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It is a Roman Catholic centre, and most of the people are of that faith. Again taking the steam packet, we proceed southward by Aripo, the famous pearl-fishing grounds of the Gulf of Manaar, about one hundred and fifty miles from the capital.
At Manaar the elephants are usually detained till any wound on the leg caused by the rope has been healed, when the shipment is effected in the most primitive manner.
The reason of not using this passage on the outward voyage is, that the prevailing winds between Ceylon and Manaar frequently occasion that channel to have so little water that it cannot be navigated. From Cape Comorin to the island of Ceylon, the distance is 120 miles. The deep channel is between Ramiseram and the point of Tanitory on the Coromandel coast. Of the Island of Ceylon
To me, neither of these suppositions appeared worthy of acceptance; for, in the frequent disruptions of Adam's Bridge, there was ample evidence that the currents in the Gulf of Manaar had been changed at former times without destroying the pearl beds: and moreover the oysters had disappeared on many former occasions, without any imputation of improper management on the part of the conservators; and returned after much longer intervals of absence than that which fell under my own notice, and which was then creating serious apprehension in the colony.
A faintly blue medusa, nearly a foot across, may be seen in the Gulf of Manaar, where, no doubt, others of still larger growth are to be found. Occasionally after storms, the beach at Colombo is strewn with the thin transparent globes of the "Portuguese Man of War," Physalus urticulus, which are piled upon the lines left by the waves, like globules of glass delicately tinted with purple and blue.
Acalephæ are plentiful, so much so, indeed, that they occasionally tempt the larger cetacea into the Gulf of Manaar. In the calmer months of the year, when the sea is glassy, and for hours together undisturbed by a ripple, the minute descriptions are rendered perceptible by their beautiful prismatic tinting.
Of the Pearl Fishery in the Gulf of Manaar. The men along the coast which extends from Cape Comorin to the low land of Chioal , and the island of Zeilan or Ceylon, is called the pearl-fishery. This fishery is made every year, beginning in March or April, and lasts fifty days.
Hearing of the degradation and misery of the pearl fishers of Manaar, he set out to visit them, and his bell again rang out the invitation of mercy. He baptized and he taught, but the latter he could only do through interpreters. His most eloquent teaching was his ministration to the wants and the sufferings of the wretched.
Strange to say, though the Gulf of Manaar abounds with these hideous creatures, not more than one well authenticated accident is known to have occurred from this source during any pearl fishery since the British have had possession of Ceylon.
There are no hyenas, tigers, wolves, or foxes here, though there are plenty of these creatures just across the Strait of Manaar. As an argument this is not of so much importance, however, as might at first appear, since there are so many well-known instances of a like character.
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