[ viii ] 



Since the last volume of this Report was issued, another very successful pearl fishery 

 has been held at Ceylon. Over 67 millions of oysters were fished, and the total 

 proceeds amounted to 1,385,000 rupees. This does not, of course, rival the great 

 fishery of 1905 (when over eighty-one and a half millions of oysters were fished and 

 the revenue brought in was upwards of two and a half millions of rupees), but it 

 comes second on the list of recorded fisheries, and makes the fourth in successive 

 years of a remarkable series the most profitable pearl fisheries that, so far as is 

 known, have ever been held. 



As to the future, it seems probable that the remaining oysters on the Muttuvaratu 

 Paar, along with the patches which are known to be on the Karativo Paar, on the 

 M id- west Cheval and on a new ground inspected by Mr. Hornell, lying three to four 

 miles N.N.E. of the Muttuvaratu, will suffice for a fishery of moderate dimensions in 

 1907. Then, in 1908, there should be a good fishery on the Mid-east Cheval, where 

 there is now a healthy bed of two-year-old oysters, which was reinforced with 1000 

 tons of cultch last spring. After 1908 the prospects depend upon further careful 

 scientific inspecting, transplanting and cultching, upon the lines which have been laid 

 down in successive sections of this report. 



It can scarcely be doubted that the aquicultural operations which have been 

 commenced under the auspices of the Ceylon Government will be carried on 

 vigorously by the Pearl Fishing Company to which the fisheries have now been 

 leased. It must be a matter of congratulation to all concerned to the Colonial 

 Government, to the Company, and to men of science that, in the terms of the lease, 

 the necessity for a scientific treatment of the pearl banks during the next twenty 

 years has been duly recognised and provided for. 



After such treatment the property ought to be returned to the hands of the 

 Government at the end of the period in a still more valuable condition than it is at 

 present, and even if that were to be the only economic result of the present Report, 

 those who have spent thought, time, and money in the investigation and the 

 publication will be able to feel that their labour has not been in vain. 



I cannot conclude without expressing my appreciation of the honour done me by 

 the Royal Society in undertaking the publication of this Report, and I desire 

 especially to thank those I have had to consult with at the Colonial Office, as well as 

 the Officers and Staff at the Royal Society, for much kindly interest and consideration, 

 for advice given and trouble taken during the progress of the work. 



W. A. HERDMAN. 

 The University, Liverpool. 



September, 1906. 



