262 
TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1888. 
THE ABSENCE OF BEACH IN CEYLON. 
A correspondent addresses to us a query as to 
the cause of the absence of beach on the shores 
of this island. The dealing with shifting beaches 
has been one of the questions which has much 
exercised the intelligence of the engineering pro- 
fession in England, and correspondence of late 
proceeding in the home scientific journals has 
roused the curiosity of our querist, who desires 
to know what causes can be assigned for the 
almost complete absence of shingle along our coast 
lines, while most other countries — certainly those 
situate in Europe — are liberally providedjwith this 
means of defence against the erosion of their shores 
by the sea. At first sight the query put to us on 
this topic does not seem easy to answer. There 
is ample rock formation around our shores to 
furnish the debris which supplies the usual material 
for a shingle beach. The constant attrition to 
which fragments of rock detached and falling into 
the sea are subjected by the action of waves and 
currents would before very long produce that 
rounded form which is possessed by most of the 
shingle forming the beaches of the United Kingdom, 
and we should naturally expect to find that, after 
countless ages of sea action, there would be de- 
posits of such stones in certain positions sufficient 
in amount to form a regular beach. And yet we 
cannot call to mind that in any of the visits paid 
by us to many points on the coast of this island 
we have ever seen what could with justice be 
termed a beach, such as the formation which receives 
that appellation at home. 
At Point Pedro in the Jaffna Peninsula there is the 
best defined beach that is, perhaps, to be found in 
the island, and at Valvettitturai, but a short distance 
to the westward of Point Pedro, the old Dutch 
marine works have operated as groynes and have 
arrested the course of the travel of the shingle and 
caused a very considerable deposit. But with 
these two exceptions we cannot call to mind any 
locality along the whole of the coast of Ceylon 
which we could point to as having anything 
worthy of being denominated a beach. There are 
many places where fragments of broken shell and 
coral have been heaped by the action of the sea ; 
but such deposits must be considered as apart 
from the immediate object of our correspor>dent's 
query, though doubtless these have been accumu- 
lated by the like causes as tend to the collections 
of shingle in other countries. But what is asked 
is the reason why shingle, as it is popularly 
known to Europeans, finds no place on our shores. 
What becomes of the debris falling from the high 
and rocky cliffs noticeable at such places as 
Trincomalee and, though less prominently, at 
Gaile and other places on our southern shores ? 
It at first occurred to us that there might 
be something in the currents peculiar to Cey- 
lon which might furnish a reply to these 
queries ; but then, as we find that there are 
large accumulations of shell and broken coral, 
buch a hypothesis seems scarcely tenable as 
furnishing any conclusive reason for the pheno- 
mena under discussion. 
Shingle, it is well known, travels along the 
coast of Great Britain in the direction of the 
most prevalent winds and currents. When these 
give place to what arc exceptional movements, the 
shingle deposits due to the operations of nature 
uring the greater part of the year disappear in 
art for the time being, but only to reappear 
hen the normal eet ia resumed. There are two 
causes which appear to us likely to meet the 
demand of our correspondent for some possible 
explanation of the denuded characteristic of all 
coasts, not alone those of Ceylon, in tropical coun- 
tries. Shingle, as we have pointed out above, there 
must be. What becomes of it ? Why do we not 
see it lying on our shores ? Now there is no doubt 
that to the action of currents resulting from the 
inset and outset of tides much of the deposits 
on any shore must be accounted due. In the 
more northern and southern zones there are few 
localities where the ordinary rise and fall of the 
tide does not range between six feet and ten feet. 
Here in the tropics the ordinary range is rarely 
above 18 to 24 inches, while during spring 
tides that range is increased but to thirty-seven 
inches.* The result to this limitation, we should 
say, would be that the currents resulting 
from tidal action along an open shore must be 
greatly restricted in force. This may amply suffice 
to drive up and accumulate light fragments of coral 
and shell such as we have remarked are in many 
places observable around Ceylon, but it must fail in 
power to give travel to stones of the size which 
form a beach in the usual acceptation of the term. 
The second reason which suggests itself to us is 
the existence nearly all round our shores of a coral 
or breccia fringe, this lying very often but from one to 
two hundred yards from the absolute coast line. 
This must break the force of the waves and 
currents very materially, further adding to the 
weakness of these due to limited tidal range. 
They also probably act as natural groynes, and 
when they do not stay the travel of the shingle 
and retain it in deep water, they compel that 
travel to follow a course far out beyond the earth 
line, so that real shingle is a rare visitant to the 
sandy slopes which, as the rule, is the substitute 
in all tropical countries for the shingly beach of 
more northern latitudes, — So far as we are aware, 
our correspondent's query is the first notice taken 
of this peculiar characteristic of our shore 
lines. We have endeavoured to answer that query 
to the best of our ability, but we should say there 
are many scientists among us who could probably 
furnish us with other information and suggestions 
which might tend to a wider elucidation of the 
subject. We know that our rocks generally are 
specially liable to decomposition ; and that by means of 
carbonate of lime held in solution in the sea water, 
sand and fragments of all kinds are re-composed 
into breccias of varied qualities from solid " sand- 
stone " to loose aggregations of coral and cabook ; 
but surely some of the more granitic fragments 
are worn and polished into pebbles instead of being 
absolutely disintegrated ? 
As having some bearing on the subject, we would 
attract attention to the paper we quote below from 
the Transactions of the Geological Department of 
India, which may throw some light on the curious 
geological question raised. If rounded, shingle-like 
stones are found in deep water off Colombo, they 
are pretty certain to exist outside the coral or 
breccia reefs elsewhere. The introductory note to 
the paper quoted was written some months ago 
when we read and marked the matter for extract. 
It has been waiting for a convenient season, and 
that has now arrived. 
* We quote frern our latest " Handbook " as fol- 
low?, the experience of Mr. Kyle in respect of Colombo : 
— The range of tide during the north-east monsoon is 
from 5 to 37 inches, and from 5 to 30 inches during 
the south-west monsoon, and averages about 24 and 18 
inches respectively. The extreme highest and lowest 
tides occur at full moon in April, when the tide falls 
to the zero of the gauge and rises 40 inches within 
twenty-four hours. 
