CHANKS : BECHE-DE-MER. 143

in the sand of the great embayment from Jaffna to Elephant
Pass. The fishers locate their presence by means of an iron
probe, which they drive time after time into the sand till
at last the extremity rings sharp against a buried shell.
The large numbers sent annually to Bengal not only from
Ceylon but also from Southern India are absorbed continuously
 to supply requirements rendered necessary by the
sxistence of a curious funeral custom among Hindus, which
compels the destruction of all personal ornaments worn by
female relatives in attendance, the master of the house or the
chief mourner subsequently replacing them by others. The
inconvenience of destroying valuable jewellery is obvious,
and so due respect to the dead is inexpensively shown by
the use of rings, bracelets, and anklets sawn from chank
shells. Large and perfect ghells find another use, being
smployed, when perforated at the apex, to trumpet forth the
temple's call to worship and upon all ceremonial occasions.
Especially reverenced are left-handed chanks, which are
rare individuals where the spiral of the shell is in
reverse direction to the normal. Such shells have their
value enhanced indefinitely ; good examples are said to be
worth now from Rs. 400 to Rs. 600; in former days such
shells were assessed at their weight in gold.
Chank fishing has some importance to the local Government,
 both because a royalty of Rs. 2 per 1,000, equivalent
 to about one-twentieth the value, is collected from it
and because the divers who attend whenever a pearl fishery
is proclaimed are largely recruited from the ranks of the
chank fishers.
[n 1902 Rs. 96,416 worth of chanks were exported.
Small chank shells are in use toadorn as charms the forehead
 or the neck of cart bullocks.

Beche-de-mer, or Trepang as it is also termed commercially,
 is another minor fishery product collected on the
northern and eastern coasts, its ultimate destination being
China. The animals yielding the supply are various species of
sea cucumbers(holothurians), elongated sac-shaped creatures
well deserving their familiar name, Those fished are chiefly
black or brown, sometimes smooth, but more often with the
body studded thickly with prickle-like papille. Zoologically
 they are grouped with the star-fishes and sea-urchins,
among other points agreeing with them in crawling by
means of myriads of sucker feet arranged either in five
squidistant bands running from head to tail, or having them
massed over a special crawling surface on the under surface
of the body.