Reports to the Colonial Office. 173 



rndiT the licadiiiiT Oi/stcrs we fiinl tliiit tlic West Indies have an 

 oyster in ahuiidiiiiee, Ostrea partisitini, (iineliii, which throws on the rooUi 

 of raani^ovc trees. There is no system of cultivation at jtresent. They 

 are nnich aiijtreciaN'd and find a ready sjile. Many other edihk' inoIlns<» 

 oecnr, inrhidini: tlie Mussel [Mi/fih/s erustus, Linn., the S<5illop (/Wtm 

 ziffzcuj, Ciienui.), various " ark " shells, Arra spp. ? and Codakia tujerina. 



Lohsters, shrimf).'< and rrnl/s are also amouf^st the marine resources, the 

 most ahnndant lobster heiiiL^ J'ali/n/ri/s anjns, T^atr. They and other 

 siX'cies are c^uiu^ht in Hsh-jioUs frmn anionj^st the c<)ral. Ii is jiointed out 

 that successful cultivation of lohsiers miirht he carried out jast as in 

 Newfoundland and Canada. 



S^-e/fi/s. 15arhadi)s (iccnpirs an ahuost nni(|iie jxisitioii in haviii',' an 

 im[^K)rtaut industry founded on the marine forms of life called .sea-urchins, 

 or sea-egus. Its annual value is estimated at nearly £4,(»>(>, The roe or 

 reproductive ortjans, are the jiart used as food. There is unfortunately a 

 irreat decrea.se in the numher of these Echinoderms. Tlie chief siKcies is 

 known iis Hipponoe csrtilrntn, Leske. They form a staple fotnl for a few 

 months alonj^ the coast. Before any remedial measures can he ado]tted, it 

 is nece-vSJiry to know the life-iiistory of this sea-eirs;. 



Holnf/niriao.f, Jnrlto-tle-Mrr, Tnpaii//, etc. (Jreat numbers of these 

 echinoderms occur on the floors of the .sejus in the West Indies. The 

 species have not been identified, but the Jamaican ones are of the <;enera 

 Holothuri/f and Stiropliiix. Experimental shipments of I»eche-de-Mer weiv 

 carried out a few yeare a<jo at the Caicos Islands with the object of 

 supplyinir the Americ;ui Chinese with their favourite article of diet. To 

 show the importance of this marine animal, the report mentions that the 

 annual export value to Queensland is al)out t'i';>,(iO(». 



SPOXOK.S. 



The West Indies and Florida, alnnu^ with the Medit<'rranean, are the 

 principal s}xin'i<- pruducinjr areas of the world ; but fine kith siH)ni;es also 

 come from Australia. 



The shores around the Baiiamas are the best known sponire irrounds in 

 the West Indies. Tluy form the irreatest industry of that Colony. 

 Drinljxin^' and divin;.: for them have been jtrohibited. They an- gathered 

 l)y means of two-jironp^ed forks attached U) staves iA feet in Icugtli. The 

 8iM)n.ir«' exchange is at Nas.sau. The annual value is nearly t'l<M»,(M)0. 

 The rnit-e<l Suites (jovernment hits undertaken tiie investi^_'atiou of the 

 Florida sjM>nge ^'roiuids with a view t<> the better development (»f the 

 intliLstry. Siux-e.ssful ex|K'riments in the artificial propiiiration of sponjfes 

 bv transplanting: and bvcuttinirs have Ix'en carrie<I out in the M<diUrninean 

 and in Florida. 



Amonjjst other industries mentioned in the report arc the whale oil 

 industry, still airri«(l out in a sniall dejiree around some <»f the islands of 

 the Lesser .Vntilles. .\mlH'rj;ris is (»c(iusionally foinid on the c(«i.sts of the 

 Bahama Islands. 



Companies of dolphins are ofU-'U seen traversinif the length of 

 KiniTstou IIarlM»ur, but no attenijit is e\er made to scrun* them. The 

 Manatee is al.so .sometimes cjiuirlu and the flesh .s<»ld, but they breed too 

 slowly to K'corac of much economic imi>ortiUicc. 



