xii INTRODUCTION. 



and Captain Fenwick for having carried out my instructions regarding 

 the equipment of the " Amra." We found the steamer ready for us on 

 our arrival at Colombo. 



To the Right Honorable Joseph Chamberlain I am indebted for his kind- 

 ness in giving me letters to the Government officials at Ceylon, and for 

 writing to His Excellency Sir West Ridgeway in regard to our proposed 

 visit. The Governor kindly wrote to the Sultan of the Maldives notifying 

 him of the objects of our Expedition, and also gave us letters to the Sultan. 

 His Highness took great interest in our work, gave us a circular letter to the 

 chiefs of the various atolls, and in addition sent a representative and an inter- 

 preter to accompany us on our trip. Thanks to this, we were everywhere 

 received with the greatest cordiality. 



The Sultan's Barge 



We started on our explorations from Male after having, on making the 

 atoll, obtained a glimpse of the east coast of North Male as we skirted the 

 atoll, from Mirufuri to Male Island itself. This stretch of coast together 

 with the islands near Male and the adjoining faros 1 of the lagoon to the 

 northwest of Male contain all that is most characteristic of the atolls of the 

 Maldives. A glance at the Chart gave us an approximate idea of the prob- 

 lems to be solved in the study of the coral reefs of the group. 



1 Faro is the name given by the natives to the small atolls which rise in the interior of the large 

 lagoons or are found on their rims. It may be convenient to retain, as Mr. Gardiner has suggested, the 

 Maldivian terms " faro " and " velu," * for the small atolls or ring-shaped reefs with their enclosed basin. 

 Gardiner extends the term " velu " to the deep pools in the linear circumscribing reefs of many of the 

 banks. This is likely to lead to confusion, as the mode of formation of the last is not necessarily the 

 same as that of the velu proper. 



We are also confronted with the difficulty of distinguishing a faro from an atoll when the former 

 constitutes a separate bank which may or may not be larger than a faro forming part of a land rim and 

 larger than many an atoll in the Tropical Pacific. 



* The Maldives and Laccadives Archipelagoes, p. 155. 



