1922] MADRAS PEARL FISHERIES 137 



{a) Imperfect Methods of Inspection. 



The Ceylon banks have certainly enjoyed a larger measure of 

 supervision and a more developed inspectional organization during 

 the past half century than the Madras banks and probably during 

 the preceding 50 years as well. They were, however, inspected in 

 a very imperfect manner till the early sixties, when Captain 

 Donnan introduced improved methods. Prior to that time, owing 

 to the charts in use being imperfect and the landmarks insufficient 

 in number and in conspicuousness, the Inspectors relied in great 

 part upon information supplied by native headmen. The boats 

 employed were often ill-adapted to the purpose and the search for 

 beds was not conducted with anything approaching scientific 

 precision. 



As already mentioned, Captain Donnan, who was Inspector 

 from 1863 to 1902, organized matters on an improved basis and so 

 far as nautical knowledge permits brought the mechanical part of 

 the inspection to a high level of excellence. By the preparation of 

 large scale charts, whereon he plotted every landmark of value 

 and the outlines of many of the pars, he was enabled to dispense 

 with the services of the headmen ; he abolished the unhandy 

 " ballams " which served as the inspection divers' boats, introduc- 

 ing in their place a handy type of whale boat; he elaborated an 

 admirable system of " circle inspection " capable of supplying 

 detailed information in regard to the minute features of the 

 ground inspected — the respective numbers of old and young oysters 

 present, the ratio of sandy ground to rocky and the distribution of 

 oysters over it. He trained intelligent natives (Paravas) to act as 

 coxswains of these boats and to record in diagram form the results 

 of each and every dive made during the day's work. 



The present state of the Tuticorin inspection organization is 

 similar to that characterising Ceylon inspection prior to the 

 inception of Captain Donnan's improvements. Charts are imper- 

 fect and do not show the position of the chief landmarks ; * native 

 pilots (par-mandadais) have to be employed; circle inspection is 

 not carried on in an adequate and systematic manner ; native boats 

 are still employed for the divers' use and no attempt has been 

 made to train efficient coxswains to keep records of the work done 

 with exactitude. Asa consequence of such imperfect methods I 

 am convinced that beds of oysters have been missed and fisheries 



* See sketch plans I and II in annexures. 

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