NARRATIVE. 



07 



STATION LI. West of the last Station, on Vankali Paar and southwards ; depth 

 7\ to 8 fathoms ; bottom sand, dead shells and Coral fragments ; dredged. 



Some common Corals {Madrepora and Turbinaria), and Heterocyaihus cequicostatu 

 (witli Gephyreans), several Gorgonids (large colonies) ; 



Clypeaster humilis and Echinodiscus auritus; 



Aspidosiphon sp. ; 



Lilljeborgia pallida (a British species !) ; 



Pearl oysters, plentiful both large and small (GO large in a haul). 



The Tow-Nets on March 4th gave us : -Medusae, Sagitta, Alciopa, Appendicu- 

 larians and about 35 species of Copepoda some of them in great abundance 

 amongst which may be mentioned Mcta- 

 calanus aurivillii, Centropages, n. sp., and 

 Calanopia minor. 



Some experiments were made during 

 this and succeeding days in towing pearl 

 oysters of different sizes, under various 

 conditions, and at different rates up to 

 8 knots an hour, which showed us that it 

 would be easier to transport young than 

 old oysters in bags, nets or crates hung 

 over the ship's side (see fig. 15), and also 

 that old oysters are apparently less able to 

 withstand the action of a strong current 

 than younger forms. From the cages and 

 baskets (generally made of the coir fibre 

 of the cocoanut) used on these and subse- 

 quent occasions when pearl oysters were 

 hung out over the side of the ship we 

 obtained various small animals, especially 

 Hydroids, amongst which were a Clara, two 

 species of Sertularia, a scarlet Eudendrium, 

 a BougainviUea, and several Plumularians. 



On March 5th the sea-temperature was 

 slightly over 79 F. both morning and 

 evening, on the north end of the Cheval, with a specific gravity of 1/023. In the 

 morning as usual we were with the divers (who work from 6 a.m. till noon) working 

 over the northern end of the East Cheval and outside the paar to the north and east. 

 Practically no oysters were found. Some fine colonies of the hydroid Zoophyte 

 Halicornaria insignis, with Avicula zebra attached, were found here (off north end of 

 Cheval, 6 fathoms). On moving south-east along the edge of the paar to its middle 

 portion we came upon quantities of a fine brown fucoid Alga smothered in young 



K 2 



Fig. 15. Two of the clivers on the " Rangasamee- 

 porawee " with the wire-net and coir cages in 

 which our experimental pearl oysters were 

 suspended over the ship's side for two months. 



