Chapter XVI: Appendix (1)

CONTAINING A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE REEFS AND ISLANDS IN PLATE III.

In the beginning of the last chapter I stated the principles on which the map is coloured. There only remains to be said, that it is an exact copy of one by M. C. Gressier, published by the Dépôt général de la Marine, in 1835. The names have been altered into English, and the longitude has been reduced to that of Greenwich. The colours were first laid down on accurate charts, on a large scale. The data, on which the volcanoes historically known to have been in action, have been marked with vermillion, were given in a note to the last chapter. I will commence my description on the eastern side of the map, and will describe each group of islands consecutively, proceeding westward across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but ending with the West Indies.

The WESTERN SHORES OF AMERICA appear to be entirely without coral-reefs; south of the equator the survey of the “Beagle”, and north of it, the published charts show that this is the case. Even in the Bay of _Panama_, where corals flourish, there are no true coral-reefs, as I have been informed by Mr. Lloyd. There are no coral-reefs in the _Galapagos_ Archipelago, as I know from personal inspection; and I believe there are none on the _Cocos, Revilla-gigedo_, and other neighbouring islands. _Clipperton_ rock, 10° N., 109° W., has lately been surveyed by Captain Belcher; in form it is like the crater of a volcano. From a drawing appended to the MS. plan in the Admiralty, it evidently is not an atoll. The eastern parts of the Pacific present an enormous area, without any islands, except _Easter_, and _Sala_, and _Gomez_ Islands, which do not appear to be surrounded by reefs.

The LOW ARCHIPELAGO.—This group consists of about eighty atolls: it will be quite superfluous to refer to descriptions of each. In D’Urville and Lottin’s chart, one island (_Wolchonsky_) is written with a capital letter, signifying, as explained in a former chapter, that it is a high island; but this must be a mistake, as the original chart by Bellinghausen shows that it is a true atoll. Captain Beechey says of the thirty-two groups which he examined (of the greater number of which I have seen beautiful MS. charts in the Admiralty), that twenty-nine now contain lagoons, and he believes the other three originally did. Bellinghausen (see an account of his Russian voyage, in the “Biblioth. des Voyages,” 1834, page 443) says, that the seventeen islands which he discovered resembled each other in structure, and he has given charts on a large scale of all of them. Kotzebue has given plans of several; Cook and Bligh mention others; a few were seen during the voyage of the “Beagle”; and notices of other atolls are scattered through several publications. The _Actæon_ group in this archipelago has lately been discovered (“Geographical Journal”, volume vii., page 454); it consists of three small and low islets, one of which has a lagoon. Another lagoon-island has been discovered (“Naut. Mag.” 1839, page 770), in 22° 4′ S., and 136° 20′ W. Towards the S.E. part of the group, there are some islands of different formation: _Elizabeth_ Island is described by Beechey (page 46, 4to edition) as fringed by reefs, at the distance of between two and three hundred yards; coloured red. _Pitcairn_ Island, in the immediate neighbourhood, according to the same authority, has no reefs of any kind, although numerous pieces of coral are thrown up on the beach; the sea close to its shore is very deep (see “Zool. of Beechey’s Voyage,” page 164); it is left uncoloured. _Gambier_ Islands (see Plate I., Figure 8), are encircled by a barrier-reef; the greatest depth within is thirty-eight fathoms; coloured pale blue. _Aurora_ Island, which lies N.E. of Tahiti close to the large space coloured dark blue in the map, has been already described in a note (page 71), on the authority of Mr. Couthouy; it is an upraised atoll, but as it does not appear to be fringed by living reefs, it is left uncoloured.

The SOCIETY Archipelago is separated by a narrow space from the Low Archipelago; and in their parallel direction they manifest some relation to each other. I have already described the general character of the reefs of these fine encircled islands. In the “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage” there is a good general chart of the group, and separate plans of some of the islands. _Tahiti_, the largest island in the group, is almost surrounded, as seen in Cook’s chart, by a reef from half a mile to a mile and a half from the shore, with from ten to thirty fathoms within it. Some considerable submerged reefs lying parallel to the shore, with a broad and deep space within, have lately been discovered (“Naut. Mag.” 1836, page 264) on the N.E. coast of the island, where none are laid down by Cook. At _Eimeo_ the reef “which like a ring surrounds it, is in some places one or two miles distant from the shore, in others united to the beach” (Ellis, “Polynesian Researches,” volume i., page 18, 12mo edition). Cook found deep water (twenty fathoms) in some of the harbours within the reef. Mr. Couthouy, however, states (“Remarks,” page 45) that both at Tahiti and Eimeo, the space between the barrier-reef and the shore, has been almost filled up,—“a nearly continuous fringing-reef surrounding the island, and varying from a few yards to rather more than a mile in width, the lagoons merely forming canals between this and the sea-reef,” that is the barrier-reef. _Tapamanoa_ is surrounded by a reef at a considerable distance from the shore; from the island being small it is breached, as I am informed by the Rev. W. Ellis, only by a narrow and crooked boat channel. This is the lowest island in the group, its height probably not exceeding 500 feet. A little way north of Tahiti, the low coral-islets of _Teturoa_ are situated; from the description of them given me by the Rev. J. Williams (the author of the “Narrative of Missionary Enterprise”), I should have thought they had formed a small atoll, and likewise from the description given by the Rev. D. Tyerman and G. Bennett (“Journal of Voyage and Travels,” volume i., page 183), who say that ten low coral-islets “are comprehended within one general reef, and separated from each other by interjacent lagoons;” but as Mr. Stutchbury (“West of England Journal,” volume i., page 54) describes it as consisting of a mere narrow ridge, I have left it uncoloured. _Maitea_, eastward of the group, is classed by Forster as a high encircled island; but from the account given by the Rev. D. Tyerman and G. Bennett (volume i., page 57) it appears to be an exceedingly abrupt cone, rising from the sea without any reef; I have left it uncoloured. It would be superfluous to describe the northern islands in this group, as they may be well seen in the chart accompanying the 4to edition of Cook’s “Voyages,” and in the “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage.” _Maurua_ is the only one of the northern islands, in which the water within the reef is not deep, being only four and a half fathoms; but the great width of the reef, stretching three miles and a half southward of the land (which is represented in the drawing in the “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage” as descending abruptly to the water) shows, on the principle explained in the beginning of the last chapter, that it belongs to the barrier class. I may here mention, from information communicated to me by the Rev. W. Ellis, that on the N.E. side of _Huaheine_ there is a bank of sand, about a quarter of a mile wide, extending parallel to the shore, and separated from it by an extensive and deep lagoon; this bank of sand rests on coral-rock, and undoubtedly was originally a living reef. North of Bolabola lies the atoll of _Toubai_ (Motou-iti of the “‘Coquille’s’ Atlas”) which is coloured dark blue; the other islands, surrounded by barrier-reefs, are pale blue; three of them are represented in Figures 3, 4, and 5, in Plate I. There are three low coral-groups lying a little E. of the Society Archipelago, and almost forming part of it, namely _Bellinghausen_, which is said by Kotzebue (“Second Voyage,” volume ii., page 255), to be a lagoon-island; _Mopeha_, which, from Cook’s description (“Second Voyage,” book iii., chapter i.), no doubt is an atoll; and the _Scilly_ Islands, which are said by Wallis (“Voyage,” chapter ix.) to form a _group_ of _low_ islets and shoals, and, therefore, probably, they compose an atoll: the two former have been coloured blue, but not the latter.

