DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPEDITION. 29 
a variety of Mollusca, Crustacea, Gephyrea, and Chzetopods, one of the latter with a 
brilliantly phosphorescent spot at the base of each parapodium. 
On Sunday no one was able to land on account of the weather, and we decided to 
transfer and make in the first instance an examination of Salomon Atoll, into the lagoon 
of which it seemed that the Sealark might be able to enter. In Peros it was clearly 
apparent that it would be necessary to keep steam up in the ship and fires banked; and 
coal, on account of the heavy weather we had met with, was getting very short. On 
Monday morning, passing out of the same passage, we skirted along the north side of the 
atoll, observing the different islands as we passed. We noticed the rocky outer shores 
of Moresby Island and the absence of broad reef-flats as off some parts of Minikoi, 
indicating either a washing away of both land and reef or perhaps an outgrowth of land 
by the piling up of rocks by the waves *. 
The bare sandbank marked next in Moresby’s chart on the rim had evidently become 
an island covered with coconuts; it is termed St. Brandon, as we found subsequently. 
In the next five islands we observed little change, save in their vegetation; all appeared 
to have generally a narrow reef-flat to the north skirting a rocky shore, broken through 
in places and with sand exposed. In Yéyé we observed such marked changes that 
subsequently we were led to camp on that island. Arriving off the entrance of Salomon 
the ‘ Xanthus’ was sent in to sound, but on the arrival of Mr. Sauvage, the Administrator, 
we anchored in the entrance, at once going off to inspect Takamaka, which we thought 
might be the most suitable centre for our examination of the atoll. Finding a good 
entrance through the lagoon-reef, suitable coconut-leaved houses ashore, a good spot for 
tidal observations, and comparative absence of mosquitoes, we landed with our gear the 
following morning, May 23, with three Indian seedee-boys as servants-—Daniell, Sam, 
and Joseph. The tide-party, consisting of Corporal Cronk and two hands, also pitched 
their camp, got their tide-poles erected, and commenced a series of half-hour observations, 
one of them being always on watch, for the next six weeks (fig. 9). On the same day 
the Sealark having buoyed a passage came to anchor in the lagoon about a quarter of a 
mile from our settlement and drew her fires. 
It would be tedious to attempt a precise chronological account of the work undertaken 
in Salomon Atoll. We were camped together at Takamaka until June 5, when one of us 
(Forster Cooper) re-embarked. The ship then proceeded to Diego Garcia to await the 
arrival of one of the British India vessels, which, it had been arranged, should stop on her 
course between Colombo and Mauritius to bring us coal. The other, with Mr. Alexander, 
remained on Takamaka with the ‘ Xanthus,’ a skiff, and their crews until June 16, when 
the camp was finally struck. Commander Somerville and his officers were very fully 
occupied during this time in making a fresh chart of the atoll. In the other branches 
* Moresby represents a broad reef-flat on his chart. His charts of the Chagos generally show the position of 
either end of the island of the atolls accurately, and his notes as to their character were carefully compiled. 
Their lagoon-sides are also often fairly correct, but their ends in the direction of the atoll-rims and their seaward 
sides are merely sketched in. The position of shoals in the lagoons and all soundings seem to us to have been care- 
fully fixed and plotted. Indeed we could rely on Moresby’s work wherever there might be any question of the 
safety of a vessel. 
