278 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892. 



vine); the Tamarind; tlie Pomegranate (about lialf-a-dozen plants 

 bearing good fruit); the Papaya; tbe Sweet-Potato (only one 

 small plot); the Bird's-eye Ohillie (only in a 'wild' condition); 

 Datura (which occurs pretty frequently, but also only in a ' wild' 

 condition) ; ilf*Va6tZis Jalapa; the Pepper- vine (an object of great 

 care) ; the Bread-fruit (only one tree, in a garden) ; Tacca finnatifida 

 (cultivated only); Colocasia antiquorum (only in a ' wild ' condition). 

 Mr. Fleming's list omits the Supari {Areca catechu) ; from a similar 

 list for Kiltan, where it does occur, it is also omitted, perhaps there- 

 fore the omission here is only an oversight. The island is covered 

 with Coco-nut palms and there are several large fresh-water tanks, 

 paved and terraced and walled with slabs of coral-volite ; in these 

 occurs the universal water-weed Chara.'^ 



Due south of Akati, in Lon. 72° 12' E. and Lat. 10° N., lies the 

 Suhelipar reef which is shown on Lieut. Moresby's Chart as an oval 

 atoll with an opening in the reef at the north-end and with the 

 uninhabited island of Suheli '(Soilee, Wood) near the centre of its 

 south-eastern side. According to Lieut. Wood's list, this island 

 is visited on account of its coco-nuts, but no topographical account 

 of the atoll being available, it is impossible to say with certainty 

 whether Suheli is a sand-bank like Pirmalla, an accumulation of 

 coral debris like the islets on Cherbaniani, or a formed-island like 

 Bitrapar. 



The most northerly of the formed islands and the northmost 

 member of the central chain is the inhabited island of Chitlac (Lon. 

 72^45' E., Lat. 11° 45' N.), visited and described by Mr. Robinson. 

 Mr. Hume was unable to land in 1875, t and Dr. Giles, who 

 landed during the Investigator visit in 1887, confined his attention 

 to the marine fauna. J Mr. