Supplement to tlip " TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. " 
THE PEARL FISHERIES OF CEYLON. 
No. 1. 
Mr. W. A. Herdman, D.Sc, P.R.S., to His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor ot Ceylon. 
July 1, 1902. 
Sir— I ARRIVED in Ceylon with Mr. James Hornell on 20th January, ]902, and left on 7th 
April. Mr. Hornell remains in the Island for a year longer in order to carry out the experiments 
I have arranged and complete our work. We shall then, in consultation, draw up our final and 
detailed report ; but I think it well to submit to you a brief account of our observations and opinions 
even at this eai'ly stage. 
The investigations which I was able to make during the seventy-eight days spent in Ceylon 
deal with the following somewhat independent matters : — 
(1) The inspection of the pearl oyster banks. 
(2) The investigation of the conditions under which the pearl oyster lives in the Gulf of 
Mannar. 
(3) The investigation of the marine zoology of other parts of the sea around Ceylon, 
especially in the interests of trawling and other fishing industries. 
(4) The selection of the best locality for a marine laboratory. 
These are all dealt with briefly in the paragraphs that follow. Fuller reports upon all will 
be given when onr material has been worked up. 
I wish to record here my entire satisfaction with the work done by Mr. Hornell. He assisted 
me throughout in a most able and indefatigable manner, and I felt assured on leaving Ceylon that 
he was entirely competent to carry on this work and any other marine biological work of a similar 
nature on his own responsibility in the future. It would have been quite impossible for me to have 
got through the work I did in the limited time had it not been for Mr. Hornell's skilled assistance. 
It is a pleasure also to record my imlebtedness to Captain J. Donnan, C.M.G., the retiring Master 
Attendant at Colombo, and to Mr. Legge, his successor, who, during the time that I spent with them 
on the pearl oyster banks, spared no trouble in trying to let me see as thoroughly and satisfactorily 
as possible the various banks and beds, the different kinds and ages of oysters, and the conditions 
under which these and their enemies exist. 
My arrival in Ceylon was so timed as to leave a few weeks free before the period in February 
at which Captain Donnan had previously intimated that he would be able to commence his annual 
inspection of the banks. This interval I had thouu'ht desirable, if not essential, in order that I might 
make myself acquainted with the biological conditions in the Gulf of Mannar, and with any special 
features in which that region differs from the other seas around Ceylon. For the purpose of this 
preliminary biological survey the ss. " Lady Havelock " was placed at my disposal, in the first 
instance, for a period not to exceed three weeks. We joined the ship* for this cruise on the evening 
of Thursday, 30th January, and arrived back in Colombo on the evening of Wednesday, 19th February, 
having used the steamer for twenty days. 
The few days' interval between our arrival in Colombo and the date when the steamer was 
available for the first cruise was spent by Mr. Hornell in unpacking our apparatus and stores, and 
by myself in seeing every one I could hear of on the Island who had worked or written on the 
pearl oyster, or was supposed to have information or opinions on the subject. I was fortunate in 
being able to meet and discnss the subject with the following, amongst others : — Dr. A. J. Chalmers 
of Colombo, Mr. J. C. Willis of Peradeniya, the late Mr. Oliver CoUett of Roselle, Dr. Fritz and Dr. Paul 
Sarasin (who had worked at the zoology of Tiincomalee harbour, where the pearl oysters were said 
to have been established by Dr. Kelaart nearly fifty years ago), and Professor Alexander Agassiz, 
who had recently been investigating the sea to the south and west of the Gulf of Mannar. Later on 
I met Sir William Twynam, who has had a long-extended experience of the fisheries, and for weeks 
on the banks I had the advantage of constant association with Captain Donnan, whose knowledge of 
the topography and condition of the oyster beds is unrivalled. 
In the first cruise of the "Lady Havelock" (31st January to 19th February) my objects 
•were : — 
(1) To investigate the general biology of the seas around Ceylon, and especially of those 
places were pearl oysters were said to exist. 
(2) To examine more carefully any localities that seemed to be likely spots for pearl 
oyster banks. 
(3) To investigate the fauna, the bottom deposits, and the characters of the water in the 
Gulf of Mannar for comparison with the conditions at Triucomalee, Galle, and 
other parts of the coast. 
(4) To make experimental hauls of the fish and the "shrimp " trawl round the coast so as 
to obtain information as to the prospects of fish-trawling as an industry in Ceylon 
waters. 
(5) To look into any other departments of marine biology which might be prosecuted as 
useful industries. 
* I Ought to state that on the whole the " Lady Havelook " proved a very suitable vessel for the purpose, and I desire 
to record also my sincere thanks to Oaptain Campbell and the officers and others on board for the pains they took to carry 
out my wishes. ,^ 
