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The
concise guide to Anglo-Sri Lankan lexicon Part VIII by Richard Boyle chank (1698).
The definition in the OED2 relies on that in the corresponding entry
in H-J2: "A large kind of shell (Turbinella rapa) prized by
the Hindus, and used by them for offering libations, as a horn to
blow at the temples and for cutting into armlets and other ornaments.
It is found especially in the Gulf of Mannar." None of the
references provided are from English literature pertaining to Sri
Lanka. The earliest such reference is by James Cordiner from A Description
of Ceylon (1807[1983]:266): "When the weather is calm, Chank-bed (1833),
chank-fishery (1807), and chank-shell (1859) are included in the
entry. James Emerson Tennent is quoted from Ceylon (1859:I.471)
with reference to the third: "Chank-shells continued to swell
the din." Cordiner (1807[1983]:266) provides an antedating
or earlier reference for the second: "In the neighbourhood
of Mannar a Chanque fishery is carried on, and proves a valuable
article of revenue to the government. The shells are fished up by
divers in about two fathoms depth of water." dhoney, doney
(1582). "A small native sailing vessel of Southern India."
Although associated with South India, the dhoney was used extensively
in pearl-fishery and therefore merits inclusion in this list. An
early reference from English literature pertaining to Sri Lanka
is by J. W. Bennett from Ceylon and its Capabilities (1842:297):
"The uncouth anchors of the native Dhonies, or coasting vessels,
which are composed of a thick wooden shank, with large stones lashed
between transverse beams of wood, in lieu of flukes, are often found,
upon being weighed, enveloped in spawn." leaping-fish
(1861). "The fish Salarias tridactylus, of Ceylon; so called
because it comes on shore and leaps over the wet stones, etc."
The only reference given in the OED2 is by James Emerson Tennent
from The Natural History of Ceylon (1861:495), which occurs in the
Index: "Leaping-fish." This refers to a description of
the fish on page 332: "On the rocks in Ceylon which are washed
by the surf there are quantities of the curious little fish, Salarias
alticus, which possesses the faculty of darting along the surface
of the water, and running up the wet stones, with the utmost ease
and rapidity. By aid of the pectoral and dorsal fins and gill-cases,
they move across the damp sand, ascend the roots of the mangroves,
and climb up the smooth surface of the rocks in search of flies;
adhering so securely as not to be detached by repeated assaults
of the waves. These little creatures are so nimble, that it is almost
impossible to lay hold of them, as they scramble to the edge, and
plunge into the sea on the slightest attempt to molest them. They
are from three to four inches in length, and of a dark brown colour,
almost indistinguishable from the rocks they frequent." Seir-fish,
seer-fish (1727). "[The first element is a corruption of the
Portuguese name serra, literally 'saw.'] An East Indian scombroid
fish, Cybium guttatum. Also elliptically as seer." The only
reference given in the OED2 with relevance to Sri Lanka - an odd
one at that - comes from an advertisement on the front cover of
Fashion Panorama (Ceylon) for April-June 1971: "12lbs comprising
Seer, Crabs or Prawns." Needless to say, much earlier and more
conventional references from English literature pertaining to Sri
Lanka can be found. Cordiner (1807[1983]:262) lists this fish, but
I like the following by Bennett (1842:111): "Too much cannot
be said in favor of the fishes of Ceylon, particularly of the Seir
fish, called by the Singhalese Tora-malu, for the female has the
same flavor as the salmon of Europe." The corresponding reference
in H-J2 states: "A name applied to several varieties of fish,
species of the genus Cybium. When of the right size, neither too
small nor too big, these are reckoned among the most delicate of
Indian sea-fish." A reference by Tennent (1859:I.205) is given:
"Of those in ordinary use on the table the finest by far is
the Seir-fish, a species of Scomber, which is called Toramalu by
the natives. It is in size and form very similar to the salmon,
to which the flesh of the female fish, not withstanding its white
colour, bears a very close resemblance, both in firmness and in
flavour." Shark-charmer
(1807). "One professing to protect the pearl-divers in Sri
Lanka from sharks by incantations." The earliest reference
given in the OED2 comes from the Cornhill Magazine (1866:169): "The
shark-charmer . . . is considered so indispensable to the fishery
that he is paid by Government." There are many