MENDANA or MARQUESAS Group.—These islands are entirely without reefs, as may be seen in Krusenstern’s Atlas, making a remarkable contrast with the adjacent group of the Society Islands. Mr. F.D. Bennett has given some account of this group, in the seventh volume of the “Geographical Journal”. He informs me that all the islands have the same general character, and that the water is very deep close to their shores. He visited three of them, namely, _Dominicana_, _Christiana_, and _Roapoa;_ their beaches are strewed with rounded masses of coral, and although no regular reefs exist, yet the shore is in many places lined by coral-rock, so that a boat grounds on this formation. Hence these islands ought probably to come within the class of fringed islands and be coloured red; but as I am determined to err on the cautious side, I have left them uncoloured.

COOK or HARVEY and AUSTRAL ISLAND.—_Palmerston_ Island is minutely described as an atoll by Captain Cook during his voyage in 1774; coloured blue. _Aitutaki_ was partially surveyed by the “Beagle” (see map accompanying “Voyages of ‘Adventure’ and ‘Beagle’”); the land is hilly, sloping gently to the beach; the highest point is 360 feet; on the southern side the reef projects five miles from the land: off this point the “Beagle” found no bottom with 270 fathoms: the reef is surmounted by many low coral-islets. Although within the reef the water is exceedingly shallow, not being more than a few feet deep, as I am informed by the Rev. J. Williams, nevertheless, from the great extension of this reef into a profoundly deep ocean, this island probably belongs, on the principle lately adverted to, to the barrier class, and I have coloured it pale blue; although with much hesitation.—_Manouai_ or _Harvey_ Island. The highest point is about fifty feet: the Rev. J. Williams informs me that the reef here, although it lies far from the shore, is less distant than at Aitutaki, but the water within the reef is rather deeper: I have also coloured this pale blue with many doubts.—Round _Mitiaro_ Island, as I am informed by Mr. Williams, the reef is attached to the shore; coloured red. —_Mauki_ or Maouti; the reef round this island (under the name of Parry Island, in the “Voyage of H.M.S. ‘Blonde’,” page 209) is described as a coral-flat, only fifty yards wide, and two feet under water. This statement has been corroborated by Mr. Williams, who calls the reef attached; coloured red.—_Aitu_, or Wateeo; a moderately elevated hilly island, like the others of this group. The reef is described in Cook’s “Voyage,” as attached to the shore, and about one hundred yards wide; coloured red.—_Fenoua-iti;_ Cook describes this island as very low, not more than six or seven feet high (volume i., book ii., chapter iii, 1777); in the chart published in the “‘Coquille’s’ Atlas,” a reef is engraved close to the shore: this island is not mentioned in the list given by Mr. Williams (page 16) in the “Narrative of Missionary Enterprise;” nature doubtful. As it is so near Atiu, it has been unavoidably coloured red.— _Rarotonga;_ Mr. Williams informs me that it is a lofty basaltic island with an attached reef; coloured red.—There are three islands, _Rourouti_, _Roxburgh_, and _Hull_, of which I have not been able to obtain any account, and have left them uncoloured. Hull Island, in the French chart, is written with small letters as being low.—_Mangaia;_ height about three hundred feet; “the surrounding reef joins the shore” (Williams, “Narrative,” page 18); coloured red.—_Rimetara;_ Mr. Williams informs me that the reef is rather close to the shore; but, from information given me by Mr. Ellis, the reef does not appear to be quite so closely attached to it as in the foregoing cases: the island is about three hundred feet high (“Naut. Mag.” 1839, page 738); coloured red.—_Rurutu;_ Mr. Williams and Mr. Ellis inform me that this island has an attached reef; coloured red. It is described by Cook under the name of Oheteroa: he says it is not surrounded, like the neighbouring islands by a reef; he must have meant a distant reef.—_Toubouai;_ in Cook’s chart (“Second Voyage,” volume ii., page 2) the reef is laid down in part one mile, and in part two miles from the shore. Mr. Ellis (“Polynes. Res.” volume iii., page 381) says the low land round the base of the island is very extensive; and this gentleman informs me that the water within the reef appears deep; coloured blue.—_Raivaivai_, or Vivitao; Mr. Williams informs me that the reef is here distant: Mr. Ellis, however, says that this is certainly not the case on one side of the island; and he believes that the water within the reef is not deep; hence I have left it uncoloured.—_Lancaster_ Reef, described in “Naut. Mag.” 1833 (page 693), as an extensive crescent-formed coral-reef. I have not coloured it.—_Rapa_, or Oparree; from the accounts given of it by Ellis and Vancouver, there does not appear to be any reef.—_I. de Bass_ is an adjoining island, of which I cannot find any account.—_Kemin_ Island; Krusenstern seems hardly to know its position, and gives no further particulars.

