50 



form. At present Kilakarai and its vicinity possesses a larger 

 fleet of sailing boats than any other port on the East Coast of 

 the Presidency. 



24. Tuticorin. — The excellence of this port as a haven for 

 small craft is too well known to require description. It is 

 enough to state that there is good anchorage and shelter within 

 the harbour for any number of boats drawing np to 6 feet. 

 Unfortunately the depth of water is decreasing steadily in 

 most parts in consequence of a process of silting which is going 

 on uninterruptedly and which is likely to convert Tuticorin 

 harbour eventually into salt flats similar to those to be seen 

 around Punnaikayal at the mouth of the Tambraparni. 



From Tuticorin southwards to Manapad is the homeland of 

 the Paravars, a shore-dwelling people who make the best sailors 

 to be found within the bounds of the Madras Presidency ; they 

 are the traditional divers and boatmen of the Pescaria coast, the 

 men whose ancestors worked the pearl fisheries for Pandiyan 

 kings, for the Portuguese Crown, and for the Dutch East India 

 Compauy ; and who to-day contribute the finest and largest 

 pearling boats to both the Ceylon and Tinnevelly pearl fisheries. 

 So, while their sea-skill in handing sailing craft in the main has 

 been learned in the hard school of experience, natural aptitude 

 for the work is in their blood, innate and transmitted from a 

 line of boat-sailing forefathers who have pursued the same 

 calling through fully 2,000 years. 



25. The roadstead where steamers calling at Tuticorin must 

 anchor is from live to six miles from the landing and shipping 

 jetties and without protection from the heavy seas and boister- 

 ous winds of both monsoons ; the cargo to be handled is of 

 great bulk, next in total tonnage after that of Madras, and it 

 must be landed or shipped without delay whatever be the state 

 of the weather. These considerations have caused the evolution 

 of the finest type of open lighter on the coasts of India, boats 

 running from 15 to as much as 60 tons register. They are mas- 

 sively built of b inch teak, stoutly ribbed, and lined with thick 

 planking. Forward is a small space decked in for convenience 

 in heaving anchor, and being boarded off serves as a store and 

 occasional sleeping-place. 



In build they bear a family resemblance to the fishing 

 luggers of the British and French coasts. The stem is straight, 

 the stern sharp, and the sternpost little raked. Their rig is a 

 single lateen sail of noble proportions carried on a very stout 

 mast stepped well forward. Unlike the pattamars of the West 

 Coast the mast has a very slight rake and what it has is aft. 

 A stronger and shorter mast can therefore be used and stepped 



