GOIFURFEHENDU. 



mi 



APPENDIX. B. 



In the following account the condition of each bank is summarised at the beginning of 

 its section. A detailed account of the parts visited follows in smaller type. 



I. GOIFURFEHENDU' (Fig. 90). 





This atoll is one of the most perfect in the group, having only a single passage with 

 4 — 6 fathoms of water to the south. Its situation, on the west side of the wide channel that 

 separates the long double line of banks into two parts (PL IX.), causes it to be more exposed 

 and subject to more purely oceanic conditions than any other of the more perfect atolls of 

 small size except Addu. It is yet to some extent protected by the east horn of S. Mahlos- 

 madulu, which seemed to me to divert the currents of the N.E. monsoon more or less away 

 fi'om its northern reef The 

 S.W. monsoon naturally im- 

 pinges mainly on its south 

 and west sides, leaving the 

 N.E. part little affected. Per- 

 haps it is owing to these 

 causes that the greater part 

 of the land lies on the northern 

 rim of the atoll. 



There is little to show 

 the past history of Goifurfe- 

 hendu, but a line of coral rock 

 and two islets to the west of 

 Goidu, together with a series 

 of masses on either side of 

 the passage, prove elevation 



(Figs. 92 — 3). A certain number of coral jjinnacles, running from Goidu westwards in the 

 boulder zone of the reef as far as the passage, indicates that the elevated land once probably 

 extended along the whole south side of the atoll. 



The comparatively recent connection of Fehendu and Furudu is certain, and there are 

 again sand banks forming along the whole northern reef There is no indication that the 

 northern islands owe their origin to elevation in any way. Indeed, it is more than probable 

 that their formation was in the first place due to the piling up of sand by the waves and 

 \vind from off the sand flats that fringe the lagoon. 



The lagoon is increasing in size at the expense of its encircling reef It is singularly 

 open, no trace of coral growth, except near the encircling reefs, nor of shoaling being anywhere 

 found. Its bottom is everywhere covered by a muddy, calcareous sand, coai'ser near the reefs 



Fig. 90. Goifurfeheudu Atoll. 



1 Mr Forster Cooper and I spent 10 days in this atoll at 

 tbe beginning of November, 1899. In addition to visiting all 

 the islands and examining the reefs in every situation, we 

 put down a number of dredgings in the lagoon, which however 



only served to show the great poverty of both free and fixed 

 animal life, save in the immediate proximity of the encircling 

 reefs or of shoals. 



