THE LACCADIVES AND THE WEST COAST. 421 
us entirely when we were still some 6 or 7 miles distant, and 
we had a long hot row to land in the cutter. 
The Island consists of a conical hill to the west, about a quarter 
of a mile in diameter, and a long narrow rocky island running 
east and west connected with the hill by lines of rocks, mostly 
submerged at high water. The hill is about 250 feet in height, 
and this also is about the height of the highest portions of the 
long island. At the extreme, or eastern end of the latter, the 
seaward slope is clad with dense tropical jungle, in which canes 
and screw palms are conspicuous, but the major portion of the 
island or islands is too much exposed to the violence of the 
monsoons, and is mainly covered by dense tangled trailing 
grass, dotted about with stunted Jzora bushes (J. coccinea, L.) 
radiant with their large red corymbs, or the shining oval-leaved, 
white-flowered Caper (C. Roxburghii D. ©.) so common in 
Southern India and Ceylon. 
On the long island we found a couple of fishing huts and a 
small colony of fishermen, the neighbourhood of whose pre- 
mises was sadly redolent with a complication of bad smells 
resulting partly from a multitude of strips and steaks of Dog- 
fish, Shark, and Skate, which were drying in the sun, and partly 
froma flagrant disregard of sanitation generally. Wecould not 
learn from these people that there were ever many birds about 
the place either on land or sea. Certainly, we saw neither Gull 
nor Tern, and on land all we noticed after several hours laborious 
exploration were a flock of blue Rock Pigeons, a fine pair of 
White-bellied Sea Hagles, a colony of Night Herons, a few 
Southern Red Whiskered Bullbuls (O. fuscicaudata), White- 
spotted Fantails (L. pectoralis, Jerd.), some blue Rock Thrushes 
(C. cyana), and several Blue Reef Herons (D. gularis.) 
The day was superb. ‘The rock and sea scenery fine, but orni- 
thologically, St. Georges, like Vingorla, was a failure. Here too 
there was a fine cave, but no sign of any Collocalia. 
My impression is that the rock was everywhere igneous, with 
here and there conspicuous quartz dykes, but I forgot to note it 
at the time. I searched the shores for coral, but found none, and 
saw nothing there but the usual troops of variegated crabs, 
of the same species as we obtained on the Vingorla rocks. 
February 7th.—We got to Pigeon Island about 10 a.m., having 
drifted slowly down the coast, the engines doing about one 
knot, and the light breeze, about another, per hour. The island, 
small and high, say not less than 350 feet at its highest point, is 
composed of laterite; it rises more or less precipitously on all 
sides out of rapidly deepening water; the cliffs are succeeded 
by steep slopes densely clad with tangled and now withered 
grass, and the highest portions are thickly set with low tree 
