380 CORALS AND CORAL ISLANDS. 
Nonouti, Kuria, Marana, and Tarawa, lying between the 
two islands above mentioned, were seen only from the ship, and 
nothing decisive bearing on the subject of elevation was ob- 
served. On the northeast side of Nononti there was a hill 
twenty or thirty feet in height covered with trees; but we had 
no means of learning that it was not artificial. We were, how- 
ever, informed by Kirby, a sailor taken from Kuria, that the 
reef of Apamama was elevated precisely like that of Apaiang, to 
a height of fiwe feet ; and this was confirmed by Lieutenant De 
Haven, who was engaged in the survey of the reef. We were 
told, also, that Kuria and Nononti were similar in having the 
reef elevated, though to a less extent. It would hence appear 
that the elevations in the group increase to the northward. 
Marakei, to the north of Apaiang, is wooded throughout. 
We sailed around it without landing, and can only say that it 
has probably been uplifted like the islands south. Makin, the 
northernmost island, presented in the distant view no certain 
evidence of elevation. 
The elevation of the Kingsmills accounts for the long con- 
tinuity of the wooded lines of land, an unusual fact considering 
the size of the islands. The amount of fresh water obtained 
from springs is also uncommon. (p. 324). 
1. The Marshall and Caroline Islands.—The facts in 
reference to the islands of these groups, are not yet fully known. 
The very small amount of wooded land on the Pescadores in- 
clines us to suspect rather a subsidence than an elevation ; and. 
the same fact might be gathered, with regard to some of the 
islands south, from the charts of Kotzebue and Kruesenstern. 
But McAskill’s, as stated on page 342, is an elevated coral 
island, having a height of 100 feet. 
m. Ladrones.—The seventeen islands which constitute this 
group may all have undergone elevations within a recent pe- 
