THE WINDOW-PANE OYSTEES. 39 



valve had edible oysters attached to it. Only two living placunse 

 were taken here within half an hour, as under : — 



About 200 yards further along in a wide, shallow bight on the 

 eastern shore, where the tide was running very slowly, four dead 

 complete shells were taken, three measuring on the average 150 mm. 

 long by 143 mm. high, the fourth smaller, 129 mm. by 105 mm. 



The mangroves which border the lower reaches of the river 

 presented a remarkably even line of foliage jutting out over the maze 

 of roots some 3 feet above the level of the water, curiously like 

 the undercut cliffs of some coral islands. Another characteristic 

 feature, at this season, of the complex of waterways which consti- 

 tute the Sambore river was afforded by the presence of great 

 numbers of Rhizostome Medusae (" jelly-fish ") belonging to the 

 series of forms included under the name Himantostoma flagellatuni , 

 the eight oral arms carrying superficial fringes and long terminal 

 contractile streamers. In the morning they were to be seen drifting 

 up the river with the inflowing tide against the wind ; towards 

 evening the outflowing tide left many of them stranded upon the 

 sandbanks, which were then exposed. They varied in size from 

 about 1-| to 5 inches in diameter, and many of them, both large 

 and small, had a purple spotted umbrella, while others were colour- 

 less. It is furthermore worth noting that they occurred up the 

 river as far as the Batticaloa road, beyond the upper limit of the 

 placuna beds. 



Lake Tamblegam. 



On June 20 I went to Niroddumunai , where the road from 

 Trincomalee to Batticaloa abuts upon the wide channel by which 

 this lake communicates with the sea, the village of Kiniyai lying on 

 the opposite shore. Here, by kind permission of the District 

 Engineer, Mr. W. Brice Gregson, I occupied the conveniently 

 situated Public Works Department bungalow. 



The object of my visit, as I have indicated at the commencement 

 of this report, was to make the first official inspection since the 

 passing of ." The Pearl Fishery Ordinance, 1906," and since the 

 lease concession 1907. It is currently knowTi that much unlicensed 

 collecting took place in 1906, and that the legitimate fishery this year 

 has not yielded a satisfactory return. It is to be regretted that the 



