420 The Tinnevelly Pearl Banks. 



described Tuticorin when the Dutch were all powerful at that 

 port, as well as in Ceylon. He says that a Dutch colony at 

 Tuticorin superintended a pearl fishery a little to the northward 

 of the port, which brought the Dutch company £20,000 yearly 

 tribute. 



The Dutch appear to have fished too recklessly and too 

 often ; and, when the English succeeded them at Tuticorin, the 

 banks were very far from yielding £20,000 a year. Our pre- 

 decessors had well nigh killed the goose with the golden egg ; 

 and for many years we followed in the same track. It is the 

 old story : a valuable product is discovered to be a source of 

 considerable wealth, and forthwith a system of reckless destruc- 

 tion for the sake of immediate gain is inaugurated. Then the 

 supply begins to fail — a panic ensues ; and, when science and 

 forethought are called in, it is discovered that ordinary prudence 

 and a judicious system of conservancy would have ensured an 

 annual unfailing yield from the first. Such has been the 

 history of Chinchona bark in South America, of the teak and 

 other timber of the Indian forests, and such also is the story 

 of the Tinnevelly pearl banks since the Dutch times. 



In 1822 the Tuticorin pearl fishery contributed about 

 £13,000 to the Indian revenue, and in 1830 about £10,000; 

 but after the latter date there was no yield at all for many 

 years. Between 1830 and 1856 there were thirteen examina- 

 tions of the banks, and on each occasion it was found that 

 there was not a sufficient number of grown oysters to yield a 

 profitable fisheiy, and none was therefore attempted. The un- 

 satisfactory condition of the banks was attributed to several 

 causes. Captain Robertson, the Master Attendant at Tuti- 

 corin, thought that the widening of the Paumben channel, 

 which caused a stronger flow of current over the banks on the 

 coast, prevented the molluscs from adhering; and that the 

 fishers for large conch shells called chanJes (which are used as 

 horns in the worship of idols, and cut into segments of circles 

 as ornaments for women's wrists), anchoring their boats on the 

 banks, killed the oysters. The dead oysters would, of course, 

 have a fatal effect on their neighbours. The native divers 

 attributed the state of the banks to the pernicious influence of 

 two other shell-fish, called soonim (a kind of Modiola) and 

 JculUJcoz (an Avicula), which are mingled with the pearl oysters 

 on the banks, and, as the natives believe, destroy them. 



In 1850, however, an examination was made by Captain 

 l.'obertson, and it was found that at least four of the banks off 

 Tuticorin, called Cooroochan Paur, Navary Paur, Oodooroovie 

 J'aur, and Clothie Paur were well covered with young pearl 

 oysters, which would be old enough to be fished in 18G0-G1. 

 The Madras government, therefore, determined that every pre- 



