18 CEYLON PEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



need not be published. After a discussion of the results he concludes as follows : 

 " At 70,000 to 80,000 oysters per day I should consider the steamer to be giving very 

 satisfactory results, but I wish to emphasize the fact that the best results can be 

 hoped for only from a few of the banks, i.e., the North Modragam, certain large 

 regions of the Cheval, and some of the smaller and less important paars. The South 

 Modragam and the remainder of the Cheval occupy a somewhat doubtful position, 

 and further working experiments are necessary before we can pronounce a definite 

 verdict regarding the prospects of commercial success in fishing by means of the 

 dredge. I believe, however, the advantages of dredging to be greatest in regard to 

 spat transplantation as has been explained elsewhere in this Report. Dredging 

 is also of great assistance in the preliminary or prospecting inspections when it is 

 necessary to ascertain the presence or the absence of oyster patches on grounds too 

 extensive for detailed examination by means of divers." 



Details of the Oysters Found. 



The oysters found during the recent inspection were of two distinct generations, 

 the older being from 4^ to 4f years old, the younger from 2^ to 2^ years. The 

 former were of the same brood as those fished on the Eastern Cheval in 1903, and 

 were therefore of a very satisfactory age for fishing this year (1904). Those of the 

 younger brood will hereafter be termed " immature," not in the sense of sexual 

 immaturity, but in regard to pearl-yield. 



The fishable oysters lay as a discontinuous north and south band along the seaward 

 or western side of the Western Cheval. Save for a scattered remnant left over from 

 last year's fishery (1903) on the Eastern Cheval, and for occasional individuals 

 forming the nuclei of bunches of younger oysters on the parts covered by the 

 immature generation, no other oysters of fishable age were found. Those present 

 last year on the Periya Paar Kerrai and Vankali Paar were gone, and the huge bed 

 upon the Muttuvaratu Paar, estimated by Captain Donnan, in 1902, at a total of 

 277,000,000 oysters, and which would have been fishable this year, had also 

 disappeared, being partially replaced by a later brood of 2^-year-olds. On the 

 Karativo Paar, also, none of the 25,000,000 oysters, 1^ to 2 years old, found there 

 in April, 1902, remained, the bank being bare save for a few handfuls of 2-year-olds. 

 A small bed of this fresh generation of oysters was also discovered on the Dutch 

 Modragam Paar. 



The details respecting the number and distribution of the oysters present may be 

 summarized thus : 



Number, Distribution, and Sizes of the Fishable Oysters. 



The beds of 2^- to 3-year-old oysters on the Western Cheval (comprising the 

 south-west, mid-west, and the north-west sections), which we saw for the first time 

 during our visit to the banks in February, 1902, were found to have the same general 