ISLANDS BETWEEN _the Low and Gilbert Archipelagoes_.

_Caroline_ Island (10° S., 150° W.) is described by Mr. F.D. Bennett (“Geographical Journal”, volume vii., page 225) as containing a fine lagoon; coloured blue.—_Flint_ Island (11° S., 151° W.); Krusenstern believes that it is the same with _Peregrino_, which is described by Quiros (Burney’s “Chron. Hist.” volume ii., page 283) as “a cluster of small islands connected by a reef, and forming a lagoon in the middle;” coloured blue.—_Wostock_ is an island a little more than half a mile in diameter, and apparently quite flat and low, and was discovered by Bellinghausen; it is situated a little west of Caroline Island, but it is not placed on the French charts; I have not coloured it, although I entertain little doubt from the chart of Bellinghausen, that it originally contained a small lagoon.—_Penrhyn_ Island (9° S., 158° W.); a plan of it in the “Atlas of the First Voyage” of Kotzebue, shows that it is an atoll; blue.— _Starbuck_ Island (5° S., 156° W.) is described in Byron’s “Voyage in the ‘Blonde’” (page 206) as formed of a flat coral-rock, with no trees; the height not given; not coloured.—_Malden_ Island (4° S., 154° W.); in the same voyage (page 205) this island is said to be of coral formation, and no part above forty feet high; I have not ventured to colour it, although, from being of coral-formation, it is probably fringed; in which case it should be red.—_Jarvis_, or _Bunker_ Island (0° 20′ S., 160° W.) is described by Mr. F.D. Bennett (“Geographical Journal”, volume vii., page 227) as a narrow, low strip of coral-formation; not coloured.—_Brook_, is a small low island between the two latter; the position, and perhaps even the existence of it is doubtful; not coloured.—_Pescado_ and _Humphrey_ Islands; I can find out nothing about these islands, except that the latter appears to be small and low; not coloured.—_Rearson_, or Grand Duke Alexander’s (10 S., 161° W.); an atoll, of which a plan is given by Bellinghausen; blue.— _Souvoroff_ Islands (13° S., 163° W.); Admiral Krusenstern, in the most obliging manner, obtained for me an account of these islands from Admiral Lazareff, who discovered them. They consist of five very low islands of coral-formation, two of which are connected by a reef, with deep water close to it. They do not surround a lagoon, but are so placed that a line drawn through them includes an oval space, part of which is shallow; these islets, therefore, probably once (as is the case with some of the islands in the Caroline Archipelago) formed a single atoll; but I have not coloured them.—_Danger_ Island (10° S., 166° W.); described as low by Commodore Byron, and more lately surveyed by Bellinghausen; it is a small atoll with three islets on it; blue.—_Clarence_ Island (9° S., 172° W.); discovered in the “Pandora” (G. Hamilton’s “Voyage,” page 75): it is said, “in running along the land, we saw several canoes crossing the _lagoons;_” as this island is in the close vicinity of other low islands, and as it is said, that the natives make reservoirs of water in old cocoa-nut trees (which shows the nature of the land), I have no doubt it is an atoll, and have coloured it blue. _York_ Island (8° S., 172° W.) is described by Commodore Byron (chapter x. of his “Voyage”) as an atoll; blue.—_Sydney_ Island (4° S., 172° W.) is about three miles in diameter, with its interior occupied by a lagoon (Captain Tromelin, “Annal. Marit.” 1829, page 297); blue.—_Phœnix_ Island (4° S., 171° W.) is nearly circular, low, sandy, not more than two miles in diameter, and very steep outside (Tromelin, “Annal. Marit.” 1829, page 297); it may be inferred that this island originally contained a lagoon, but I have not coloured it.—_New Nantucket_ (0° 15′ N., 174° W.). From the French chart it must be a low island; I can find nothing more about it or about _Mary_ Island; both uncoloured.—_Gardner_ Island (5° S., 174° W.) from its position is certainly the same as _Kemin_ Island described (Krusenstern, page 435, Appen. to Mem., published 1827) as having a lagoon in its centre; blue.

ISLANDS SOUTH _of the Sandwich Archipelago_.

_Christmas_ Island (2° N., 157° W.). Captain Cook, in his “Third Voyage” (Volume ii., chapter x.), has given a detailed account of this atoll. The breadth of the islets on the reef is unusually great, and the sea near it does not deepen so suddenly as is generally the case. It has more lately been visited by Mr. F.D. Bennett (“Geographical Journal,” volume vii., page 226); and he assures me that it is low and of coral-formation: I particularly mention this, because it is engraved with a capital letter, signifying a high island, in D’Urville and Lottin’s chart. Mr. Couthouy, also, has given some account of it (“Remarks,” page 46) from the Hawaiian “Spectator”; he believes it has lately undergone a small elevation, but his evidence does not appear to me satisfactory; the deepest part of the lagoon is said to be only ten feet; nevertheless, I have coloured it blue.—_Fanning_ Island (4° N., 158° W.) according to Captain Tromelin (“Ann. Maritim.” 1829, page 283), is an atoll: his account as observed by Krusenstern, differs from that given in Fanning’s “Voyage” (page 224), which, however, is far from clear; coloured blue.— _Washington_ Island (4° N., 159° W.) is engraved as a low island in D’Urville’s chart, but is described by Fanning (page 226) as having a much greater elevation than Fanning Island, and hence I presume it is not an atoll; not coloured.—_Palmyra_ Island (6° N., 162° W.) is an atoll divided into two parts (Krusenstern’s “Mem. Suppl.” page 50, also Fanning’s “Voyage,” page 233); blue.—_Smyth’s_ or Johnston’s Islands (17° N., 170° W.). Captain Smyth, R.N., has had the kindness to inform me that they consist of two very low, small islands, with a dangerous reef off the east end of them. Captain Smyth does not recollect whether these islets, together with the reef, surrounded a lagoon; uncoloured.

