DESCRIPTION OF THE PEARL-OYSTER BANKS OF THE GULF OF MANAAR. 117 



This and a few small neighbouring paars are comparatively unimportant. They 

 have not, so far as is known, yielded fisheries, but may bear crops of young oysters 

 and so be of use under a system of cultivation. 



Talaivillu Paar. 



This lies 1 mile off Talaivillu on Kalpentyn Island, and is 2|- miles from north to 

 south, and 1 mile wide. The depth is from 4 to 9 fathoms, and there is much deeper 

 water just over the outer edge. The bottom of the paar is irregular and rocky. 



Navakaddu Paar. 



This lies about 9 miles south of Talaivillu, less than 2 miles off shore, and 8 miles 

 due west of Putlam Fort. It is over 2 miles from north to south and 1 mile from 

 east to west. The depth is 4 to 14 fathoms, and the bottom irregular and rocky. 



Jokkenpiddi Paar. 



Jokkenpiddi Paar is one of the paars lying oft Chilaw. In this region there are 

 many little hard patches known as paars, although they rarely bear oysters. Their 

 exact positions are unimportant, as the whole area is potentially paar-ground. 



On the bottom patches of "rock" alternate with sandy areas. Out of 312 dives 

 on the southern part of the paar, 236 were on " rock," and 76 on sand. The samples 

 of hard bottom we obtained consist of coarse quartz sand cemented into masses 

 evidently of recent origin, which may be described as a coarse calcrete (fig. 40), 



Fig. 40. Lump of calcrete showing large quartz grains and felspars with fragments of coral, shells 

 and worm tubes, along with many Polyzoa colonies. From Jokkenpiddi Paar. 



together with blocks of dead and some living coral. All the materials are largely 

 cemented together by colonies of Polyzoa. There are also dark brown ferruginous 

 nodides of phosphates. 



We found a plentiful supply of small oysters (1 to 3 months) on some parts of the 



