




Trumpet made from a large shell, blown from the side. Fiji islands.
This shell is the Charonia tritonis. A single hole has been drilled in the shell where the shell is solid. The hole is placed against the lips and blown using the same technique as for a brass instrument. The most common use of the conch is as a signalling device to announce a wide variety of both secular and religious events. At sea the conch is blown to ensure that divers on spear fishing drives work as a group. When a high chief dies in Fiji conch shells are blown continuously by relays of people in an unbroken signal from the time of death until the burial.