x INTRODUCTION 



tions which I have received from a leading London firm are 2 16s. per cwt., 

 c.i.f. London, for selected pieces from 8 to 12 inches long, and l 8s. per cwt. 

 for mixed sizes, by advice and assistance in the disposal of this product, the 

 Department of Commerce and Industry should be able to render it more profitable 

 to the collectors, thereby encouraging them to greater and more sustained efforts 

 and to the organisation of the trade upon systematic lines in place of the present 

 haphazard and intermittent method of collection. 



With the enlightened encouragement of a sympathetic central Government anxious 

 to develop the marine resources of the State, I am confident that the fisheries of 

 Okhamandal have a bright future, though it is likely that progress will be slow, owing 

 partly to difficulties in regard to transport which render access to good markets costly 

 and slow, and partly to the conservatism and religious scruples of a coastal population 

 hitherto with little interest in fishery matters. 



In conclusion I am glad to avail myself of this opportunity to thank the various 

 specialists who have been so kind as to furnish reports upon the collections, for giving 

 so freely and ungrudgingly of their time and knowledge to make their contributions 

 exhaustive and complete. 



To the Government of His Highness the Maharaja Gaikwar I desire to express 

 my great appreciation of the honour done me by entrusting the original enquiry and 

 the general charge of the production of this publication to my hands. I trust that 

 their recognition of the value of pure science in the economic development of the fishery 

 resources of their State may find ample recompense within the near future, both in the 

 betterment of the condition of certain sections of the coastal population and in the 

 continued increase of revenue returns derived from the State monopolies constituted 

 by the pearl and chank fisheries of Okhamandal. 



JAMES HORNELL. 



GOVERNMENT FISHERIES STATION, TUTICORIN, 

 July 10th, 1916. 



