851.—"They find on its shores (of Ceylon) the pearl, and the shank, a name by which they designate the great shell which serves for a trumpet, and which is much sought after."—Reinaud, Relations, i. 6.
1563.—"... And this chanco is a ware for the Bengal trade, and formerly it produced more profit than now.... And there was formerly a custom in Bengal that no virgin in honour and esteem could be corrupted unless it were by placing bracelets of chanco on her arms; but since the Patans came in this usage has more or less ceased; and so the chanco is rated lower now...."—Garcia, f. 141.
1644.—"What they chiefly bring (from Tuticorin) are cloths called cachas[[59]] ... a large quantity of Chanquo; these are large shells which they fish in that sea, and which supply Bengal, where the blacks make of them bracelets for the arm; also the biggest and best fowls in all these Eastern parts."—Bocarro, MS. 316.
1672.—"Garroude flew in all haste to Brahma, and brought to Kisna the chianko, or kinkhorn, twisted to the right."—Baldaeus, Germ. ed. 521.
1673.—"There are others they call chanquo; the shells of which are the Mother of Pearl."—Fryer, 322.
1727.—"It admits of some Trade, and produces Cotton, Corn, coars Cloth, and Chonk, a Shell-fish in shape of a Periwinkle, but as large as a Man's Arm above the Elbow. In Bengal they are saw'd into Rings for Ornaments to Women's Arms."—A. Hamilton, i. 131.
1734.—"Expended towards digging a foundation, where chanks were buried with accustomed ceremonies."—In Wheeler, iii. 147.
1770.—"Upon the same coast is found a shell-fish called xanxus, of which the Indians at Bengal make bracelets."—Raynal (tr. 1777) i. 216.
1813.—"A chank opening to the right hand is highly valued ... always sells for its weight in gold."—Milburn, i. 357.
[1871.—"The conch or chunk shell."—Mateer, Land of Charity, 92.]