14 



CEYLON PEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



U-shaped outline of the Cheval Paar. The central embayment has evidently been 

 sometimes occupied by oysters in the past just as it was when we dredged across it 

 in February and in March, 1902. The position of the Periya Paar Kerrai as a 

 northern extension of the East Cheval, and the practical continuity of the Modragams 

 with the south central region are evident from both the plan of the ground and the 

 distribution of the fisheries. 



Fig. 3. Plan of the pearl fisheries, from 1828 to 1863, on the Cheval Paar, the Modragams, and the 



Periya Paar Kerrai. 



The next fishery after 1863 is that of 1874, which took place on the North-west 

 Cheval Paar, and as we have very complete records and charts showing the history 

 of this bed of oysters, from the time when it was deposited as spat onwards to the 

 fishery, these have been combined to form the diagram (fig. 4). This shows, by 

 different lines, the condition during the five years 1870 to 1874, and may be taken 

 as an example of the normal uneventful development of a small bed of oysters. It 

 shows what are probably very usual features, viz. :- (1) that small isolated patches 



