50 



under the group title — the large Tolayiram Par and the small Kutadiar Par. The 

 former is by far the largest of the productive pars ; the latter, which lies to the south- 

 west extremity of its huge neighbour, being on the contrary one of the smallest, an 

 oval-outlined rocky patch one mile long by half that in breadth. 



The Tolayiram Par lies 8 to 11 miles off the coast and opposite Hare island and 

 Tuticorin Bay, the northern extremity due east from the town of Tuticorin. In shape 

 the bank is roughly crescentic, the concave side turned shorewards. Its long axis lies 

 roughly north-east by south-west measuring over six miles in this direction. The 

 width varies from one to two miles, broadening as we approach the upper extremity. 

 The depth of water over it ranges from 8 to 11 fathoms. 



Eight fisheries have taken place upon this locality during the past 120 years, 

 namely, in 1784, 1787, 1807, 1810, 1822, 1830, 1889 and 1890. 



The annexed table shows the results of these fisheries so far as I can obtain 

 particulars : — 



Year. 



Number of 

 oysters fished. 



Gross Govern- 

 ment revenue. 



1784 

 1787 

 1S07 



1810 



1822 

 1830 



1889 

 1890 



71,617,305 

 Mure than 

 22,000,000 



12,600,531 

 1,806,762 



HS. 



42,420 



63,000 



2,91,539 



2,38,897 



1,65,693 



Separate revenue 



not given. 



1,89,984 



25,061 



Total revenue over Rs. 10,06,594 



Net Govern- 

 ment revenue. 



E8. 

 42,420 

 63,000 



1,58,483 

 7,803 



The name Tolayiram Pax, literally " 900 banks ", pithily describes the peculiar 

 physical conditions which prevail over the area so denominated. The character of 

 the bottom is an alternation of rocky patches scattered irregularly in a vast setting of 

 sand. 



The sizes of the outcrops of rock differ greatly, from little tabular fragments a 

 foot or two across to great areas of several acres in extent. The sand is nowhere deep, 

 seldom forming a layer of more than six inches in depth, filling up inequalities in the 

 rocky framework of the bank. 



The rock is a fine grained limestone compact and resonant, the colour yellowish 

 brown. Here and there a small admixture of quartz is present but never in any large 

 proportion. Loose blocks and many parts of the exposed surfaces are in a " rotten " 

 condition, tunnelled and excavated by boring molluscs and occasionally by Olione. 



The character of the sand is fine grained and almost entirely calcareous — a similar 

 material to that from which the underlying rock has originated. 



Cultch is fairly abundant in places, scattered over the sand. It consists of dead 

 shells, broken branches of Madrepore coral ("chullai"), Echinoid tests and similar 

 material. 



A striking parallelism can be traced in nearly every characteristic between this 

 bank and the well known Periya Par on the Ceylon side of the Gulf of Mannar. In 

 both cases the bottom consists of a few inches of sand covering flat rock in those 

 places where the rock does not outcrop and with a fair amount of small cultch scattered 

 over the sand. 



The average depth, 9| to 10 and 11 fathoms, is the same in both; both are 

 situated further seaward than any other true oyster pars on their respective sides — the 

 Periya Par 16 to 18 miles off land, the Tolayiram Par 11 to 12 miles. 



The faunistic characters approximate in a remarkable manner, the larger and 

 more conspicuous species of animals are the same in both localities. 



