I. INTRODUCTORY. 



The Sind creeks a few years ago produced edible oysters in great abund- 

 ance ; their collection and despatch constituted a lucrative minor industry in 

 the district and earned for Karachi, whence they were forwarded all over the 

 north of India, a pre-eminent reputation for the excellence of its oysters. 



2. Sixteen years ago a diminution of the prosperity of the beds was first 

 noted ; the decrease continued and became progressive in spite of various 

 measures adopted to remedy this deterioration, and in the early part of 1908 

 Mr. H. C. Mules, the then Collector of Karachi, felt compelled to recommend 

 to Government the desirability of obtaining expert advice with a view to the 

 initiation of suitable measures for the preservation and increased production of 

 the beds. Attention was drawn to the fact that the institution of an annual 

 close season and the alternate closure for two-year periods of the two sections 

 into which the creeks were classified had proved unavailing to check depletion. 

 The almost total disappearance of edible oysters from places which formerly 

 furnished them in abundance was signalized ; the beds were stated to be practi- 

 cally exhausted. Without the initiation of a more efficient system of conserva- 

 tion it was predicted as certain that edible oysters in Sind would be non-existent 

 within a few years. 



3. In consequence of this representation the Madras Government was 

 requested by the Government of Bombay in January 1909 to permit me to 

 undertake an inspection of the Sind oyster beds in order to investigate the 

 causes of their exhaustion, and, if possible, to formulate a practical scheme for 

 their regeneration. My services could not then be spared, but eventually it 

 was arranged that I should proceed on a three-weeks deputation to Sind on my 

 return from leave in the October following. To save time I returned to India 

 vid Bombay. I landed there on 19th October 1909 and thence proceeded to 

 Kardchi by the first steamer available. After reporting my arrival to Mr. W. H. 

 Lucas, Commissioner in Sind, and to Mr. H. C. Mules, Collector of Karachi, 

 the latter was able to arrange, by the courtesy of Mr. F. S. Punnett, Chief 

 Collector of Customs, that I should have the use of the Customs sailing yacht 

 " May Queen " for my tour of the creeks as well as the invaluable services as 

 guide of Mr. G. W. Judd, the veteran Head Preventive Officer. Eleven days of 

 incessant work followed ; of this time the greater part was spent in acquiring a 

 first-hand acquaintance with the physical and biological conditions prevailing 

 in the great net-work of waterways forming the seaward section of the Indus 

 Delta. Time was also found to examine the Karachi backwater and the oyster- 

 deposits on the banks of the Hab river, the frontier between Sind and Baluchistan. 

 The visit concluded with a camel ride to the Kuranji creek on 5th November, 

 and on the evening V>f the same day I left Kardchi for Bombay and Madras. 



4. Before proceeding to deal with the subject-matter in detail, I take this 

 opportunity thank to most heartily all the officials named for the trouble they 

 took to meet my wishes in every way possible and to provide me with every 

 possible facility for my enquiry by furnishing me with the best available 

 means to get about, by giving me access to all available records and by placing 

 their own personal knowledge of the subject unreservedly at my disposal. 

 Mr. Judd, Head Preventive Officer, I wish to thank most specially for the 

 invaluable assistance he rendered throughout the investigation, often I fear, at 

 the expense of great personal discomfort, for it is not every one who is able 

 to withstand the effects of the pitching and rolling of a small vessel in breezy 

 weather ! No one has such an intimate acquaintance with the details and history 

 of the local Oyster Fishery as Mr. Judd, and I should have been at a great 

 disadvantage and the enquiry would have been much prejudiced had his 

 knowledge not been available. 



II. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE SIND COAST. 



5. To enable the details of the ensuing sections to be followed with 

 greater ease and fuller comprehension, it may be of advantage if I preface 

 them with an outline in brief of the more prominent physical features and 

 characteristics of the coast district of Sind. 



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