170 ANDAMAN ISLANDS AND INHABITANTS 



Little Andaman is swampy in many parts, and possesses a 

 few small creeks. 



On the western side, in which direction Great Andaman slopes 

 gradually, banks of coral occur at distances of 20 and 25 miles 

 from land. There are three of these, varying in length from 9 

 to 25 miles, all composed of dead coral and sand, with here and 

 there single bunches of live coral i or 2 feet high. The 

 water, which is so clear that on a calm day 8 or 9 fathoms looks 

 like 20 feet, varies in its least depths from 3f to 6 fathoms, 

 and, judged from the appearance of the bottom and the absence 

 of reef-building coral, it seems probable that the surface deln-is 

 of the banks is disturbed by the send of the sea, and that the 

 rollers topple and break on the middle bank in the south-west 

 monsoon, though they may not do so on the others. 



This western coast is fully exposed to the south-west mon- 

 soon, and is by no means a desirable locality to be in at that 

 season. 



Dalrymple Bank, of the same nature, lies adjacent to Little 

 Andaman, on the same side ; but Invisible Bank, to the eastward, 

 has depths of 17 to 50 fathoms, with a rock awash in the centre. 

 This is of bluish-grey sandstone, so that the Bank, taking into 

 account its irregular surface and the rapidly-increasing depths 

 around, may be considered a submerged mountain-range, of the 

 same formation as the oldest part of the Andamans — of which, 

 Flat Rock, an isolated peak, rises alone above the sea. All 

 these banks probably formed islands, or part of the Andamans, 

 when the latter stood at a higher elevation than they do to-day. 



Throughout the Archipelago the scenery is of exceeding 

 beauty. The picturesquely undulating surface is clad every- 

 where, save where artificial clearings have been made, with the 

 most luxuriant jungle, for, situated within the tropics, with a 

 fertile soil, and a climate that for two-thirds of the year is 

 somewhat moist, the islands are covered from hill-top to sea- 

 beach with an unbroken mantle of dense vegetation, rendered 

 almost impenetrable by cane-brakes and undergrowth of rattans 

 and other creepers. All along the shores are either stretches of 



