52, J. STANLEY GARDINER. 
patches generally did not, however, appear to have greatly changed in size, but some had 
subdivided themselves into two or more separate masses. The lagoon islands are undoubtedly 
all washing away, and none are now inhabited. The majority seemed to be of sand formation, 
surrounded by rather rocky reef-flats. In the depth of the lagoon our soundings showed 
an increase varying from 1 to 4 fathoms towards the centre of the atoll, but there did 
not appear to be any general change near the encircling reefs. The shoals almost uniformly 
reach the surface, or within 2 or 3 fathoms of the same; they have precipitous walls from 
about 5 fathoms in depth down to 20 or 25 fathoms, where they tail off in an area 
covered with rough, dead coral to the general depth of the lagoon in their vicinity. The 
bottom is in the shallower parts covered with sand, but over the centre and below 40 
fathoms with fine mud. It was remarkable that the dredgings nowhere gave any signs of 
any shoals growing up, the bottom appearing in any one place to be almost a dead level. 
On the whole the atoll is scarcely at all changed since the survey, and the conditions are 
such that it is only after a minute examination that any deductions should be actually 
ventured upon. The atoll has reached an almost perfect state, and is of such extremely 
large size that it is quite probable that many of the changes, now going on, are quite 
secondary and not such as are taking place in the majority of atolls}, 
The remainder of the banks of the Maldives form a well-defined line of 325 miles in 
length without any breaks of really considerable extent. The line is single at either end, 
but it doubles itself in the centre and encloses a long narrow strip of water between its 
two series of shoals. There were no soundings in the original survey, which served in any 
way to show the topography and connections of the central reefs with one another, but we 
succeeded in running three lines across the basin as follows?: 
1. Mawafuri, North Nilandu to the channel between Wattaru and Mulaku 157, 164, 
176, 188 and 198 fathoms. 
2. Felidu, the first sounding 5 miles and then a line 10 miles north of the last to 
the channel between North Nilandu and Ari 206, 201, 197 and 198 fathoms. 
: 3. Mahiaddu, An diagonally across the basin to the channel between the two Male 
banks 188, 205, 205, 192, 162 and 186 fathoms. 
In addition I ran a section out until a level bottom at about 165 fathoms was reached 
one mile to the west of Naifaro, Fadifolu, and there are a series of soundings in the chart 
between Ari and Rasdu and the latter and Toddu, showing a level bottom at about 150 
fathoms. We also sounded some of the channels between the different banks, finding 
maximum depths of 270 fathoms between Kolumadulu and South Nilandu, 235 fathoms 
South to North Nilandu, 243 fathoms Mulaku to Wattaru, 260 fathoms Wattaru to Felidu, 
198 fathoms North Nilandu to Ari (not quite in the centre) and 245 fathoms South to 
1 Throughout the course of the expedition I was assisted 
in all branches of the work by Mr Forster Cooper, whose 
observations relating to matters of fact I have in many places 
incorporated without special acknowledgment. I was greatly 
assisted in the work in Suvadiva and Addu by Capt. Molony, 
s.s. ‘ Ileafaee,” who paid particular attention to the locating 
of the various reefs and shoals in their lagoons. 
* We used for sounding from the s.s. ‘ Ileafaee’’ between 
the atolls and on Addu, Suvadiva and Nilandu banks a 
“Lucas” machine, kindly lent us by the Admiralty, Mr Lucas 
himself presenting us with 3000 fathoms of wire. The 
machine was not adapted to receive a belt from the steam- 
winch, so that the wire had to be hauled in by hand, an 
especially long and tedious process, as we had no detachable 
weights. While in the schooner an ordinary sounding line 
was generally employed, but for boat-work I more frequently 
used a loosely-spun cod-line with a 3 1b. lead, as recommended 
by Mr J. Y. Buchanan. 
