INTRODUCTION. 



It had always been my intention, on the completion of my explorations 

 of the atoll and coral regions of the Pacific, to make an expedition to the 

 Maldives, the only great group of atolls I had not visited, and which 

 promised interesting results ; the coral reefs of the Maldives differing radi- 

 cally, according to the charts, from every region I had examined. 1 We 

 spent part of December, 1901, and January, 1902, in exploring the Maldives. 



The steamer "Amra," chartered from the British India Steam Naviga- 

 tion Company, proved a most serviceable vessel for examining the coral 

 reefs of the Maldives. 3 She was commanded by Captain William Pigott, 

 R. N. R,., who proved himself a most careful navigator among the maze 

 of atolls through which we steamed for over sixteen hundred miles. Both 

 he and the officers of the "Amra" showed the greatest interest in the 

 objects of the Expedition. Captain Pigott took charge of the sounding 

 machine, and himself superintended all the soundings we took (more than 

 eighty in number) ; he became exceedingly skilful at this work. Several 

 of the deeper soundings were taken successfully under most trying circum- 

 stances. The " Amra " was equipped with a deep-sea Lucas sounding 

 machine built for me by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance 

 Company of London. The machine differs radically from the American 

 type of sounding machine developed by Captain Sigsbee with which I was 

 familiar, and which I had in commission on all my former expeditions. 



1 This is the last of the series of monographs I shall publish on Coral Reefs, and I hope, as soon 

 as practicable, to give a resume and connected account of the results obtained during my expeditions to 

 all the important coral regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. 



2 A sketch of the work of the Expedition was published at Colombo in the "Observer," January 29, 

 1902, and in the American Journal of Science for March of the same year. 



