u 



the number of available harbours suitable to shelter fishing 

 craft is very limited in the northern section and consists only of 

 Kistnapatam and Madras, while in the southern section we have 

 a very satisfactory array — Cuddalore, Porto Novo, Tirumalai- 

 vasal, Tranquebar, Ivaraikal, Nagore, Thopputturai and Point 

 Calimere, with Negapatam as an additional working centre 

 during fine weather. Of course the best harbour of all is 

 Madras, where neither surf nor shallows ever obstruct the 

 entrance and where shelter from even the violence of a cyclone 

 is afforded bv the boat basin. Next in value come Point 

 Calimere, Thopputturai and Negapatam worked in conjunction, 

 with Porto Novo and Cuddalore not greatly inferior. 



I am inclined to recommend that Tranquebar be tried as the 

 head-quarters of the first experimental deep-sea fishing boat 

 during the flying-fish season which lasts from June to August 

 inclusive, especially as this port is the most suitable centre 

 for the investigation of the Tanjore chank fishery. 



II. — The Dhoney Coast ; Muttupet to Tuticokin. 



19. From Muttupet to Tuticorin coastal conditions alter 

 completely ; the dreary monotony of a straight-line coast 

 disappears, bays and headlands become numerous, breaking the 

 sea-front and furnishing shelter in varying degree to fleets of 

 small native craft. This section of the coast falls naturally into 

 two sub-sections, a northern forming roughly three sides of the 

 shallow sea known as Palk Straits, and a southern forming the 

 western boundary of the head of the Gulf of Mannar. The two 

 parts differ considerably. The coast line of the northern one 

 affords comparatively little shelter except at the northern and 

 southern ends, where the ports of Muttupet and Pamban are 

 respectively situated. The southern sub-section on the contrary 

 possesses some of the safest and best harbours, Madras excepted, 

 within the bounds of the Presidency. In great part this is due 

 to the protection afforded by a chain of islands which stretch 

 intermittently parallel with the coast from Tuticorin to Pamban, 

 supplemented by the shelter given against northerly winds by 

 the general east and west trend of the shore line. Sometimes 

 as at Tuticorin and Pamban the islands close in to the south to 

 form true harbours of refuge, equally safe whether the south- 

 west or the north-east monsoon be blowing ; at others as at 

 Kilakarai the islets approach each other sufficiently closely on 

 the seaward aspect as to form an effective breakwater parallel 

 with the shore so that vessels may approach the port either from 

 the eastward or the westward. Indeed from about 8 miles west 

 of Kilakarai right on to Pamban the chain of islands is so effective 

 that the passage within is recognised as a safe channel for vessels 