SANDWICH ARCHIPELAGO.—_Hawaii;_ in the chart in Freycinet’s “Atlas,” small portions of the coast are fringed by reefs; and in the accompanying “Hydrog. Memoir,” reefs are mentioned in several places, and the coral is said to injure the cables. On one side of the islet of Kohaihai there is a bank of sand and coral with five feet water on it, running parallel to the shore, and leaving a channel of about fifteen feet deep within. I have coloured this island red, but it is very much less perfectly fringed than others of the group.—_Maui;_ in Freycinet’s chart of the anchorage of Raheina, two or three miles of coast are seen to be fringed; and in the “Hydrog. Memoir,” “banks of coral along shore” are spoken of. Mr. F.D. Bennett informs me that the reefs, on an average, extend about a quarter of a mile from the beach; the land is not very steep, and outside the reefs the sea does not become deep very suddenly; coloured red.—_Morotoi_, I presume, is fringed: Freycinet speaks of the breakers extending along the shore at a little distance from it. From the chart, I believe it is fringed; coloured red.—_Oahu;_ Freycinet, in his “Hydrog. Memoir,” mentions some of the reefs. Mr. F.D. Bennett informs me that the shore is skirted for forty or fifty miles in length. There is even a harbour for ships formed by the reefs, but it is at the mouth of a valley; red.—_Atooi_, in La Peyrouse’s charts, is represented as fringed by a reef, in the same manner as Oahu and Morotoi; and this, as I have been informed by Mr. Ellis, on part at least of the shore, is of coral-formation: the reef does not leave a deep channel within; red.—_Oneehow;_ Mr. Ellis believes that this island is also fringed by a coral-reef: considering its close proximity to the other islands, I have ventured to colour it red. I have in vain consulted the works of Cook, Vancouver, La Peyrouse, and Lisiansky, for any satisfactory account of the small islands and reefs, which lie scattered in a N.W. line prolonged from the Sandwich group, and hence have left them uncoloured, with one exception; for I am indebted to Mr. F.D. Bennett for informing me of an atoll-formed reef, in latitude 28° 22′, longitude 178° 30′ W., on which the “Gledstanes” was wrecked in 1837. It is apparently of large size, and extends in a N.W. and S.E. line: very few islets have been formed on it. The lagoon seems to be shallow; at least, the deepest part which was surveyed was only three fathoms. Mr. Couthouy (“Remarks,” page 38) describes this island under the name of _Ocean_ island. Considerable doubts should be entertained regarding the nature of a reef of this kind, with a very shallow lagoon, and standing far from any other atoll, on account of the possibility of a crater or flat bank of rock lying at the proper depth beneath the surface of the water, thus affording a foundation for a ring-formed coral-reef. I have, however, thought myself compelled, from its large size and symmetrical outline, to colour it blue.

SAMOA or NAVIGATOR GROUP.—Kotzebue, in his “Second Voyage,” contrasts the structure of these islands with many others in the Pacific, in not being furnished with harbours for ships, formed by distant coral-reefs. The Rev. J. Williams, however, informs me, that coral-reefs do occur in irregular patches on the shores of these islands; but that they do not form a continuous band, as round Mangaia, and other such perfect cases of fringed islands. From the charts accompanying La Peyrouse’s “Voyage,” it appears that the north shore of _Savaii_, _Maouna_, _Orosenga_, and _Mannua_, are fringed by reefs. La Peyrouse, speaking of Maouna (page 126), says that the coral-reef surrounding its shores, almost touches the beach; and is breached in front of the little coves and streams, forming passages for canoes, and probably even for boats. Further on (page 159), he extends the same observation to all the islands which he visited. Mr. Williams in his “Narrative,” speaks of a reef going round a small island attached to _Oyolava_, and returning again to it: all these islands have been coloured red.—A chart of _Rose_ Island, at the extreme west end of the group, is given by Freycinet, from which I should have thought that it had been an atoll; but according to Mr. Couthouy (“Remarks,” page 43), it consists of a reef, only a league in circuit, surmounted by a very few low islets; the lagoon is very shallow, and is strewed with numerous large boulders of volcanic rock. This island, therefore, probably consists of a bank of rock, a few feet submerged, with the outer margin of its upper surface fringed with reefs; hence it cannot be properly classed with atolls, in which the foundations are always supposed to lie at a depth, greater than that at which the reef-constructing polypifers can live; not coloured.

_Beveridge Reef_, 20° S., 167° W., is described in the “Naut. Mag.” (May 1833, page 442) as ten miles long in a N. and S. line, and eight wide; “in the inside of the reef there appears deep water;” there is a passage near the S.W. corner: this therefore seems to be a submerged atoll, and is coloured blue.

_Savage_ Island, 19° S., 170° W., has been described by Cook and Forster. The younger Forster (volume ii., page 163) says it is about forty feet high: he suspects that it contains a low plain, which formerly was the lagoon. The Rev. J. Williams informs me that the reef fringing its shores, resembles that round Mangaia; coloured red.

FRIENDLY ARCHIPELAGO. _Pylstaart_ Island. Judging from the chart in Freycinet’s “Atlas,” I should have supposed that it had been regularly fringed; but as nothing is said in the “Hydrog. Memoir” (or in the “Voyage” of Tasman, the discoverer) about coral-reefs, I have left it uncoloured.—_Tongatabou:_ In the “Atlas of the Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe’,” the whole south side of the island is represented as narrowly fringed by the same reef which forms an extensive platform on the northern side. The origin of this latter reef, which might have been mistaken for a barrier-reef, has already been attempted to be explained, when giving the proofs of the recent elevation of this island.— In Cook’s charts the little outlying island also of _Eoaigee_, is represented as fringed; coloured red.—_Eoua_. I cannot make out from Captain Cook’s charts and descriptions, that this island has any reef, although the bottom of the neighbouring sea seems to be corally, and the island itself is formed of coral-rock. Forster, however, distinctly (“Observations,” page 14) classes it with high islands having reefs, but it certainly is not encircled by a barrier-reef and the younger Forster (“Voyage,” volume i., page 426) says, that “a bed of coral-rocks surrounded the coast towards the landing-place.” I have therefore classed it with the fringed islands and coloured it red. The several islands lying N.W. of Tongatabou, namely _Anamouka_, _Komango_, _Kotou_, _Lefouga_, _Foa_, &c., are seen in Captain Cook’s chart to be fringed by reefs, in several of them are connected together. From the various statements in the first volume of Cook’s “Third Voyage,” and especially in the fourth and sixth chapters, it appears that these reefs are of coral-formation, and certainly do not belong to the barrier class; coloured red.—_Toufoua_ & _Kao_, forming the western part of the group, according to Forster have no reefs; the former is an active volcano.—_Vavao_. There is a chart of this singularly formed island, by Espinoza: according to Mr. Williams it consists of coral-rock: the Chevalier Dillon informs me that it is not fringed; not coloured. Nor are the islands of _Latte_ and _Amargura_, for I have not seen plans on a large scale of them, and do not know whether they are fringed.

