TILADUMMATI. 97 



horns of the atoll until the spits joined in the central part of the rim of the 

 east face. The vegetation of the connecting ridge was undoubtedly at one 

 time as scanty as that of the more recently formed connecting ridge be- 

 tween the two islands of Muradu on the western face of Tiladummati. The 

 western face of the northern part of Hanimadu is flanked by a coarse coral 

 shingle beach which must have been thrown up on that face of the island 

 before the formation of the ridge connecting the north and south islands 

 of the atoll. The connecting ridge is very narrow, as one can see the 

 eastern face of the atoll through the low belt of bushes growing upon it ; 

 the western rim of the shallow lagoon in the southern part of the atoll is 

 narrow; the wide reef flat rim to the north of the lagoon is shallow. 

 Hanimadu is a narrow atoll about four miles in length with a greatest width 

 of a mile. 



At our anchorage off Hanimadu we seemed to be surrounded by land, and 

 well shut in by islands rising up in all directions ; in marked contrast to the 

 open character of the plateau south of the boundary between Miladum- 

 madulu and Tiladummati as seen from the western face looking towards 

 the wide open gap between Mavaidu and Fivaku. 



Seen by moonlight with the moon high above the horizon, the rims of 

 the faros present a most striking appearance ; they appear like great flats 

 painted a dull white with the thin glaring line of coral sand-beach in the 

 background topped with the dark line of vegetation. The flats stand out 

 so prominently that one might almost be tempted to navigate between 

 the islands at night. 



Baura (PI. 49, fig. 1), the next atoll to the north of Hanimadu, is a circular 

 lagoon reef over two miles in diameter, surrounding a small central lagoon 

 with a greatest depth of three fathoms. The southern half of the reef flat 

 is occupied by a broad dumb-bell-shaped crescentic island open to the north. 

 The land of the southern rim of Baura undoubtedly consisted at one time of 

 two distinct islands situated the one on the eastern, the other on the western 

 face of the reef flat. These islands have become united by a broad ridge in 

 the same manner as we have described the junction of other crescentic 

 islands on the east face of Tiladummati. Seen from the north across the 

 wide rim, the central lagoon forms a deep bay between the two horns 



7 



