1901.] MOLLUSKS FROM THE PERSIAN GULP. 335 



At our request, the following particulars have been kindly 

 drawn up by Mr. Townsend of the chief places exploited by him 

 during the past ten or more years, starting from Karachi, and 

 finishing with Eeshire and Fao, at the head of the Persian Grulf. 



(A.) Karachi Harhonr. 



This is essentially a backwater harbour, in area about 20 square 

 miles, the navigable portion of which is small and consists of a deep 

 channel, about ^ to | a mile wide, running inland some 3 miles 

 from the entrance, the remainder being mud-flats of great extent 

 intersected by numerous creeks. This is the one locality which 

 has been most thoroughly worked, both as regards dredged 

 specimens and those to be found above low-water mark, a short 

 description of it having already been given in the Memoirs 

 and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical 

 Society, vol. slii. Part 2, 1897-98. Of the numerous mouths 

 of the Indus south of Karachi, only two have been worked and 

 these only very slightly, viz. : the Hajamro about 50 miles, and 

 the Dubba 30 miles S.S.E. of Karachi. At the former, large 

 quantities of dead specimens of two kinds of PJiolas were found, 

 and doubtless living specimens could have been obtained at the 

 same place if time had admitted of digging in the hard thick black 

 mud ; there were several other species of dead bivalves at the same 

 place, and also at the water's edge. On a very low tide, many 

 fine living specimens of Bullia Icurrachensis Sowb. were found. 

 The ground at both these places is chiefly hard sandy mud with 

 patches of clean sand. Going west from Karachi, the first part of 

 the coast examined was Eas Kuchar, distant about 55 miles. The 

 coast here is of hard sandstone rocks, and though a whole afternoon, 

 on a very low tide, was spent here no shells were obtained, even 

 the most common forms not being found. 



(B.) Mekran Coast. 



Ormara, or Eas Ormara, is a mountain 1550 feet high, 7 miles 

 long east and west, 2 miles being its greatest width north and 

 south ; it is joined to the mainland by a low sandy spit 1 j mile 

 wide, and on this spit is situated the village of Ormara, containing 

 a population of about 3000 inhabitants, chiefly fishermen. The 

 Government of India have a Telegraph-station here, the telegraph 

 land-line, which is laid from Karachi to Jask, passing through. 

 Dredging has been done in the bays on both sides of the village, 

 but the bottom is a hard clay-mud from which good results are 

 seldom obtained ; young Bullia kurracJiensis, B. nitida Sowb., 

 Meretrix iumicla Sowb., are, however, found here. Between the 

 tide-marks the ground is chiefly hard sand or muddy sand ; and it 

 is on the clean sand that the pretty Bullia ceroplasta Melv. is 

 found, also Bullia malabarica Hanley, but little else of interest. 



Bas Basul, 23 miles west of Ormara. A small river, dry except 

 during the rains, comes out here. In the sand and mud at the 



