to investigate the Structure of a -Coral Reef ly Boring. 503 



much more easily made, and with a far greater probability of success, 

 if Australia instead of England be the base of operations, and I trust 

 that before long the colony of Sydney will initiate an expedition, 

 and we shall co-operate with them as cordially as they have done 

 with us. 



Report by Professor Sollas, D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S. 



H.M.S. "Penguin" having come to anchor in the lagoon ot 

 Funafuti on the afternoon of Thursday, the 21st of May, Captain 

 Field at once landed with Lieutenant Dawson, Ayles (the foreman of 

 the boring party), and myself, and we proceeded to make arrangements 

 for our work on the island. A site for boring was chosen near the sandy 

 beach of the lagoon, conveniently situated for the landing of gear, 

 less than half a mile to the south and west of the village of Funafuti, 

 and near the village well, which supplies a small amount of brackish 

 but drinkable water. Tbe work of landing was commenced the next 

 morning, and completed by May 26. The erection of the boring 

 apparatus was at once taken in hand, and on June 2, twelve days 

 after our arrival on the island, all was in readiness for commencing 

 operations. On June 3 the 6-inch tubes were driven into the sand, 

 and by June 6 they had been advanced 30 feet ; the 5-inch pipes 

 were then entered and everything made ready for inserting the 

 diamond crown and commencing to drill on Monday, June 8. On 

 June 10 it was arranged that the work should proceed by shifts, so 

 that the drilling might be carried on continuously day and night. 

 During the first shift the crown had been advanced 20 feet, making 

 the total depth then attained 52 feet 9 inches ; during this shift 

 fragments of highly cavernous coral rock were brought up in the 

 core barrel from a depth of between 40 and 50 feet. 



On June 11, a depth of 85 feet having been reached, it was found 

 necessary to ream the hole preparatory to lining, and by June 15 the 

 necessary reaming and lining had been completed. Up to this, although 

 we had been somewhat disappointed at our slow rate of progress, 

 occasioned partly by the unfavourable nature of the ground and 

 partly by the frequent failure of our machinery, we had anticipated 

 nothing worse than the possibility of finding our allotted time 

 exhausted before we had reached a depth of 1000 feet ; bat now, on 

 setting the crown to work, it very soon ceased to advance, and Ayles 

 shortly afterwards came to me to announce that, in his opinion, the 

 boring was a failure. Nevertheless, some further progess was sub- 

 sequently made, and on Tuesday, June 16, a depth of 105 feet was 

 attained. It then became once more necessary to ream and line the 

 hole. Attempts to ream were continued all through Wednesday and 

 Thursday but without success, sand poured into the hole and the 

 reamer could not be driven through it. Efforts were made to remove 



