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Capis hanging lamp
July 12, 1962
"My Dear Mr. Greene,
"I purposely did not reply to yours of 5 April '62, because, in the absence of my godson diver, there was nothing I could do
about sending a live taken golden cowry.
"My godson arrived from Cebu last May and I immediately told him of your desire. We made several shelling trips just for a
live golden cowry, but for over a month we were unsuccessful. Then, Eureka! on June 25, 1962 just after the last quarter of
the moon, at around 11 o'clock in the evening, my godson emerging from the water was holding in his hands a live Cypraea
aurantium and after giving it to me he went back to the water to look for another. We stayed for over an hour more, but my
said diver was not able to duplicate his feat.
"We were using only a Petromax gas lamp on the banca boat. It was a dark and moonless night and my godson's only weapon was a
crude fish gun and a two battery flashlight inserted inside the tube of an interior bicycle tire. From our position, I could
see that we were not far from the shore, it was around two or three meters from the intertidal zone and the depth was not
more than from 3 to 5 fathoms. Beneath we could clearly see coral reefs all around partly covered by seaweeds, My godson
tells me that this one was taken in a rock crevice under a coral ledge. The place, Dahikan coral reefs, Manay, Davao, just on
the other side of Manaol Point facing the East from Manay Bay. Manaol Point is also a golden cowry country as some of my
shells were taken from here.
"That was our only reward for the evening. Although tired and hungry I was in good spirits, because I am now in a position to
comply with your request. The shell is now in a glass container with rubbing alcohol ready for you as soon as I can avail
myself of a plastic container. My only problem now is how to send this to you by air cargo. Our plane office in Davao City,
being only an agency of the PAL (Philippine Air Lines) may not accept it free as a scientific specimen. I will be going to
Davao this week and find out from the local manager if this could be accepted for free (as a scientific specimen). Otherwise
I will notify you accordingly."
Well, they wouldn't accept it, declaring that it was unmailable. Finally Philippine Airlines agreed to accept it as a special
shipment for a fee of $10, and it was delivered to them by Mr. Lahora, transferred to QANTAS at Manila, arriving in Honolulu
on the morning of Oct. 4. I was phoned to come and get it. We imposed on a friend (Mrs. Andrus) and went to the airport, got
the cowry, and took it to Dr. Kay's office at the Science Department of the University of Philippines. Miss Kay's opening
salutation was, "Where's my Golden Cowry?" We gave it to her and you know the rest. All except her official and scientific
report which will be published soon.
In the Museum of Vienna there is a teulerei labeled "Eden" which word may be understood as Aden misspelled in a German way
according to the pronunciation, and in coll. Lancaster (Lyme Regis, England) I saw a teulerei labeled Arabian Sea, which
locality also has been mentioned by Melvill (1888, Mem. Manchester Soc. (4)1:239).
Therefore the distribution of teulerei seems to coincide with that of Luria pulchra Gray and Erosaria turdus Lamarck. Both
occur from the Red Sea around Arabia to the Persian coast. But the indication Zanzibar (British Museum and Mus. Berne),
Ceylon (Hidalgo), Australia (Mus. Hamburg, destroyed in World War II), and New Zealand (habitat rejected by Hidalgo) are
evidently erroneous as such relics use[d] to be restricted to small areas in present times.
THE CYPRAEIDAE OF FIJI
The April 1964 issue of The Veliger (Vol. 6, No. 4) devotes 25 pages and six plates to a detailed review and description of
Fijian cowries, by Walter Oliver Cernohorsky, of Vatukoula, Fiji. By way of introduction, he reviews the geography of Fiji,
with a map; and discusses habitat and variation, the animal, which is included in descriptions, the classification, methods
and observations, end distribution. Then follows the description of and notes on 57 species of Cypraea: testudinaria,
isabella, arabica, maculifera, depressa, eglantina, scurra, mappa, mauritiana, aurantium, argus, talpa, tigris, lynx,
vitellus, ventriculus, carneola, schilderorum, mariae, globulus, bistrinotata, cicercula, margarita, childreni, annulus,
moneta, dillwyni, labrolineata, helvola, caputserpentis, poraria, erosa, eburnea, limacina, staphylaea, nucleus, walkeri,
errones, caurica, listeri, punctata, asellus, clandestina, humphreysii, ziczac, fimbriata, minoridens, microdon, pallidula,
summersi, teres, kieneri, hirundo, ursellus, stolida, chinensis, cribraria.
Five more are noted as having been reported from Fiji. A number of papers are cited. Figures are given of all 57 species,
together with generous discussion, and an alphabetical index, with mention of subgenus.
It is interesting to note that Franz Alfred Schilder and Maria Schilder, in the same issue of The Veliger (pages 221-226 with
a map of Viti Levu, Fiji) give details concerning one of these species, listed by Cernohorsky, Mauritia eglantina. Notes
include distribution, frequency, sex, size, dentition, color, dorsal markings, spire blotch, shell abnormalities, and notes
on rows and teeth, and comparisons.
There are other articles of interest in the issue, including another new species of Mitra from the Western Indian Ocean
described by Jean M. Cate and named Mitra boswellae for HMS member Mrs. Helen Boswell.
One fine morning, I landed in Sydney, three days after I had sailed from Noumea. Four hours later, I was in the plane on my
way to Brisbane and Rockhampton, where Tony Marsh, the well known Australian cone expert met me at the airport. We enjoyed a
whole week trading shells, swapping yarns and information, and meeting other shells collectors of that interesting area.
After a last hop of twelve hundred miles over the clouds of North Queensland, I landed on Horn Island, where I met my pen
friend Reg Scott, with whom I was going to stay for three months on Thursday Island, which is the only populated area of this
desert Territory. From Cape York peninsula, one could walk or sail down either East or West coasts for hundreds of miles
without meeting a soul, a house or a boat. That part of the Gulf and Barrier Reef are truly virgin.
We only began to do any shelling a few days later, when all my shelling equipment had finally arrived and when Reg's twin
engine boat was ready for business. Unfortunately, Reg works in the local power plant and could only get away a few days
every three weeks, depending on his shifts. But we made the best of it, and most of our outings are happy memories indeed.
One of our first ventures was for Prince of Wales Island, one of the largest of the group. But, although we had some very
fine days camping on the white sand beaches, diving, and spearing crayfish, the trip did not yield much in the way of shells,
except for a few good Melo, lots of small Turris and heaps of other common shells. Not to speak of the four deer shot by
friend Reg a few hours before we sailed home.
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