. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 163 How Savages Use The Sea Shells. 1>V C'UAIJLES PIkDLKV, TO the wild man slu'lls and shellfish were much more valuahle than these are to ourselves. In the ages be- fore metals were found, primitive man easily fashioned many useful articles from shells, and without exerting strength or skill he gathered plenty of wholesome food from cockles, mussels, oysters, whelks and limpets. If a civilised man were so unlucky as to be wrecked on a desert island, V)eing thrown on his own resources and living again the sim
. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 163 How Savages Use The Sea Shells. 1>V C'UAIJLES PIkDLKV, TO the wild man slu'lls and shellfish were much more valuahle than these are to ourselves. In the ages be- fore metals were found, primitive man easily fashioned many useful articles from shells, and without exerting strength or skill he gathered plenty of wholesome food from cockles, mussels, oysters, whelks and limpets. If a civilised man were so unlucky as to be wrecked on a desert island, V)eing thrown on his own resources and living again the simple life of a savage, he would quickly realise in how many ways he could use his shells. Among the re- mote islands of the Pacific sea shells are still used not only for ornaments, but for tools, for pots and pans, and many other things. In the galleries of the Australian Museum are many examples of such work, the story of which we will now proceed to tell. In the good old days tlie native beach- comber did very well without the trader's store. For the kindly sea gods who managed his fish supply, who brought him the dugong, who guided his turtle to the sand bank where it laid its eggs, also threw upon the beach the material for cups, plates, knives, and all that was needful for his table-ware. Among such gifts were the giant clam, the great whelk, the helmet shell, and the pearl oyster. One of the most use- ful of these is the melon shell {Cym- hium flammeum). Melon shells have been known to reach a length of eigh- teen inches and a breadth of twelve inches, their backs are as round and smooth as the water-melon from which they take their name, and they are tastefully painted in cream and brown and crowned with a spiral of thorns. The melon shell is at home in the little pools floored with sand that lie among the coral reefs, and, crawling lazily through the wet sand, is the large tough black slug that owns and builds it. In the simple life nothing edible is wasted, so the blac
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