78 CEYLON PEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



show that the south-west monsoon running up towards the Bay of Bengal for 

 6 months in the year must produce a current which will beat with full force on the 



Sea. 



Level ' ' ' ' ' i , F=-*- 



S Periva. Pc 



'2.0 



Doric 



Periyl FW C>\eal P*r 



We it East 



/i3^ -fa-CWi. 



Fig. 21. Section across the sea from the Doric at Aripu westwards through the Cheval and Periya 

 paars into deep water. Horizontal scale, \ inch = 1 mile; vertical scale, \ inch = 10 fathoms. 



exposed seaward edge of the bank and cause great disturbance of the bottom. 

 Figure 21 shows diagrammatical!}' the sudden change in slope outside the paar. 



In our previous hauls on the Periya Paar we had found very large numbers of 

 young oysters, and wishing to ascertain how extensive the bed was, on March 12th 

 we steamed in the " Serendib" to the northern extremity of the paar and then south 

 for over 6 miles along its length, diving at intervals. We have the details of 

 18 dives recorded, and all of them except two give "small pearl oysters in abundance." 

 We were convinced both from this day's work and our previous experiences when 

 dredging that the Periya Paar was covered in March 1902 over the greater part of 

 its extent with enormous quantities of young oysters. Now the area of the paar we 

 take to be, from Captain Donnan's charts and our own observations, about 16 square 

 miles, and we estimated at the time that the oysters were so closely placed that the 

 bank must have held not less than about a hundred thousand millions. In the 

 preliminary Report to the Colonial Government, written in July, 1902, I gave this 

 rough estimate and stated my belief that these young oysters were doomed to 

 destruction and ought to be removed at the earliest opportunity to a safer locality 

 further inshore. Mr. Hornell was authorised by the Government of Ceylon to carry 



