40 



the middle of August the fishermen of this coast make long 

 journeys to the deep-sea in search of flying-fish, which 

 at tin's season are usually met with off this coast in great 

 abundance. As these fish seldom go far landwards of the 

 margin of the Kala pani, the fishermen have to prepare to 

 go, if need be, out of sight of land. This they regularly do, 

 but to cope with the heavier seas met with at such a distance 

 from laud, large craft are temporarily improvised by tying 

 seven specially large catamaran logs together. In this way 

 a deep-sea catamaran is contrived capable of accommodating a 

 large catch of fish and of earrving a small quantity of food and 

 water. Each of these catamarans is said to carry a crew of 

 eight men. Usually they leave shore at 6 o'clock in the morning 

 reaching the fishing grounds by 3 p.m. If shoals of flying-fish 

 be seen, a satisfactory catch, enough to load the boat, is usually 

 made within two to three hours ; at sunset, whether or not a 

 good catch has been made, they cease work and return shore- 

 wards reaching home early the next morning if the wind 

 favour them. It is worthy of particular note that if no shoals 

 be met with before sunset, the men start for the shore at this 

 hour; catch or no catch, the open nature and the smallness of 

 their craft entail return within 24 hours if such be humanly 

 possible — no man will willingly face a longer period of such 

 exposure and confinement as the use of a catamaran entails, 

 to say nothing of the inability to carry foul and water for a 

 longer period. Often these men return starving and worn out 

 and yet without a single fish as reward for the privations they 

 have endured. Such men, I believe, would welcome the 

 introduction of sea-going and sea-keeping boats, which would 

 enable them to stay, if need be, days together at sea. Indeed as 

 will be mentioned later, Negapatam men have taken this step 

 recently and point the way for further development. 



1 should add, before leaving this subject, that instances were 

 brought to my notice where men engaged in this fishery have 

 been actually on the verge of starvation because of excessive 

 delay in reaching shore owing to head winds. On some 

 occasions the men have been unable to reach home for three 

 whole days, being driven well nigh to Pondicherry before they 

 could make the shore. 



Altogether Tranquebar offers many advantages as a fishing 

 boat centre ; a fisher population inured to hardship and already 

 practically conversant with deep-sea fishing is alrcad y established 

 there, curing facilities are first class owing to the proximity of 

 a salt factory, the river would give shelter to the fishing fleet in 

 rough weather while the railwa} T from Porear Koadat Karaikal, 

 6 miles away, provides the requisite facilities for distribution. 



