180 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVI. 



Remarks upon some of the Questions referred to in Mr. Collett's 

 Paper on Pearl Oysters and Pearl Fisheries. 



Persian Gulf and Gulf of Mannar Pearl Oysters. 



IN regard to the remarks upon the similarity of the Gulf 

 of Mannar pearl oysters to those of the Persian Gulf, and the 

 suggestion that the former is comparatively rare in the 

 Arabian Seas, I will relate how I came to ascertain that the 

 Gulf of Mannar oyster is found in great abundance in the 

 Persian Gulf. When I went to England in 1875 I took with 

 me a small sample of Ceylon pearl oyster shells to ascertain 

 if they were of any commercial value, and during my visit 

 to London I went into the office in Mincing Lane of Messrs. 

 Brooks & Faith, Produce Brokers, saw the head of the 

 firm, and asked him if my sample of oyster shells was of any 

 commercial value. He looked at them and said, " These are 

 what we call Lingas from the Persian Gulf." I replied, 

 that they came from Ceylon. He said, " Don't tell me that, 

 I know better," and pointing to a shelf on which there were 

 a large number of oyster shells said, " There are your shells, 

 they have come from the Persian Gulf, and large quantities 

 of them are sent to us regularly from Bombay." He then 

 examined my sample and said, " You have been polishing 

 them up, and if you had not done so they would have been 

 worth thirty shillings per cwt." I replied that the only 

 polishing they had was that of being exposed to the sun and 

 rain on the beach at Sillavaturai for twelve months. 



The Lingas on the shelf were similar in every respect to 

 the Gulf of Mannar oysters. 



I have recently seen in print that the annual value of the 

 Persian Gulf Pearl Fishery is £300,000. 



On my return to Ceylon I obtained the sanction of Govern- 

 ment to send home a trial shipment of pearl oyster shells, 

 and in December, 1876, the shells of 12,000 oysters that had 



