608 APPENDIX 



The Distribution of Coral : Coral-banks. — Our attention must now be turned 

 to the distribution of coral in nature, to the manner in which it is collected, and to some 

 aspects of the coral-industry. 



The colonies formed by Corallium riibrum are always found growing in groups, which 

 are known as coral-fields or coral-banks. The shrub-like branches of living coral form with 

 sea-weeds submarine forests, which afford food and shelter to numberless marine creatures. 

 The coral-stocks are situated usually in clefts, crevices, or cavities in the rocks near the 

 shore. They prefer a steep face of rock directed towards the south and never settle upon 

 rocks which face north, though they are sometimes found in situations the aspect of which 

 is east or west. The true precious coral, Corallium ruhrum, is probably confined to the 

 Mediterranean Sea and its inlets, and the red coral found in other localities belongs, as we 

 shall see in ])assing later on, to another species. 



The depth at which precious coral is found varies between wide limits ; very little 

 grows at a depth less than 3, or greater than 300 metres. At depths such as the latter 

 the development of the colonies is slow ; they never reach a large size and are always pale 

 in colour. The depth most favourable for the growth and development of coral-colonies 

 lies between 30 and 50 metres, but varies according to kicality, the best gi-own corals in the 

 Straits of Messina, for example, being met with at depths of from 120 to 200 metres. 



A coral-field once discovered is not a perennial source of coral, but after being fished 

 for a longer or shorter period becomes exhausted. Banks, which at one time were produc- 

 tive, are now exhausted through over-fishing or other causes ; while in some cases they have 

 to be abandoned, usually on account of the roughness of the sea at that particular spot, and 

 the consequent danger to the fishing-boats. The deficit in the total yield occasioned by the 

 exhaustion of previously fruitful fields is usually compensated for by the discovery of fresh 

 banks. The coral-producing portions of the Mediteri-anean Sea will be separately treated 

 in some detail below ; they include the coasts of east Algeria and of Tunis, the west coasts 

 of Sardinia and Corsica, part of the south and of the west coasts of Sicily, and the Straits of 

 Messina from whence coral-banks stretch along the whole of the west coast of Italy, the 

 coast of Provence, the whole of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, and finally in the 

 neighbourhood of the Balearic Islands. The yield of coral from the Italian coasts of the 

 Adriatic Sea is very meagre, and very little more is found off the Dalmatian coasts opposite ; 

 the stocks are so small and scarce as hardly to repay the searcher for his trouble. A small 

 amount of coral is found further east in the sea round Corfu and Cyprus, and at various 

 isolated spots off the coast of Asia Minor, but these localities are all unimportant. 



The largest amount of coral is obtained from the coasts of Algeria and Tunis, the 

 yearly yield from these regions being 10,000 kilograms. The coral-banks stretch eastward 

 from Cape Ferro (Cap de Per), a little west of Bona, to Cape Bon, and from thence south- 

 wards as far as the neighbourhood of Sfax in the Lesser Syrtis. An exhaustive seai'ch for 

 coral has been made on the west coast of Algeria, west of Cape Ferro, but hitherto in vain. 

 At places where coral-banks exist they are fished for a distance of six or eight miles out to 

 sea and at depths varying from 90 to 900 feet, but the coral obtained at great depths is 

 paler and less brilliant. In the districts mentioned above the coral-fishing industry has been 

 carried on for centuries ; it has flourished and declined, and at times has almost reached a 

 standstill, owing to the passive neglect or active opposition of the barbarian rulers of the 

 coast. The headquarters of the fishing-fleet was formerly the island of Tabarca, which lies 

 near the coast and very near the prolongation of the boundary line between Algeria and 

 Tunis. The island is still of importance, as also is the island of Galita, lying a little fui-ther 

 from the coast. The most important centre, however, at present is La Calle, a town on the 



