” 
o 
Shelis as evidence of the Migrations. 
Notwithstanding their great fame, the pearl fisheries 
of India are of small extent. The only resources are the 
pearl reefs situated on the Madras coast in the vicinity of 
Tuticorin, on the northern shore of the Gulf of Manaar ; 
reefs of local importance at Kananur on the Malabar 
coast and on the Ratnagiri coast below Bombay ; and the 
more important reefs off the coast of Nawanagar, on the 
south side of the Gulf of Cutch. The fisheries of the 
Madras coast were well known in the time of Ptolemy, 
and pearls from this source are alluded to by several 
early writers.” 
According to Hornell,” the ancient Tamil classics fur- 
nish evidence of the existence of important pearl fisheries, 
together with those of chank shells, on the Indian shore 
of the Gulf of Manaar. One reference contained in the 
“ Maduraikkanchi,” a Tamil poem, “ incidently describes 
the ancient city of Korkai, once the sub-capital of the 
Pandyan Kingdom and the great emporium familiar to 
Greek and Egyptian sailors and traders and described by 
the geographers of the tst and 2nd centuries A.D. under 
the name of Kolkhoi.” 
“In one passage,” Hornell informs us, “the Parawas 
are described as men who dived for pearl oysters and for 
chank shells and knew charms to keep sharks away from 
that part of the sea where diving was being carried on. 
Another passage depicts the city of Korkai, then a seaport 
at the mouth of the Tambraparni, as the chief town of 
the Parawas and the seat of the pear! fishery, with a popu- 
lation consisting chiefly of pearl-divers and chank-cutters.” 
It is of some interest to note that the Parawas to-day 
continue as from time immemorial to provide the con- 
** Kunz and Stevenson, of, ci/., pp. 128-9. 
*® James Hornell, ‘‘ The Sacred Chank of India,” Madras, 1914, pp. 
42°3 (Madras Fisheries Bulletin, No. 7). 
