ALttJVTAL FORMATIONS. 81 



Bishop Caldwell still to linger among- the inhabitants, while evidences 

 of its former littoral position are not wanting. As time passed on Korkai 

 decayed because the sea receded, and a new town, Ka^^al, sprung up oa 

 the coast and became known to the world as the '^Cail" of Marco 

 Polo. ''Cail" was at the time of Marco Polo's visit in 1292 the 

 great emporium of the east coast, and continued so during the middle 

 ag;es. It also decayed and was forgotten till its site was re-discovered by 

 Bishop Caldwell in 1861 and made public in Colonel H. Yule's beautiful 

 edition of Marco Polo's Travels ^. From the identification of these two 

 sites it becomes clear that since the time when Ptolemy wrote the coasfc 

 has gained on the sea by nearly 5 miles, while since the visit of Marco 

 Polo to Kayal in 1292 the coast line had advanced fully 2 miles. 

 Considering the very moderate size of the Tambraparni, the enormous 

 quantity of fine silt retained to raise the general surface of the irrigat- 

 ed valleys and the constant dispersion of the sediment brought down in 

 suspension by the fioodwaters of the river by the strong up and down 

 currents prevailing during the alternate monsoons, the rate of growth 

 has certainly been considerable, being just about 18 feet per annum. 



The advance of the delta alluvium to the east is very striking in 

 the case of the long spit of land forming the south side of Tutikorin 

 harbour, which now extends out much nearer to the islands east of the 

 harbour than it did when the Trigonometrical Survey was made (in 1828). 



To the marine alluvium I reckon some thoroughly unconsolidated beds 

 Marine alluvia at Kola- ^^^^ of marine and estuaiine shells which underlie 

 se arapa anara. .^y-^^ long Kalampalli Taruvai or lagoon running 



northward from Kolasekharapatanam to Tiruchendur. The beds are of a 

 dark clay abounding in Cytherea, Area, Potamides, &c., &c., all of living 

 species. Two other exposures of beds containing estuarine shells im- 

 bedded in dark clay were observed, the one a little west of Melmandai in 

 At Melmaudai and Tinnevelly, and the other just across the border at 

 Sevalpatti. Sevalpatti (Shevalputty) in Madura district. In 



both cases the organic remains had been turned out of the bottoms of 



^ If ever any book deserved the title of Thesaurus Geographicus, it is this noble edition 

 of the Travels of Ser Marco Polo, edited as a labour of love by Colonel Yule, whose acutely 

 critical skill has rescued from unjust obloquy the memory of a really great traveller. 



F . ( 81 ) 



