116 



At this stage a strong south-west wind came on, accom- 

 panied by an unpleasant swell, and drove us into Sildvaturai ; 

 but, luckily, all the important work of the inspection tour 

 was finished, two small ba.nks alone remaining to be examined. 

 A rolling journey on the tug Active brought me back to 

 Colombo, and my second visit to Ceylon, more auspicious 

 than the first, was over. 



During the last quarter of a century, the Ceylon Grovern- 

 ment has derived a handsome profit from its pearl banks, 

 ■which have been lucratively fished on nine occasions ; while, 

 during the same period, the banks belonging to the Madras 

 Government have yielded only a single fishery, not because 

 the oysters have ceased to settle, when young, on the banks, 

 but because they have failed, owing to a combination of 

 physical and other unfavourable conditions, to reach maturity 

 there. Writing, in 1697, for the instruction of the Political 

 Council of Jafinapatnam, the then Commandant of that 

 town justly remarked that the pearl fishery is an extra- 

 ordinary source of revenue, on which no reliance can be 

 placed, as it depends on various contingencies, which may 

 ruin the banks, or spoil the oysters And this remark holds 

 good after the lapse of two centuries. In 1740 the Baion 

 von Imhoff, on his departure from the Government of 

 Ceylon, in a memoir left for the instruction of his successor, 

 stated that "it is now several years since the pearl banks 

 have fallen into a very bad state both at Manaar and 

 Tuticorin ; this is mere chance, and experience has shown 

 that, on former occasions, the banks have been unproductive 

 even for a longer period than has yet occurred at present.'^ 

 And a century later, in 1843, Captain Steuart, at the 

 commencement of his admirable " Account of the Pearl 

 Fisheries of Ceylon," refers to the failure at that time of the 

 now lucrative Ceylon fishery. Is it then rash, looking back 

 to the fiuctuating experience of the past, to express a belief 

 that, in the not far distant future, the reputation of the 

 Tuticorin banks will rival that of the at present well favoured 

 banks of Ceylon ? 



The name of Captain Donnan has repeatedly appeared in 

 this chapter, and I should be, indeed, ungrateful were I not 

 to acknowledge not only the great assistance which I received 

 from him in carrying out my zoological work, but also the 

 vast store of information which I gathered from him during- 

 our month of banishment from the outside world. 