_Niouha_, 16° S., 174° W., or _Keppel_ Island of Wallis, or _Cocos_ Island. From a view and chart of this island given in Wallis’s “Voyage” (4to edition) it is evidently encircled by a reef; coloured blue: it is however remarkable that _Boscawen_ Island, immediately adjoining, has no reef of any kind; uncoloured.

_Wallis Island_, 13° S., 176° W., a chart and view of this island in Wallis’s “Voyage” (4to edition) shows that it is encircled. A view of it in the “Naut. Mag.” July 1833, page 376, shows the same fact; blue.

_Alloufatou_, or _Horn_ Island, _Onouafu_, or _Proby_ Island, and _Hunter_ Islands, lie between the Navigator and Fidji groups. I can find no distinct accounts of them.

FIDJI or VITI GROUP.—The best chart of the numerous islands of this group, will be found in the “Atlas of the ‘Astrolabe’s’ Voyage.” From this, and from the description given in the “Hydrog. Memoir,” accompanying it, it appears that many of these islands are bold and mountainous, rising to the height of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. Most of the islands are surrounded by reefs, lying far from the land, and outside of which the ocean appears very deep. The “Astrolabe” sounded with ninety fathoms in several places about a mile from the reefs, and found no bottom. Although the depth within the reef is not laid down, it is evident from several expressions, that Captain D’Urville believes that ships could anchor within, if passages existed through the outer barriers. The Chevallier Dillon informs me that this is the case: hence I have coloured this group blue. In the S.E. part lies _Batoa_, or _Turtle_ Island of Cook (“Second Voyage,” volume ii., page 23, and chart, 4to edition) surrounded by a coral-reef, “which in some places extends two miles from the shore;” within the reef the water appears to be deep, and outside it is unfathomable; coloured pale blue. At the distance of a few miles, Captain Cook (Ibid., page 24) found a circular coral-reef, four or five leagues in circuit, with deep water within; “in short, the bank wants only a few little islets to make it exactly like one of the half-drowned isles so often mentioned,”—namely, atolls. South of Batoa, lies the high island of _Ono_, which appears in Bellinghausen’s “Atlas” to be encircled; as do some other small islands to the south; coloured pale blue; near Ono, there is an annular reef, quite similar to the one just described in the words of Captain Cook; coloured dark blue.

_Rotoumah_, 13° S., 179° E.—From the chart in Duperrey’s “Atlas,” I thought this island was encircled, and had coloured it blue, but the Chevallier Dillon assures me that the reef is only a shore or fringing one; red.

_Independence_ Island, 10° S., 179° E., is described by Mr. G. Bennett, (“United Service Journal,” 1831, part ii., page 197) as a low island of coral-formation, it is small, and does not appear to contain a lagoon, although an opening through the reef is referred to. A lagoon probably once existed, and has since been filled up; left uncoloured.

ELLICE GROUP.—_Oscar_, _Peyster_, and _Ellice_ Islands are figured in Arrowsmith’s “Chart of the Pacific” (corrected to 1832) as atolls, and are said to be very low; blue.—_Nederlandisch_ Island. I am greatly indebted to the kindness of Admiral Krusenstern, for sending me the original documents concerning this island. From the plans given by Captains Eeg and Khremtshenko, and from the detailed account given by the former, it appears that it is a narrow coral-island, about two miles long, containing a small lagoon. The sea is very deep close to the shore, which is fronted by sharp coral-rocks. Captain Eeg compares the lagoon with that of other coral-islands; and he distinctly says, the land is “very low.” I have therefore coloured it blue. Admiral Krusenstern (“Memoir on the Pacific,” Append., 1835) states that its shores are eighty feet high; this probably arose from the height of the cocoa-nut trees, with which it is covered, being mistaken for land. —_Gran Cocal_ is said in Krusenstern’s “Memoir,” to be low, and to be surrounded by a reef; it is small, and therefore probably once contained a lagoon; uncoloured.—_St. Augustin_. From a chart and view of it, given in the “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage,” it appears to be a small atoll, with its lagoon partly filled up; coloured blue.

GILBERT GROUP.—The chart of this group, given in the “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage,” at once shows that it is composed of ten well characterised atolls. In D’Urville and Lottin’s chart, _Sydenham_ is written with a capital letter, signifying that it is high; but this certainly is not the case, for it is a perfectly characterised atoll, and a sketch, showing how low it is, is given in the “‘Coquille’s’ Atlas.” Some narrow strip-like reefs project from the southern side of _Drummond_ atoll, and render it irregular. The southern island of the group is called _Chase_ (in some charts, _Rotches_); of this I can find no account, but Mr. F.D. Bennett discovered (“Geographical Journal”, volume vii., page 229), a low extensive island in nearly the same latitude, about three degrees westward of the longitude assigned to Rotches, but very probably it is the same island. Mr. Bennett informs me that the man at the masthead reported an appearance of lagoon-water in the centre; and, therefore, considering its position, I have coloured it blue. —_Pitt_ Island, at the extreme northern point of the group, is left uncoloured, as its exact position and nature is not known.—_Byron_ Island, which lies a little to the eastward, does not appear to have been visited since Commodore Byron’s voyage, and it was then seen only from a distance of eighteen miles; it is said to be low; uncoloured.

_Ocean_, _Pleasant_, and _Atlantic_ Islands all lie considerably to the west of the Gilbert group: I have been unable to find any distinct account of them. Ocean Island is written with small letters in the French chart, but in Krusenstern’s “Memoir” it is said to be high.

