NARRATIVE. M 



invisible on the Zoophyte. We also found Meleagrina margaritifera, the large 

 mother-of-pearl oyster on the south part of East Cheval Paar. 



In the afternoon we dredged over the ground lying between the shoal buoy and the 

 south end of the Periya Paar. 



STATION XLIX. South-west of Cheval to oft' south end of Periya Paar; depth 8 

 to 13 fathoms; bottom sand, Nullipores, and dead shells; 6 hauls of dredge. 



Lovenia elongata, Echinolampas oviformis, Maretia planulata, Clypeaster humilis, 

 Echinodiscus auritus, and Echinanthus rosaceus, Holothuria atra ; 



Worm-tubes (Sabellaria, Serpula, Filograna); 



Tritceta tenuipes, Leucoihoc spinicarpa and other Amphipods, Calappa sp., and some 

 other Crabs, and Peneids ; 



Mollusca [Turritella maculata, Cassis glauca, Strombus sucdnctus, Pinaxia 

 coronata, &c.), also pearl oysters, Dolabella sp., and a few small Octopods; 



Cynthia sp. ; 



B ranch iostoma lanceolatum, var. belcheri (14 specimens), Asymmetron (Hetero- 

 plcuron) cingalense (2 specimens). 



When in one of the hauls Ave touched the south end of the Periya Paar we 

 obtained a great number of young pearl oysters, just as we had found before, and 

 were to find again in our later examination of this bank. 



On March 1st Ave moved our centre southwards on to the Modragam paars. At 

 7 a.m., on the south end of East Cheval, the sea-temperature was 787 F., and at 

 7 p.m., on the North Modragam, it was 79"7 F. ; in both cases the specific gravity 

 was l - 023. In the morning we made a diving traverse from south to north through 

 the Modragams to the Cheval. The pearl oysters were not very numerous, but were 

 exceptionally large, although probably not older than those on the Cheval Paar. 

 Captain Donna N, from his close observation of the oysters on these paars extending 

 over many years, feels confident that the shells grow more rapidly, and to a larger 

 size, on the Modragam than on the Cheval paars, and on the East Cheval than on the 

 West. Our own measurements made later on bear this out. It is very possible that 

 these differences may be due to feeding, and that the explanation is that the 

 conditions become less favourable further from the shore and towards the north-west. 

 The Modragams are also sheltered by the shoal running up from Karativo Island to 

 the Cheval. 



The details of these dives need not be given. On the whole they show much the 

 same distribution as those given above. Between the North Modragam and the 

 South Cheval, in 6|- fathoms, along with abundance of young pearl oysters a few 

 months old, we found quantities of red Algre (Polysiphonia, &c.) covered with minute 

 "spat" evidently quite recently deposited. 



In the afternoon we dredged again over Station XLIX., from the south-west corner 

 of the West Cheval to the south of Periya Paar ; the depths found varied from 



