THE PEARL FISHERY OF 1904. 35 



" Surface drift. Nothing can be done towards the solution of this question without 

 the employment of bottle-drifters, except to note the direction of the current from day 

 to day, when at anchor on the banks. This was attended to from 19th February to 

 19th April, the result being to show that during February the current set in the 

 main to the south and to the south-west in dependence upon the general direction of 

 the wind which at this period was mostly north-east. The following month, March, 

 distinguished for its alternate land and sea breezes, showed a to-and-fro motion of 

 the water upon the banks, the current altering with every change of wind and never 

 attaining any strength. In April, consequent upon the continuous south-west wind 

 and swell, the current ran strongly northwards, frequently at a rate of from 2 to 3 

 knots per hour." 



Finally, Mr. HORNELL has sent me a series of " Recommendations " in regard to 

 the further exploitation and conservation of the pearl banks. Some of his paragraphs 

 deal with matters treated of above, while others are better left over for discussion in 

 the Final Part of the Report. I give here the following headings of the chief points 

 in his recommendations : 



SYNOPSIS or RECOMMENDATIONS. 



(a.) Improved and extended inspection. 



(6.) The provision of a beacon on Aripu reef and the improvement of Kudiramalai 

 Tower. 



(c.) Transplantation on an extensive scale by means of steamer dredging whenever 

 blank spaces occur upon the Cheval, coincident with the presence of young oysters in 

 the neighbourhood, within a radius of 20 miles. 



(d.) Cultching to go on concurrently with transplantation. If these operations can 

 be carried out within the next twelve months, 500 tons of oyster shells and 300 tons 

 of Kalpitiya stone to be provided for this purpose. 



(r.) The thinning out of overcrowded beds by means of the dredge. 



( /!) The cleaning of the oyster banks by means of the dredge. 



(</.) Further investigation of the life-history of the pearl-inducing Cestode. 



(A.) A series of drift-bottle experiments in conjunction with the Madras Presidency 

 officials. 



(i.) The establishment of a chank fishery on Government account and under 

 Government management in the neighbourhood of the Aripu pearl banks. 



F 2 



