When I was on land a little while, I noticed in front of a few houses,
walks, that I knew at a glance were made from clam-shells. So I knew
that Folks must have machines for pounding up shells. Such a beautiful,
clean, white walk as they make!

Then, before some fine-looking houses were great conch-shells, oblong
and twisted in shape, but pink and smooth inside. Many of them were
placed around lovely fountains, or urns of flowers.

But I want to tell of one very beautiful and costly kind of ornament
that is made from some conch-shells, pronounced "konk."

Romans and Greeks, but especially the Greeks, used to cut "cameos" from
the onyx-stone. And men skilled in cutting fine stones and jewels have
cut most exquisite cameos, or faces, from the kind of conch-shell that
has two layers, one dark, the other light.

The word "cameo" is said to mean one stone upon another. The "queen
conch" is a splendid shell, with two distinct layers, one white, the
other pink. Out of the white layer is carved perhaps the face of a
woman, with a crown of flowers on her head, or it may be the head of a
knight, with a helmet on.

But think of the fineness of the tools that must be used, the tiny files
and chisels in carving the lovely, delicate shells. The shell cameos
with the pink lower stone and white upper figure, are most expensive of
all; other shells have brown or black lower layers, and these are not as
choice.