INTRODUCTION. 7 



dredging cruise of eight days in the atoll, taking 34 hauls, to ascertain the character of the 

 bottom in every position, and I at the same time visited most of the islands and reefs 

 within five miles of Male. 



Ramazan had now commenced, and, dependent as we were entirely on Mahomraedan 

 boys, it would have been useless to continue our cruise. Our vessel too was in want of 

 a thorough overhaul, the rigging being very bad. After a couple of days in Male, we 

 had a house erected on Hulule, the island of a neighbouring faro, and at once transferred 

 to it sufficient stores for a stay of four or five weeks' duration. 



Hulule island is about 1{ miles long by 800 yards broad; it is about two miles 

 distant from Male. The greater part of its surface is covered with coconut trees, but 

 a large patch along the western side has been allowed to revert to jungle. The principal 

 trees are the banyan, candle-nut and CalophyUum, the branches of which abound in 

 frugivorous bats. On account of the i.sland's pro.ximity to Male, where all foreign vessels 

 for the group have to enter, many plants have been introduced. Few of the fruits thrive, 

 but half-a-dozen brilliant flowers relieve the everlasting green. Sweet -smelling plants, 

 jessamine, frangipanni, roses and various herbs, make the proximity of the mosque and village 

 pleasantly fragi-ant. The western shores are fringed with Pemphis acidida, the white, 

 perfumed flowers of which prove a great attraction to insects. As some of our boys 

 delighted in this work, the land fauna and flora was exhaustively collected. As compared 

 with Minikoi, we found the insect and spider faunas to be decidedly poor except in 

 butterflies, although it may be deemed to be thoroughly representative of any rich island 

 in the centre of the Maldives. A certain number of insects must have been introduced with 

 the plants, but the successful acclimatisation of any considerable number of the latter only 

 dates back to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. Before this time pumice {/eng-bo-ga, the 

 water-swimming stone) was not known in the group. Its fertilising properties have now been 

 discovered, and in many islands baskets of it are collected and strewn over the garden land. 

 The capture of two specimens of snakes on pandanus trees at Hulule was of interest. 



The whole faro is 4^ miles long by 1^ broad ; its lagoonlet, or velu, in the centre 

 has a depth of 6 to 7 fathoms. The reef everywhere is awash at low tide, and, though 

 differing greatly in its characters, quite well defined on the side towards the lagoon of the 

 large atoll. Besides numerous rocks there are two islands respectively at the north and 

 south ends, Farukolufuri and Hulule. During our stay every part of the faro was .surveyed, 

 and the fauna carefully collected for comparison with that of Minikoi atoll. Asymmetron 

 was very abundant in certain places in and around the velu, and at least three species of 

 Enteropneusts of two or three genera were found, each in its own characteristic environ- 

 ment. Two specimens of a remarkable Thalassema, 2 feet long when alive, were secured 

 from the boulder zone, besides a number of specimens of smaller species. The sand was 

 remarkably rich in Actinians of many species, all of which withdrew into the shelter of 

 the sand at every rain-squall. Mollusca were not numerous, but Cryptoplax, Chiton, and 

 each of the three families of the Zygobranchiata were represented ; autotomy of the foot 

 seems to be a widespread phenomenon, as several forms with the foot thus cut off were 

 obtained. 



We returned to Male in the middle of February. Mr Forster Cooper at once sailed 

 for his dredging cruise in the atoll, while I remained to carry on a series of observations 



