108 



CEYLON PEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



Coral Reef, round which is a hard patch of nearly 1 mile across, with depths of 2-^ to 

 4^ fathoms. This, although itself unsuitable for oysters, is of value in supplying dead 

 coral fragments, &c, as " culch " to neighbouring grounds. The bottom is level, 

 consisting of sand and shingle lying on a foundation of flat rock. The sand varies 

 from a mere sprinkling to a good depth. There are also some Nullipore balls, coral 

 and shell fragments, and masses of cemented sand. Living corals are more abundant 

 than on any part of East Cheval, no doubt owing to the proximity of the reef. 

 Amongst the more abundant organisms were : 



CD O 



Various Algae (including a Galaxaura, a fleshy Laurencia and Halimeda tuna), 

 Spongionclla nigra, Axinella donnani, Phyllospongia holdsivorthi, Turbinaria 

 cinerascens and T. crater, Sarcophytum sp., Pentaceros sp., Linckia sp., and other 

 starfishes, Holothuria atra and other species, Ophiuroids and Palinurus sp. 



The records of important fisheries early in the Nineteenth Century (between 1804 

 and 1820) on Aripu Paar do not refer to this little patch alone but to the great banks 

 lying "off Aripu," viz., the Cheval and Modragam paars. 



When we examined this paar there were comparatively few pearl oysters, but they 

 were of various ages. 



Challai Paar. 



This little paar lies 5 miles to the east of the Cheval Paar, and about 4 miles 

 south-west of Aripu. It is the nearest paar to land in this region, is about 1 mile in 

 diameter, and 2\ to 4^ fathoms in depth. It does not now support any oysters, and 

 is unimportant. 



Periya Paar Kerrai. 



This lies about 1 mile north-west of the most northerly point of the East Cheval 

 Paar, and is about 12 miles west of Aripu. It varies from \ mile to l\ miles across, 



Fig. 34. Plan of the Periya, Paar Kerrai. The whole line surrounding A shows the area as inspected in 

 1882, the dashed line round B shows the paar in 1884, the dotted line round C shows the condition in 

 1886, while the two black patches indicate the parts fished in 1835 and 1836. 



and has depths of from 7 to 9 fathoms. The diagram (fig. 34) shows how the hard 

 area forming the paar has varied in extent and shape from time to time. 



The bottom is flat, being a continuous stretch of " rock" overlaid by a thin layer ol 



