RATE OF GROWTH OF REEFS. 329 



shall be performed once in every 3 years. It is the duty of the atoluveri, or provincial 

 governors, to see that this is carried out, and, as the duty fits in with the private interests of 

 their officers, it may safely be assumed that it is properly performed. In Mahlos and Mila- 

 dumadulu I saw — not at the time appreciating the stringency of this law — eveiy range of living 

 coral growth in these canals from 1 to 3 years of age. The bottoms of some were literally 

 covered with corals, and, it was quite evident, would, if left alone, in the course of a very few 

 years become completely blocked uji. At Limbo-Kandu in N. Mahlos and Hurubudu in 

 S. Mahlos, both of which were inhabited less than 20 and 30 years ago, the former canals could 

 only be distinguished by the less consolidated nature and the narrowing of the reef, a growth 

 of at least 4 feet in 20 and 30 years. At Fainu also in N. Mahlos what was originally 

 the main passage, 5 feet deep, was abandoned in 1885, or 14 years before my visit. It was 

 situated opposite the middle of a passage into the lagoon of the atoll, and must have been 

 swept by strong currents, so that it decidedly could not have been in a position at all 

 favourable for coral gi'owth. Yet the whole bottom was so studded with branching and massive 

 corals that the canal was not negotiable at low tide. 



Innumerable other instances might be given, but they lack sufficient precision, whereas 

 from the canal at Hulule I brought a number of corals, the maximum possible age of which fi'om 

 the ova is accurately known. Hulule is the most south-easterly island of North Male atoll, and 

 is situated to the south of a large faro. There is a velu of moderate size, about 6 fathoms deep, 

 to the north of the island but no other land, except a single island at the north end and a 

 mere rock to the south. In its west reef, a little north of Hulule, are two small passages, kept 

 open by the scour of the water across the faro and round the north end of this island. Opposite 

 the middle of the land on the west side lies a small pool, where the Sultan moors his private 

 yacht, 4 fathoms deep by about 40 yards across. Leading to this a canal had been cut through 

 the reefs to a mean depth of 4 feet at low springs. This is regularly cleaned out once in 

 every three years' under the inspection of officers from Male. The island belongs to the Sultan, 

 and is regularly visited by him for religious purposes, the canal being at the same time examined 

 to see that the work is properly performed. My collection was obtained in February, 1900, of 

 the third year, and I visited the channel a second time at the beginning of the following 

 April to secure additional specimens. However, in the mean time it had been cleaned out so 

 thoroughly that not a single piece of living coral could be found ; the whole bottom had been 

 levelled, and the coral all removed. Any living fragments of coral, that possibly were left, could 

 not in any case have continued to exist on account of the mud, with which the bottom was 

 coated. The Sultan's annual visit was to take place in 1900 in the middle of May, so that it 

 is safe to assume that it could not have taken place in 1897 until a month later. The 

 work would in 1897 have been done before May, since later, the channel not being protected 

 from the south-west monsoon, the job would have been attended with considerable difficulty. 

 April would accordingly have been the last suitable month, and it is probable that its low 

 spring tides were utilised for the work. The corals brought home would hence have taken 



' It was very difficult in the Maldives to accurately aseer- I have throughout generally used the Maldivan (Mahom- 



tain measurements, either of time, length, or weight on medan) year as equivalent to the European, so as to avoid 



account of Arab, or peculiar, in fact indigenous, standards possible exaggeration. One of the few exceptions is that 



being used. The numeration is in twelves, not tens, and which immediately follows, where I have allowed for the 



Hindustani, Arab and Maldivan terminologies are all mixed. difference in number of days in calculating the times of the 



An isolated, tropical race of low culture is, in addition, not Sultan's visit to Hulule. 

 accustomed to think precisely. 



42—2 



