172 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIV, 



amount seldom exceeding Rs. ICO per annum. In practice, the lessee 

 sublets the right to individual divers, who pay him a small sum for 

 each day's fishing. The divers are usually Roman Catholic 

 Christians. As the water over the beds varies from one to three 

 fathoms the men require to dive for them ; when the current is 

 strong the assistance of a pole thrust into the bottom is used, the 

 diver using this to prevent himself being carried away. As the 

 oyster clumps are collected they are piled into a small attendant 

 dug-out canoe and as soon as this is full, a matter of some three 

 hours' work, the spoil is taken to the shore where women purchase 

 it at the rate of from ten annas to one rupee per lot — a quantity 

 usually averaging about 8oo, or a rate of l^^ to 2 annas per 

 hundred. The buyers proceed to open them, putting the flesh into 

 an earthen pot containing a little water. This flesh they hawk 

 through the town at from 2 to 4 annas the hundred. Surplus 

 oysters are sometimes kept alive in the canals till wanted. 



Oyster flesh is never eaten uncooked by Indians ; the common 

 method of preparation on this coast is to fry the flesh in ghee after 

 flavouring with salt and condiments. The trade is of considerable 

 volume in Cochin in spite of the fact that many of the largest beds 

 are subject to sewage contamination. The fact that the flesh is 

 never eaten except after cooking appears to be an eff'ective safe- 

 guard. The discarded oyster shells, in the absence of any local 

 rock, are put to extensive use in reclaiming swamp land and as 

 foundations for buildings. 



In the Beypore, Elattur and Tellicherry backwaters, oysters 

 abound wherever rocks occur and good quantities are taken annu- 

 ally by the womenfolk of the local Hindu fishing communities, 

 who collect oyster flesh at low tide, breaking open the shells with 

 short iron knives as they occur /// situ and transferring the flesh to 

 small chatties which they take with them. 



On the East Coast, in the backwaters in the neighbourhood of 

 Madras, a certain amount of oyster flesh is collected and eaten by 

 the local pariah population. Sometimes Muhammadans will have 

 some, but this appears to be done in imitation of the European 

 custom. In these places the bulk of the oysters consumed, as 

 already mentioned, is by the Europeans and Anglo-Indians of the 

 large towns. Further north, in Ganjam district, certain sections 

 of the fishing population make a limited use of the local oysters, 



