Jim and listers,

I thought what Randy Bridges wrote might make some sense about cowry
ballast:

"......As late as the 19th century they were still commonly used as
currency to purchase slaves in Africa.  Typically ballast cargoe was
not taxed, so carrying huge quantities(tons) of annulus or moneta as
ballast, instead of sand or something with little or no commercial
value, could potentially result in the earning of high profits if they
were re-exported to a country where they could be used as currency.
You can find many interesting links on this topic by typing in "cowries
as ballast" in Google..."

David Kirsh

>
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