MARSHALL GROUP.—We are well acquainted with this group from the excellent charts of the separate islands, made during the two voyages of Kotzebue: a reduced one of the whole group may be easily seen in Krusenstern’s “Atlas,” and in Kotzebue’s “Second Voyage.” The group consists (with the exception of two _little_ islands which probably have had their lagoon filled up) of a double row of twenty-three large and well-characterised atolls, from the examination of which Chamisso has given us his well-known account of coral-formations. I include _Gaspar-Rico_, or _Cornwallis_ Island in this group, which is described by Chamisso (Kotzebue’s “First Voyage,” volume iii., page 179) “as a low sickle-formed group, with mould only on the windward side.” Gaspard Island is considered by some geographers as a distinct island lying N.E. of the group, but it is not entered in the chart by Krusenstern; left uncoloured. In the S.W. part of this group lies _Baring_ Island, of which little is known (see Krusenstern’s “Appendix,” 1835, page 149). I have left it uncoloured; but _Boston_ Island I have coloured blue, as it is described (Ibid.) as consisting of fourteen small islands, which, no doubt, enclose a lagoon, as represented in a chart in the “‘Coquille’s’ Atlas.”—Two islands, _Aur Kawen_ and _Gaspar Rico_, are written in the French chart with capital letters; but this is an error, for from the account given by Chamisso in Kotzebue’s “First Voyage,” they are certainly low. The nature, position, and even existence, of the shoals and small islands north of the Marshall group, are doubtful.

NEW HEBRIDES.—Any chart, on even a small scale, of these islands, will show that their shores are almost without reefs, presenting a remarkable contrast with those of New Caledonia on the one hand, and the Fidji group on the other. Nevertheless, I have been assured by Mr. G. Bennett, that coral grows vigorously on their shores; as indeed, will be further shown in some of the following notices. As, therefore, these islands are not encircled, and as coral grows vigorously on their shores, we might almost conclude, without further evidence, that they were fringed, and hence I have applied the red colour with rather greater freedom than in other instances.—_Matthew’s Rock_, an active volcano, some way south of the group (of which a plan is given in the “Atlas of the ‘Astrolabe’s’ Voyage”) does not appear to have reefs of any kind about it.—_Annatom_, the southernmost of the Hebrides; from a rough woodcut given in the “United Service Journal” (1831, part iii., page 190), accompanying a paper by Mr. Bennett, it appears that the shore is fringed; coloured red.—_Tanna_. Forster, in his “Observations” (page 22), says Tanna has on its shores coral-rock and madrepores; and the younger Forster, in his account (volume ii., page 269) speaking of the harbour says, the whole S.E. side consists of coral-reefs, which are overflowed at high-water; part of the southern shore in Cook’s chart is represented as fringed; coloured red.—_Immer_ is described (“United Service Journal,” 1831, part iii., page 192) by Mr. Bennett as being of moderate elevation, with cliffs appearing like sandstone: coral grows in patches on its shore, but I have not coloured it; and I mention these facts, because Immer might have been thought from Forster’s classification (“Observations,” page 14), to have been a low island or even an atoll.— _Erromango_ Island; Cook (“Second Voyage,” volume ii., page 45, 4to edition) speaks of rocks everywhere _lining_ the coast, and the natives offered to haul his boat over the breakers to the sandy beach: Mr. Bennett, in a letter to the Editor of the “Singapore Chron.,” alludes to the _reefs_ on its shores. It may, I think, be safely inferred from these passages that the shore is fringed in parts by coral-reefs; coloured red.—_Sandwich_ Island. The east coast is said (Cook’s “Second Voyage,” volume ii., page 41) to be low, and to be guarded by a chain of breakers. In the accompanying chart it is seen to be fringed by a reef; coloured red.—_Mallicollo_; Forster speaks of the reef-bounded shore: the reef is about thirty yards wide, and so shallow that a boat cannot pass over it. Forster also (“Observations,” page 23) says, that the rocks of the sea-shore consist of madrepore. In the plan of Sandwich harbour, the headlands are represented as fringed; coloured red.—_Aurora_ and _Pentecost_ Islands, according to Bougainville, apparently have no reefs; nor has the large island of _S. Espiritu_, nor _Bligh_ Island or _Banks’_ Islands, which latter lie to the N.E. of the Hebrides. But in none of these cases, have I met with any detailed account of their shores, or seen plans on a large scale; and it will be evident, that a fringing-reef of only thirty or even a few hundred yards in width, is of so little importance to navigation, that it will seldom be noticed, excepting by chance; and hence I do not doubt that several of these islands, now left uncoloured, ought to be red.

SANTA-CRUZ GROUP.—_Vanikoro_ (Figure 1, Plate I.) offers a striking example of a barrier-reef: it was first described by the Chevalier Dillon, in his voyage, and was surveyed in the “Astrolabe”; coloured pale blue.—_Tikopia_ and _Fataka_ Islands appear, from the descriptions of Dillon and D’Urville, to have no reefs; _Anouda_ is a low, flat island, surrounded by cliffs (“‘Astrolabe’ Hydrog.” and Krusenstern, “Mem.” volume ii., page 432); these are uncoloured. _Toupoua_ (_Otooboa_ of Dillon) is stated by Captain Tromelin (“Annales Marit.” 1829, page 289) to be almost entirely included in a reef, lying at the distance of two miles from the shore. There is a space of three miles without any reef, which, although indented with bays, offers no anchorage from the extreme depth of the water close to the shore: Captain Dillon also speaks of the reefs fronting this island; coloured blue.— _Santa-Cruz_. I have carefully examined the works of Carteret, D’Entrecasteaux, Wilson, and Tromelin, and I cannot discover any mention of reefs on its shores; left uncoloured.—_Tinakoro_ is a constantly active volcano without reefs.—_Mendana Isles_ (mentioned by Dillon under the name of _Mammee_, etc.); said by Krusenstern to be low, and intertwined with reefs. I do not believe they include a lagoon; I have left them uncoloured.—_Duff’s_ Islands compose a small group directed in a N.W. and S.E. band; they are described by Wilson (page 296, “Miss. Voy.” 4to edition), as formed by bold-peaked land, with the islands surrounded by coral-reefs, extending about half a mile from the shore; at a distance of a mile from the reefs he found only seven fathoms. As I have no reason for supposing there is deep water within these reefs, I have coloured them red. _Kennedy_ Island, N.E. of Duff’s. I have been unable to find any account of it.

