1922] MADRAS PEARL FISHERIRS 107 



with loose fragments of calcrete similar in composition to the bed 

 rock of the par; dead coral is fairly common in the form either of 

 much honeycombed tabula, 1 or of rolled and much worn broken 

 madrepore branches, derived probably by the action of backwash 

 and under-current from the extensive coral reefs that fringe the 

 adjacent coast. 



Chank beds lie to the south, east, and west of these banks, 

 forming virtually a girdling of chank-producing sands. 



A list of the common forms of life met with here is given on 

 page 74 together with other details. 



The term Kudamuttu used in the names of these banks is 

 significant. It means literally the "Pearl Bay," so that the 

 shallow indentation off which these banks lie and which has Hare 

 Island, Tuticorin, and Trichendur point as its northern and 

 southern limits, with the mouth of the Tambraparni river at the 

 centre of its curve, appears to have been termed the Pearl-bay 

 par excellence, from the renown of the pearl fisheries held there. 

 Korkai andKayal were successively at the embouchure of the Tam- 

 braparni, so we have in Kudamuttu further indirect evidence that 

 the towns named were located near the centre of the most prolific 

 pearl fisheries of early and mediaeval times, the periods when they 

 flourished respectively. 



9. Outer Kudamuttu Group. 



This is a congery of some six small banks lying due east of the 

 inner Kudamuttu group. It measures some two miles north and 

 south by the same from east to west, with an average depth of 9 to 

 10 fathoms. 



No fishery is recorded from these banks; neither do we know 

 of any extensive spat fall in any year since the inspection record 

 begins in 1863. Time did not permit of an extensive examination 

 this year. 



10. Kadian Group. 



This collection lies about seven miles west of Pinnakayal and 

 due south of the Kudamuttu group from which it is separated by 

 a narrow chank bed To the south it marches with the Karuwal 

 group. In depth it agrees with the former — 7% to 8 fathoms. 



The two principal patches of rocky ground are the Kadian and 

 Kanawa Pars, each of about half a mile in diameter. The whole 

 group covers an extent measuring approximately two miles from 

 north to south by one and a half from east to west. 



