58 



A good example of a sandstone quay wall is to be seen 

 on the mainland between the great dam and Muntapum.' 



In a letter to me Dr. Johannes Walther, of the University 

 of Jena, who made a short visit to lidraesvaram Island early 

 in 1889, writes concerning the fossil reef : — 



' ' Das f ossile riff begiunt direct unter dem bungalow, und 

 lasst sich ixai die ganze nordkliste bis nach Eamesvarani verfol- 

 geu. Es ist wundervoU. Porites 4 m. dick, und viele andere 

 formen. Bei Eamesvaram ist ein sebr sckones fossiles Litlio- 

 thamnium lager, und interessante metamorphosen des subfos- 

 sili^n riffes." 



Possessing only very scanty geological knowledge, I am 

 unable to deal satisfactorily with the fossil reef, which will, 

 I trust, receive full justice from Dr. Walther.^ Commenc- 

 ing, as already stated, near the zemiudar's bungalow it 

 forms a wall exposed to a height of 3 or 4 feet above the 

 sandy shore in which it is imbedded, and extending, almost 

 without interruption, for a distance of a quarter of a mile, 

 after which it becomes covered over with loose sand, and is 

 exposed only at intervals. The main mass of this wall, as 

 also of the big detached coral blocks which intervene between 

 it and the sea, and are washed by liigh tides, is built up of 

 enormous blocks of For it ex, one of which, isolated from 

 neighbouring blocks, has a diameter of 12 feet. That these 

 blocks are imbedded as they grew is shown not only by 

 their reef-like appearance, but also by their upright position, 

 the vertical columns of many of the blocks bearing testimony 

 to the fact that they have not been cast up by the waves at 

 random, like the big coral fragments which are exposed 

 at low tide, and lie irregularly in all possible unnatural 

 positions. The calices on the surface of the fossil corals are 



' North of Kilakarai, a to^^^l on the coast southwest of Ram^svaram 

 Island, a very perfect wall of sandstone extends for some distance along the 

 shore, in the loose sand covering which many copper coins— Roman, Chola, 

 Pandyan, Dutch, Indo-French, &c. — have been recently found ; and a 

 theory has been started that this spot is the site of an old Pandyan city. 

 The area which intervon?s between the fringing coral reef and the sloping 

 shore at Kilakarai, and is uncovered by water at low tide, is covered by an 

 extensive green carpet formed by a dense growth of Zoatithi agglutinated 

 together by damp sand, among which small isolated Madrepores live, though 

 periodically exposed to the heat of the sun. Opposite the town of Kilakarai 

 there is a wide gap in the reef, through which small sailing boats can pass 

 into the shallow harbour within the reef, on which the force of the waves is 

 broken . 



- Vide aB.cport by Dr. Walther in the Verhandlioigen der GeselUchaft fur 

 Erdkimde zu Berlin, 1889, No. 7. 