NEW CALEDONIA.—The great barrier-reefs on the shores of this island have already been described (Figure 5, Plate II.). They have been visited by Labillardière, Cook, and the northern point by D’Urville; this latter part so closely resembles an atoll that I have coloured it dark blue. The _Loyalty_ group is situated eastward of this island; from the chart and description given in the “Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe’,” they do not appear to have any reefs; north of this group, there are some extensive low reefs (called _Astrolabe_ and _Beaupré_,) which do not seem to be atoll-formed; these are left uncoloured.

AUSTRALIAN BARRIER-REEF.—The limits of this great reef, which has already been described, have been coloured from the charts of Flinders and King. In the northern parts, an atoll-formed reef, lying outside the barrier, has been described by Bligh, and is coloured dark blue. In the space between Australia and New Caledonia, called by Flinders the Corallian Sea, there are numerous reefs. Of these, some are represented in Krusenstern’s “Atlas” as having an atoll-like structure; namely, _Bampton_ shoal, _Frederic_, _Vine_ or Horse-shoe, and _Alert_ reefs; these have been coloured dark blue.

LOUISIADE: the dangerous reefs which front and surround the western, southern, and northern coasts of this so-called peninsula and archipelago, seem evidently to belong to the barrier class. The land is lofty, with a low fringe on the coast; the reefs are distant, and the sea outside them profoundly deep. Nearly all that is known of this group is derived from the labours of D’Entrecasteaux and Bougainville: the latter has represented one continuous reef ninety miles long, parallel to the shore, and in places as much as ten miles from it; coloured pale blue. A little distance northward we have the _Laughlan_ Islands, the reefs round which are engraved in the “Atlas of the Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe’,” in the same manner as in the encircled islands of the Caroline Archipelago, the reef is, in parts, a mile and a half from the shore, to which it does not appear to be attached; coloured blue. At some little distance from the extremity of the Louisiade lies the _Wells_ reef, described in G. Hamilton’s “Voyage in H.M.S. ‘Pandora’” (page 100): it is said, “We found we had got embayed in a double reef, which will soon be an island.” As this statement is only intelligible on the supposition of the reef being crescent or horse-shoe formed, like so many other submerged annular reefs, I have ventured to colour it blue.

SALOMON ARCHIPELAGO: the chart in Krusenstern’s “Atlas” shows that these islands are not encircled, and as coral appears from the works of Surville, Bougainville, and Labillardière, to grow on their shores, this circumstance, as in the case of the New Hebrides, is a presumption that they are fringed. I cannot find out anything from D’Entrecasteaux’s “Voyage,” regarding the southern islands of the group, so have left them uncoloured.—_Malayta_ Island in a rough MS. chart in the Admiralty has its northern shore fringed.—_Ysabel_ Island, the N.E. part of this island, in the same chart, is also fringed: Mendana, speaking (Burney, volume i., page 280) of an islet adjoining the northern coast, says it is surrounded by reefs; the shores, also of Port Praslin appear regularly fringed.—_Choiseul_ Island. In Bougainville’s “Chart of Choiseul Bay,” parts of the shores are fringed by coral-reefs.— _Bougainville_ Island. According to D’Entrecasteaux the western shore abounds with coral-reefs, and the smaller islands are said to be attached to the larger ones by reefs; all the before-mentioned islands have been coloured red.—_Bouka_ Islands. Captain Duperrey has kindly informed me in a letter that he passed close round the northern side of this island (of which a plan is given in his “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage”), and that it was “garnie d’une bande de récifs à fleur d’eau adherentes au rivage;” and he infers, from the abundance of coral on the islands north and south of Bouka, that the reef probably is of coral; coloured red.

Off the north coast of the Solomon Archipelago there are several small groups which are little known; they appear to be low, and of coral-formation; and some of them probably have an atoll-like structure; the Chevallier Dillon, however, informs me that this is not the case with the B. de _Candelaria_.—_Outong Java_, according to the Spanish navigator, Maurelle, is thus characterised; but this is the only one which I have ventured to colour blue.

NEW IRELAND.—The shores of the S.W. point of this island and some adjoining islets, are fringed by reefs, as may be seen in the “Atlases of the Voyages of the ‘Coquille’ and ‘Astrolabe’.” M. Lesson observes that the reefs are open in front of each streamlet. The _Duke of York’s_ Island is also fringed; but with regard to the other parts of _New Ireland_, _New Hanover_, and the small islands lying northward, I have been unable to obtain any information. I will only add that no part of New Ireland appears to be fronted by distant reefs. I have coloured red only the above specified portions.

NEW BRITAIN and the NORTHERN SHORE of NEW GUINEA.—From the charts in the “Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe’,” and from the “Hydrog. Memoir,” it appears that these coasts are entirely without reefs, as are the _Schouten Islands_, lying close to the northern shore of New Guinea. The western and south-western parts of New Guinea, will be treated of when we come to the islands of the East Indian Archipelago.

ADMIRALTY GROUP.—From the accounts by Bougainville, Maurelle, D’Entrecasteaux, and the scattered notices collected by Horsburgh, it appears, that some of the many islands composing it, are high, with a bold outline; and others are very low, small and interlaced with reefs. All the high islands appear to be fronted by distant reefs rising abruptly from the sea, and within some of which there is reason to believe that the water is deep. I have therefore little doubt they are of the barrier class.—In the southern part of the group we have _Elizabeth Island_, which is surrounded by a reef at the distance of a mile; and two miles eastward of it (Krusenstern, “Append.” 1835, page 42) there is a little island containing a lagoon.—Near here, also lies _Circular-reef_ (Horsburgh, “Direct.” volume i., page 691, 4th edition), “three or four miles in diameter having deep water inside with an opening at the N.N.W. part, and on the outside steep to.” I have from these data, coloured the group pale blue, and _circular-reef_ dark blue.—the _Anachorites_, _Echequier_, and _Hermites_, consist of innumerable low islands of coral-formation, which probably have atoll-like forms; but not being able to ascertain this, I have not coloured them, nor _Durour_ Island, which is described by Carteret as low.