references to shark-charmer that antedate the one quoted in the
OED2. The first is by Robert Percival from An Account of the Island
of Ceylon (1803:65-6), although this has no direct relevance as
Percival refers to shark-charmers as conjurers. Nevertheless, Percival
is the first to give a detailed description of the extraordinary
functions of the shark-charmers, and in doing so explains why they
were considered indispensable to Government: "Some of the divers
are so skilful as to avoid the shark even when they remain under
water for a considerable time. But the terrors of this foe are so
continually before their eyes, and the uncertainty of escaping him
so great, that these superstitious people seek for safety in supernatural
means. Before diving, the priest or conjurer, is always consulted,
and whatever he says to them is received with the most implicit
confidence . . . Their belief in the efficacy of these superstitious
rites can never be removed, however different the event may be from
the predictions of their deluders: Government therefore wisely gives
way to their prejudices, and always keeps in pay some conjurers,
to attend the divers and remove their fears . . . During the time
of the fishery, they stand on the shore from the morning till the
boats return in the afternoon, all the while muttering and mumbling
prayers, distorting their bodies into various strange attitudes,
and performing ceremonies to which no one, not even themselves,
I believe, can attach any meaning. All this while it is necessary
for them to abstain from food and drink, otherwise their prayers
would be of no avail. These acts of abstinence, however, they sometimes
dispense with, and regale themselves with toddy, a species of liquor
distilled from the palm-tree, till they are no longer able to stand
at their devotions." James Cordiner, writing in A Description of Ceylon (1807[1983]:295), is the first to use the term shark-charmer: "The superstition of the divers renders the shark charmers a necessary part of the establishment of the pearl fishery. All these imposters belong to one family, and no person, who does not form a branch of it, can aspire to that office. The natives have firm confidence in their powers over the monsters of the sea; nor would they descend to the bottom of the deep without knowing that one of these enchanters was present in the fleet. Two of them are constantly employed. One goes out regularly in the head pilot's boat. The other performs certain ceremonies on shore. He is stripped naked, and shut up in a room, where no person sees him from the period of the sailing of the boats until they return. He has before him a brass bason full of water, containing one male and one female fish made of silver. If any accident should happen at sea, it is believed that one of those fishes is seen to bite the other." Another reference to antedate the OED2 is by Bennett (1843:205): "Prior to the divers commencing operations, those most powerful humbugs, the shark charmers are in general requisition; for their services are indispensable, to give confidence to the superstitious divers; who, upon their assurances that they may fearlessly follow their submarine occupation, for that 'the mouths of the sharks had been closed at their command,' divest themselves of all fear." Bennett continues (Ibid.): "The shark chrming trade is a very lucrative one, because it is not the mere government stipend that satisfies them, they insist upon the additional daily tithe of ten or a dozen oysters from each boat, which is readily paid." |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
exclusively
or partly associated with the country in the second editions of
the Oxford English Dictionary (OED2) and Hobson-Jobson (H-J2) concern
the ocean and its bounty. Considering the island's prominence as
the location of an ancient and renowned pearl-fishery in the Gulf
of Mannar, it is unexpected that the entry for pearl-fishery in
the OED2 does not acknowledge this fact either directly in the definition
or indirectly among the supporting illustrative quotations. Some
compensation is the inclusion of shark-charmer, a term indelibly
linked with the pearl-fishery. Another term associated with the
Gulf of Mannar is chank. An unusual one is leaping-fish. On the
other hand, seir-fish is familiar to most. Date of first use is
provided in brackets.
the
chanques are seen, from a boat, moving in the bottom of the sea;
and the diver often follows a single one with his eye for a considerable
space, when he is always sure of being conducted to a richly covered
bank, where he can fish with advantage."
