1922] MADRAS PEARL FISHERIES 8l 



and appears to be fitted to bear them till they reach from I to \ X A 

 year old, after which age they rapidly die off. Such a bank 

 would be a fitting one to utilize as a source from which to obtain 

 young oysters were oyster transplantation ever to be attempted. 



In the afternoon a heavy squall came on suddenly from the 

 west-south-west, raising a heavy sea. The wind remained in the 

 same quarter all night and the next morning the sea was so rough 

 and the ship rolling so considerably as to render it impossible for 

 me to make further diving descents. A native diver who went 

 down reported the water too thick to permit him to see anything. 

 After waiting a while in the hope that the weather would 

 moderate, we proceeded to 



NALLA TANN1 TlVU, anchoring off the west shore. Here we 

 landed soon after to verify, if possible, the presence of the oyster 

 shells reported to us by the divers at Kilakarai. Much of the 

 island consists of sand dunes overlaying a coral formation in 

 which can be traced specimens of corals of the same species as 

 those now living upon the adjoining and encircling reef. The 

 island is farmed under the zamindari of Ramnad and several 

 flourishing plantations of casuarina, coconut and palmyra were 

 here found. We searched the sand dunes on the western side 

 carefully and in several places we certified the presence of large 

 quantities of pearl oyster valves, both entire and fragmentary ; 

 the nacre was undimmed in the case of many and even the mottled 

 prismatic outer coating was intact in some, showing even the 

 characteristic radiating purplish-brown bands distinctly. These 

 shells certainly represent the remains of a fishery camp held here, 

 when, it is impossible to say from anything in the outward 

 appearance of the shells, as they might remain unchanged and 

 uncorroded for an indefinite period when covered with sand in the 

 comparatively dry climate of this locality. 



The age of these shells when fished was, judging from the 

 breadth of the hinge groove, not less than 4% years, possibly five 

 years. 



There is no record of any fishery camp having been held here 

 under British or Dutch control, and it has been suggested as pro- 

 bable that these shells on Nalla Tanni Tivu represent a fishery 

 held by one of the Ramnad Rajas. This theory may, however, 

 be dismissed at once as untenable, for we have no evidence that 

 these local potentates ever claimed the right to fish pearl oysters 

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