198 SPOLTA ZEYLANICA. 



The potential paars, or oyster beds, are formed by an amalgam 

 of coarse granite sand and old oyster shells cemented together with 

 coral lime ; on these paars there is little, if any, movement of sand, 

 and were it not for the fish that prey upon them the oysters would 

 thrive. Immediately I walked off the paar I was upon very loose 

 sand, in waves hke giant furrows in a ploughed field ; whilst for quite 

 two feet high above the ground there was sand in suspension. Here 

 oysters are covered up, bmied, and destroyed immediately. 



The coral is, as may be expected, varied and very beautiful ; 

 some are lovely white branches of the most delicate tracery ; other 

 coral I have seen with what looks like the tiniest small blue flower 

 of a particularly beautiful deep blue ; but, alas, with the death of 

 this coral the colour fades away to white ; then there is a rocky spot 

 called by the Tamils Ani-verliindun Paar, or elephant's ear rock. 

 Here the coral is enormously large, and shaped like an elephant's ear, 

 or a large leaf, or, even better, the paper holder that a bouquet of 

 flowers is contained in ; these pieces of coral growth are frequently 

 two or three feet across, and are very hard and difficult to break 

 off the rock, to which they are attached anyhow, without injuring 

 the delicate knife-like edge of the leaf. Tradition has it that this 

 coral is the result of an elej)hant falling do\\ii on this spot. 



The life of a Ceylon pearl oyster is not more than eight years, and 

 from about its third year it seems to be more productive both in 

 numbers and size of pearls. As a matter of fact, very few three-year 

 old oysters contain j)earls, or anyhow only pearls of minute size ; 

 whilst if a bed of oysters could be fished just as they were dying off 

 with old age, the pearls obtained would be many and large. The 

 oyster attains its largest size in circumference in its third or fourth 

 year, due principally to its having a soft rough edge. This wears 

 off very soon, whilst the oyster thickens in a marked degree and also 

 increases in weight. True pearls, Avhich are the result of a disease, 

 and not due to the admission of foreign matter into the shell — though 

 this does cause a form of misshapen pearl of no particular value — are 

 formed in the intestines of the oyster, and when they reach such a 

 size as to cause great discomfort to the oyster, the oyster either 

 dies or, as I have observed, forces the pearl towards the opening 

 between its valves, where the j)earl is retained by an absolutely 

 transparent substance or skin, and they have the appearance of 

 being loose ; but this is not so, as it is by no means easy to extract 

 them with a match. I have a theory that, if the pearl continues to 

 grow in this position, it eventually prevents the oyster from closing, 

 and thus renders him an easy prey to his enemies, in which case 

 either the oyster dies or expels the pearl into the sea. In either 

 case the largest pearls Avould be lost. Very large pearls are rarely 

 found on these Ceylon banks. A dead pearl is a curious thing to 

 see ; it loses its weight and becomes a dull brown. I saw one of a 

 vorv large size. 