The CAROLINE ARCHIPELAGO is now well-known, chiefly from the hydrographical labours of Lutké; it contains about forty groups of atolls, and three encircled islands, two of which are engraved in Figures 2 and 7, Plate I. Commencing with the eastern part; the encircling reef round _Ualen_ appears to be only about half a mile from the shore; but as the land is low and covered with mangroves (“Voyage autour du Monde,” par F. Lutké, volume i., page 339), the real margin has not probably been ascertained. The extreme depth in one of the harbours within the reef is thirty-three fathoms (see charts in “Atlas of ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage”), and outside at half a mile distant from the reef, no bottom was obtained with two hundred and fifty fathoms. The reef is surmounted by many islets, and the lagoon-like channel within is mostly shallow, and appears to have been much encroached on by the low land surrounding the central mountains; these facts show that time has allowed much detritus to accumulate; coloured pale blue.— _Pouynipète_, or _Seniavine_. In the greater part of the circumference of this island, the reef is about one mile and three quarters distant; on the north side it is five miles off the included high islets. The reef is broken in several places; and just within it, the depth in one place is thirty fathoms, and in another, twenty-eight, beyond which, to all appearance, there was “un porte vaste et sur” (Lutké, volume ii., page 4); coloured pale blue.—_Hogoleu_ or _Roug_. This wonderful group contains at least sixty-two islands, and its reef is one hundred and thirty-five miles in circuit. Of the islands, only a few, about six or eight (see “Hydrog. Descrip.” page 428, of the “Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe’,” and the large accompanying chart taken chiefly from that given by Duperrey) are high, and the rest are all small, low, and formed on the reef. The depth of the great interior lake has not been ascertained; but Captain D’Urville appears to have entertained no doubt about the possibility of taking in a frigate. The reef lies no less than fourteen miles distant from the northern coasts of the interior high islands, seven from their western sides, and twenty from the southern; the sea is deep outside. This island is a likeness on a grand scale to the Gambier group in the Low Archipelago. Of the groups of low[1] islands forming the chief part of the Caroline Archipelago, all those of larger size, have the true atoll-structure (as may be seen in the “Atlas” by Captain Lutké), and some even of the very small ones, as _Macaskill_ and _Duperrey_, of which plans are given in the “Atlas of the ‘Coquille’s’ Voyage.” There are, however, some low small islands of coral-formation, namely _Ollap_, _Tamatam_, _Bigali_, _Satahoual_, which do not contain lagoons; but it is probable that lagoons originally existed, but have since filled up: Lutké (volume ii., page 304) seems to have thought that all the low islands, with only one exception, contained lagoons. From the sketches, and from the manner in which the margins of these islands are engraved in the “Atlas of the Voyage of the ‘Coquille’,” it might have been thought that they were not low; but by a comparison with the remarks of Lutké (volume ii., page 107, regarding Bigali) and of Freycinet (“Hydrog. Memoir ‘L’Uranie’ Voyage,” page 188, regarding Tamatam, Ollap, etc.), it will be seen that the artist must have represented the land incorrectly. The most southern island in the group, namely _Piguiram_, is not coloured, because I have found no account of it. _Nougouor_, or _Monte Verdison_, which was not visited by Lutké, is described and figured by Mr. Bennett (“United Service Journal,” January 1832) as an atoll. All the above-mentioned islands have been coloured blue.

[1] In D’Urville and Lottin’s chart, Peserare is written with capital letters; but this evidently is an error, for it is one of the low islets on the reef of Namonouyto (see Lutké’s charts)—a regular atoll.

WESTERN PART OF THE CAROLINE ARCHIPELAGO.—_Fais_ Island is ninety feet high, and is surrounded, as I have been informed by Admiral Lutké, by a narrow reef of living coral, of which the broadest part, as represented in the charts, is only 150 yards; coloured red.— _Philip_ Island., I believe, is low; but Hunter, in his “Historical Journal,” gives no clear account of it; uncoloured.—_Elivi;_ from the manner in which the islets on the reefs are engraved, in the “Atlas of the ‘Astrolabe’s’ Voyage,” I should have thought they were above the ordinary height, but Admiral Lutké assures me this is not the case: they form a regular atoll; coloured blue.—_Gouap_ (_Eap_ of Chamisso), is a high island with a reef (see chart in “Voyage of the ‘Astrolabe’”), more than a mile distant in most parts from the shore, and two miles in one part. Captain D’Urville thinks that there would be anchorage (“Hydrog. Descript. ‘Astrolabe’ Voyage,” page 436) for ships within the reef, if a passage could be found; coloured pale blue.—_Goulou_, from the chart in the “‘Astrolabe’s’ Atlas,” appears to be an atoll. D’Urville (“Hydrog. Descript.” page 437) speaks of the low islets on the reef; coloured dark blue.

PELEW ISLANDS.—Krusenstern speaks of some of the islands being mountainous; the reefs are distant from the shore, and there are spaces within them, and not opposite valleys, with from ten to fifteen fathoms. According to a MS. chart of the group by Lieutenant Elmer in the Admiralty, there is a large space within the reef with deepish water; although the high land does not hold a central position with respect to the reefs, as is generally the case, I have little doubt that the reefs of the Pelew Islands ought to be ranked with the barrier class, and I have coloured them pale blue. In Lieutenant Elmer’s chart there is a horseshoe-formed shoal, laid down thirteen miles N.W. of Pelew, with fifteen fathoms within the reef, and some dry banks on it; coloured dark blue.—_Spanish_, _Martires_, _Sanserot_, _Pulo Anna_ and _Mariere_ Islands are not coloured, because I know nothing about them, excepting that according to Krusenstern, the second, third, and fourth mentioned, are low, placed on coral-reefs, and therefore, perhaps, contain lagoons; but Pulo Mariere is a little higher.