( 3 ) 
ne-vvspapei-s, especially one from ; Mr. J. B. Colomb at Trincomalee, stating that he had found true 
pearl oysters between tide-marks in the inner bay, and that some of these oysters had contained 
pearls. 
It is known that Dr. Kelaart nearly fifty years ago either found or introduced (probably both) 
pearl oysters at Trincomalee, and that he had them under observation at some half dozen localities, 
of which several were inside the inner bay or harbour and two or three outside. At Trincomalee we 
saw Mr. Colomb and made inquiries from all those we could hear of as having any knowledge or 
records of the occurrence of pearl oysters. Then we spent four days in dredging and otherwise 
examining the various bays and creeks in the harbour from the ship's boats and native canoes. We 
found plenty of pearl oysters at low tide mark or in shallow water near York Island, but although 
we took six successful hauls of the dredge outside the harbour, ofE the Sami Rock, in exactly the 
locality and at the depths mentioned by Mr. Colomb (who was with us in the boat) and by the native 
fishermen, we were unable to obtain any oysters, and did not even find any dead valves or fragments. 
In fact the bottom in that locality did not seem to us at all suitable for oysters. 
It is evident, however, that the pearl oyster does occur at Trincomalee, and can live and grow 
in shallow water in the inner harbour. It is also plain from our observations that there is nothing in 
the physical characters of the sea water at Trincomalee sufficiently different from that of the Gulf of 
Mannar to lead one to believe that the oysters would not grow large and produce pearls here just as 
they do on the west coast. And, finally, from the specimens we were shown there is no doubt that 
the oysters of Trincomalee harbour do, at least occasionally, produce good pearls. It is perhaps well 
to state that in all the above remarks we refer to the true pearl oyster iAvicula fucata, Gould = 
Margaritifera vulgaris, Schumacher), such as is found on the " Paars " in the Gulf of Mannar, and 
not to the " window " oyster {Placuna placenta), which was formerly fished in Tamblegam lake to the 
south of Trincomalee. We spent a day investigating that land-locked bay from the ship's boat, and 
are inclined to think that the industry might be revived, and that pearl oysters might also be 
introduced into Tamblegam with advantage. 
In regard to the genei'al suitability of Trincomalee harbour for pearl oyster cultivation on a 
large scale, and as the site of a Marine Biological Laboratory, our opinion is on the whole unfavourable. 
Trincomalee possesses certain obvious advantages for continuous biological work, such as shelter from 
both monsoons, and a great range in depth within a limited area, all parts of which are easily 
accessible. But a very large proportion of the bottom of the various creeks is occupied by soft mud, 
and we are inclined to think from the evidence before us that at certain seasons a good deal of fresh 
water enters the harbour from the land and washes so much fine clay into the sea as to render most 
parts of the area unsuitable for the necessary work. However, it must be remembered that we have 
as yet only investigated the locality at one time of year, and that we shall have fuller information as 
to these and other points at other seasons before drawing up the final report. 
After leaving Trincomalee we went to the south end of the Island to examine Beligam Bay and 
Galle from both points of view — pearl oyster cultivation and fish-trawling. 
Beligam was found to be quite unsuitable for laying down pearl oysters. It is entirely open' 
and exposed to the south-west monsoon, and the bottom is sand, with, so far as our observations went, 
no hard ground suitable for the attachment of oysters. 
Galle, on the other hand, seemed to us, after careful investigation lasting over five days, to be 
without doubt the most suitable point on the coast of Ceylon for the establishment of a Marine 
Laboratory and the px-osecution ,of observations and experiments on living oysters. Galle has a 
fringing coral reef round its western shore inside which is in places a shallow lagoon with a hard 
bottom, formed partly of living animals and partly of dead coial fragments, making a deposit very like 
that on some of the "Paars" at Mannar. At the opposite or south-eastern part of the bay, inside 
Watering Point, there is also some hard ground formed in part of coral, and at this spot we actually 
found the pearl oyster living. 
Later on the practicability and the possible advantages of working a Marine Laboratory 
at Mount Lavinia, at Colombo (Galle Face), Mutwal, Mannar, Arippu, and other places on the north- 
western coast were carefully considered, but our opinion is that Galle has natural advantages which 
render it the best site ou the coast of Ceylon. 
We also took some hauls of the trawl round the southern end of the Island, and found good 
fish-trawling ground between Callehogalle bank and Watering Point, where at a depth of 20 to 30 
fathoms we obtained in one haul of the net over 1,500 fish, many of them small, but mostly edible. 
This first cruise concluded with a few days' work up the south-western coast from Galle to 
Colombo, which showed us, ofE Panadure, some hard ground made up largely of nullipores, which 
might possibly be worth planting with young pearl oysters from the Gulf of Mannar. 
On returning to Colombo for the purpose of joining Captain Donnan in his inspection of the 
pearl oyster banks, I saw for the first time the native barque " Rangasameeporawee " and the steam 
launch " Serendib," and on examining them critically it was obvious, both to mysell and to the ship's 
officers who were with me, that neither vessel would be able, without considerable changes, which 
could not be efEected in time, to carry on the work which I still had to do. On pointing this out to 
Captain Donnan he agreed with me, and when we waited upon the Lieutenant-Governor and 
represented the matter to him, he promptly authorized us to arrange for the engagement of the 
" Lady Havelock " for a further period of three or four weeks, as might be necessary, from 24th 
February. Thus it resulted that the "Lady Havelock" accompanied the two native barques 
" Rangasameeporawee " and " Sultan Secandra " and the ss. Serendib " to the Gulf of Mannar, 
where, in addition to carrying on my special work, she was on occasions of service in towing Captain 
Dounan's barque and so saving some valuable time. The second cruise of the "Lady Havelock 
lasted from 24th February to 2l)th March, inclusive, three weeks and four days. During the greater 
part of that time our steamer kept near to Captain Donnan's barque, and we accompanied him in his 
inspection of the banks. Not only had we thus the full advantage of the various vessels and their 
crews by means of which to obtain information, but Mr. Hornell and I were also able to talk over 
