110 



Steuart observes that " the number of successful fisheries 

 obtained on the banks lying off the Aripu coast, more than 

 on any other banks in the Grulf of Manaar, and the high 

 estimation in which the pearls from these fisheries are 

 deservedly held, would seem to indicate some peculiar 

 quality in the bottom of the sea in these parts, which is 

 favourable to the existence of pearl-oysters, and for bringing 

 them to the greatest perfection. We know there is some- 

 thing in the nature of the bottom of certain parts of the sea, 

 which is favourable to the subsistence and growth of par- 

 ticular fishes, and which improves the flavour for the food 

 of mankind : for instance, the sole and the plaice caught 

 in Hythe bay on the Kentish coast are esteemed better than 

 those caught off Rye on the western side of Dungeness; and 

 we also know that cod, turbot, oysters, and, indeed, most 

 edible fishes are prized in proportion to the estimation in 

 which the banks are held, from whence they have been 

 taken." 



In 1885 Captain Donnan attempted to cultivate the pearl- 

 oyster on a coral reef, three miles from the shore, which was 

 considered to be sufficiently far removed from the baneful 

 influence of the Aripu river during the freshes. A tank for 

 the reception of the oysters was dug in the centre of the reef, 

 and surrounded by blocks of coral to form a barrier round its 

 edge, heaped up high enough to be just awash at the highest 

 tide. But the experiment failed, as, out of 12,000 oysters 

 which were placed in the tank, only 27 remained alive at 

 the end of seven months. " Some of the oysters," Captain 

 Donnan writes, " may have been washed out of the tank 

 by the south-west monsoon sea, as it was not completely 

 sheltered from the wash of the waves, but the bulk of them 

 have, I believe, died off and been destroyed by some fish 

 preying upon them. About 100 dead shells were found in 

 the bottom of the tank, many of which bore evidence of 

 having been bored and nibbled away. It is just possible 

 that some fish may have got into the tank, and preyed upon 

 the oysters, either by getting over the coral barrier around 

 it, which would be slightly under water at high- water, or 

 through the interstices of the coral underneath. The experi- 

 ment so far has been a failure, and may be attributable to 

 four causes : — 



" (1) overcrowding the oysters in the tank ; 

 " (2) deficiency of nourishment in water so near the 

 surface ; 



