44 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Station VII. — The Sembianar Velanga.* In Mr. Hornell's sketch 

 plan this is regarded as forming part of the Kakkaimunai bed. On 

 this ground there were living placunse of standard size as well as 

 dead of all sizes. Particularly the young taken at different points 

 of the bed were all dead. I took footrule measurements of the living 

 material, which may be omitted ; in general the height ranged from 

 5i to 6 inches. One specimen had two hinge pearls adjacent to each 

 other and near to the posterior cardinal ligament ; another had as 

 many as six hinge pearls in the same position. 



Station VIII.— Palampoddar bed. The Amaikkalam, " Turtle 

 shallow," a submerged sandbank, yielded two live oysters with 

 clean, worn valves, measuring 152 by 129 mm. and 151 by 140 mm., 

 respectively. Steering towards the Tampalakamam-aru we find fine 

 mud, but very few chippi, and these requiring much search. Off the 

 Periya Palampoddar (according to the unanimous declaration of 

 my boatmen, although it is labelled "SinnaPalampat" on Mr. Hor- 

 nell's plan) only old valves were found. In fact this bed seems to 

 be nearly exhausted. I do not know whether it has ever been 

 notably jproductive, but the proximity of the rivers is againstit. 



Station IX. — Kappalturai bed. Numbers of living placunaj, 

 sparsely distributed, occurred here, the shells being mostly bent 

 and contorted, with worm-tubes on the valves. In point of size they 

 were, as a rule, well over tlie mark, ranging from about 5 inches to 

 6| inches in height. One had a very small pearl in the superficies 

 of the mantle, a larger one at the edge, and a third still larger at the 

 hinge. Another specimen showed two pearls near together over the 

 gastro-hepatic region ; and a third had one mantle pearl and a good 

 hinge pearl. 



The Tamblegam lake is estimated to cover an area of 5,006 acres. 

 The beds which seem to deserve most attention are Nachchikkuda, 

 Chempiyanar, Kakkaimunai, and Kappalturai, the first-named being 

 especially weU j)laced for future observation and experiment. At 

 no great expense oyster parks could be staked out, and the course 

 of events carefully watched and recorded. The divers can hardly 

 be expected to discriminate under water between shells differing in 

 one dimension by a fraction of an inch, and the lease indenture does 

 not bind them to carry a footrule, nor are they directed to return 

 undersized shells to the water. It is certain that large numbers 

 ought to be returned, not however by rudely casting them overboard, 

 but by placing them by hand the right way up {i.e. , resting upon the 

 left or convex valve) on the bottom in a definite space. The heavy 

 log boats of these parts can be moored quite securely against the 

 strong south-west wind by means of a long pole which they carry 

 for the purpose, driving it deeply into the mud. It Avould be a 



* More correctly, Chempiyanar Vilakku. 



