96 NOTES ON CORAL REEFS, ETC. 



In June, 1897, a second expedition was despatched from 

 Sydney, under the charp^e of Professor David. Many im- 

 provements had been efi'ected in the machinery and boring 

 tools, and good progress was made in spite of the difficulties 

 that were ag;«in encountered, such as the sudden and frequent 

 changes from solid rock to bauds of loose sand. A depth of 

 643 feet had been reached in solid coral limestone, when a 

 complete breakdown in the machinery stopped the work. 

 This second expedition had, however, proved that true coral 

 reefs exist at a depth of about 80 fathoms below the range 

 within which the coral polyps live and carry on their work. 



But those who had taken such a lively interest in these 

 two expeditions were not content to abandon the undertaking 

 without an attempt to obtain further evidence. In 1898 a 

 third expedition was sent out from Sydney, and the boring 

 was continued until it reached a depth of 1,114 feet in " coral 

 reef rock." 



No detailed account of the results of the boring will be 

 published until the examination of the cores sent to the 

 Royal Society of London has been comj^leted. The one 

 important fact that has been established is, that submerged 

 coral reefs exist at Funafuti at a depth of over 1100 feet, and 

 at least 150 feet below the base of the wall-like formation of 

 the atoll. 



While writing the latter portion of these notes, I received 

 a copy of Mrs. Edgeworth David's charming account of the 

 expedition of 1897,"^ from the postscript to which, by Pro- 

 fessor T. G. Bonuey, I have extracted the substance of the 

 results of the soundings taken during the visit of H.M.S. 

 Penguin. Besides giving a graphic description of the voyage, 

 \^ith notices of its object, and some of its results, Mrs. David 

 deals fully with the romantic side of life on a coral island, 

 and the manners and customs of an isolated native com- 

 munity, and the book will be found excellent reading by all 

 who are interested in such subjects. 



* " Funafuti, or Three Months on a Coral Island," by Mrs. Edgeworth David. 



