had a transparent, very wide-mouthed spiral shell. When put into a watch glass of sea water the shells disintegrated, and the mollusks swam rapidly about by means of two mem branous wings, finally settling down.
The Eyed Cowry (C. Argus, Linn.) has as many eyes on its back as Juno's fabled peacock. Three bands of smoky brown cross the arched back, fading out into the creamy ground colour of the base. The "eyes" are rings of warm, light brown. A few of the largest are almost solid brown to the centres. Two large dark brown patches occur on each lip. The teeth are shaded with brown. Length, 2i to 4 inches.
Habitat.— New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Indian Ocean.
The Measled Cowry (C. exanthema, Linn.) is well "broken out" with round white spots on a chestnut ground, which fades to drab or bluish underneath. A wavy line of bluish white runs longitudinally over the back, revealing what the mottled brown areas almost conceal, three broad bands of bluish brown under colour. The teeth are dark brown. Fine specimens are picked off of mangrove stems on the north shore at Key West. Length, 3 or 4 inches.
Habitat.— West Indies, Florida.
Variety cervinetta, Kiener, is a smaller shell, more cylindrical and darker than its parent species. The teeth on the columella are dark brown. It occurs on the west coast at Panama and Mazatlan.
The Cowry (C. spadicea, Swn.), the only species found on western beaches of the United States, occurs in Southern California. It is flesh-coloured on the sides and white below.