THE ATOLL OF MINIKOI. 31 



A glance at the sections shows that the outer beach ' increases in steepness from 

 south to north of the island, from A to F. A certain amount of sand occurs at the 

 base of the beach to the south, and the whole slope is quite regular. 



North of Mou-Rambu there is no sand, and the beach is formed entirely of large 

 blocks of stone (PI. I. fig. 1). It cannot here be a formation simply piled up by the 

 breakers, since its slope is gradual only at the base, ending above may-be precipitously, 

 or even with a small overhanging cliff. Recently living coral masses are rare among the 

 blocks ; no pumice occurs ; the greater part indeed is formed of the same weathered blocks, 

 which strew the rocky area of the island, smoothed somewhat perchance by the waves and 

 spray. The before-mentioned conglomerate crops out along the whole length of the sea- 

 ward beach. Vegetation extends in many places right up to its summit ; often the roots 

 of the trees are exposed, and here and there the trees themselves have fallen. All these 

 points are very marked along the eastern face, and further only the remains of a former 

 wide path of flattened stones are now to be found. Indeed there can he no doubt, but 

 that the waves are slo^dy and surely encroaching on the land. Between Mou-Rambu and 

 Teveratu points the erosion is still visible, though the rate is less. On to Rocbera point 

 the action is not so clear, but the masses of conglomerate at the base of the beach and 

 the almost complete absence of reef masses, thrown up after the heavy gales of the south- 

 west monsoon (which I saw), lead me to believe that the same action is still proceeding. 

 From Rocbera towards Tunda point there can be no doubt as to the washing away masses 

 of conglomerate of large size cropping up near the first point with a marked cliff on the 

 beach above. It is, here, however, due mainly to the strong currents and continual rollers, 

 which in the south-west monsoon at high-tide sweep across the reef and along the beach. 



Round the north, or Kodi point, the beach has a definite cliff above of 4 to 7 feet, 

 and indeed it is formed mainly of the masses which have slipped from this with a little 

 sand below high-tide mark. The line of the island is shown by isolated masses of con- 

 glomerate, which extend northwards on the reef (PL II. Fig. 1). A break occurs first, the 

 reef-flat extending across from the sea to the passage into the lagoon. Then follow the 

 conglomerate masses, more or less in ridges, which gradually tail off to the point of the 

 reef. Formerly a few coconut trees grew on these masses, but now all except one small 

 peak are covered at spring tides. 



Along the lagoon side of the island, from the north point to the Survey Beacon, the 

 cliff continues. At the north it varies up to 10 feet in height above its detritus, which 

 together with sand washed up by the waves adds about 3 feet more to the height of 

 the land above the mean low-tide level (PI. I. Fig. 2). Conglomerate crops out to 

 a height of 2 to 3 feet in the face of the cliff, but the latter consists for the most 

 part of coi'al masses, similar to those which cover the rocky area of the island. These 

 blocks, following the usual mode of growth of most corals in shallow waters at any rate, 

 tend to be flattened ; they lie horizontally in the cliff, and have no trace of any dip 

 in any determinate direction (Fig. 8). The rocky beach about a quarter of a mile from 

 the north end is broken by coarse sand with a definite cliff above, the island itself 



1 I have throughout avoided the use of the term " hurri- the mode of origin of most islands of atolls, 

 cane beach," as I think that it is due to a misconception of 



