A SUBMARINE EIDGE. 251 



bable that the submarine mountain ridge on which the Pelews 

 stand extends much farther to the north and south. The island 

 of Xgaur (Angaur of Friedricbsen's and other maps) lies 

 almost exactly south of Pelelew, and is divided from it by a 

 very deep channel about five miles wide. Still farther south- 

 west of Xgaur a small shoal is marked on the same map, which 

 is certainly formed of corals, and which has not more than ten 

 fathoms of water over it. Unfortunately I was not able to 

 vi-sit the island of Ngaur myself ; the natives of Pelelew, among 

 whom I lived for nearly three months, persistently refused to 

 take me there, because, as they declared, it was possible to land 

 at one point only, and even there it was always very dangerous. 

 They asserted that the reef everywhere clung to the shore, so that 

 it was impossible to land excepting in a quite calm sea, I had 

 already formed an idea that true reefs did not occur on the 

 coast of Xgaur when I had passed between that island and 

 Pelelew on the way hither, and this conjecture was confirmed by 

 the statements of Herr Kubary, who, more fortunate than I, 

 was able to visit Xgaur, and by his account (communicated to 

 the Journal of the Godeflroy Museum) this island is in fact 

 devoid of a reef. 



The submarine ridge on which, to the north of Babel- 

 thuap, Kossol and Kriangle stand, is indicated in older maps 

 as reaching much further to the north. On this there is 

 a series of soundings extending five nautical miles to the west 

 and north of Kossol, and within these limits, indicated by 

 a dotted line, there is, according to Friedrichsen, a small 

 shoal only shown by the words ' heavy breakers ' (starke 

 Brandling). Thus there is here a reef of about the same 

 height as that of Kossol, but quite divided from it by a 

 channel five miles wide. Directly north-west of Kiiangle there 

 lies the well-known reef of Aruangle, at a distance of twelve 

 miles, yet within the line of breakers marked on the maps. 

 Aruangle seems to be a true atoll ; it is always said to be one, 

 and, as I believe, correctly. At any rate the description given 

 me by the natives of the island, which was formerly inhabited, 

 entirely agreed with this hypothesis. An attempt I made to 

 induce the people of Kriangle to visit Aruangle failed entirely, 



