CHINAMAN BUYING EGGS, WITH THE "CASH" OVER HIS SHOULDER.
Amongst the commonest of all currencies is the shell, and at the present time it is quite extensively used in various parts of the world—in Africa, in the Pacific, and in parts of Asia. In Africa, the Shell-Money is the cowry, and it is customary for the natives to adorn their gods, fetiches, and other objects of veneration with ropes of these shells. In British Columbia, Haikwa shells were used as money.
CHINESE SILVER WILLOW-LEAF-MONEY.
One of our illustrations shows the form shell-money takes in the Solomon Islands, the shells being strung in ropes a fathom long. Another picture shows a satchel belonging to a native of New Caledonia with a quantity of shell-money in it. Sometimes the shells used are of quite a large size; at other times again they are exceedingly minute. Their value appears to depend on their colour and shape, the most valuable being those which were most suitable for the adornment of the person.
ADZE-MONEY, THE PRICE OF A FAT MAN FOR CANNIBALS.
The next group of currencies is of a somewhat different class. In this case feathers take the place of shells, and three examples are given of this Feather Currency. In one example we see a specimen of what is known as the Red Feather Currency. Over a band of vegetable fibre is woven a material composed of red parrot feathers, held in place by two boards placed in the middle above and below the band; the whole was carried in a bag.
