336 Dr. R. B. Thomson on the [May 



abundance of hiding places for lizards and serpents, especi- 

 ally the Cobra de Capello, which is extremely frequent in 

 these islands. The clefts also afford good habitats for the 

 fern Gymnogramma chylomelanos, and the Asparagus 

 sarmentosus. 



The large Caranja hill is similar in its conformation to 

 the smaller hill, and is crowned by the ruins of an old fort, 

 which was a place of considerable note, when Europeans 

 first settled on this coast. 



At low water the island is connected with the continent, 

 the intervening valley being quite green, and studded with 

 a few pools of water. The vale which separates the two 

 hills, and divides the island into two parts, is covered with 

 palm trees, amid which are situated cottages and rich gar- 

 dens, at a small elevation above the level of the sea. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



In the course of the preceding remarks it appears that, 

 on the continent and along the coasts of the different islands, 

 the soundings do not deepen suddenly, but that the water 

 at the shore is shallow, and that it gradually increases in 

 depth in proportion as we recede from the land. The same 

 remark applies to the whole coast, from the Persian Gulf 

 to Cape Comorin, and, it is on a careful attention to the 

 depth of water and the nature of the bottom, that navigators 

 in stormy weather must depend. In the latitude of Bombay 

 this remarkable sub-marine portion of land which can thus 

 be reached with the lead, attains an additional degree of 

 breadth, jutting out to a greater extent into the Arabian 

 sea, and, from its occupying such a considerable space, and 

 affording good fishing ground, although it can only be con- 

 sidered as an expansion of the shoal water along the coast, 

 it has been termed the Bank of Soundings. The deposit 

 generally obtained in the bottom of the harbour, and on 

 this bank near the coast, consists of a blue clay of a stiff 

 nature, and is, therefore, serviceable by affording good 

 holding ground for anchors. A section, representing the 

 relative situations of the sea and the Bank of Soundings, 

 will explain the subject more clearly than can be expressed 

 by detailed descriptions. The horizontal line represents the 

 sea level, and the inclined one the bottom of the ocean, 



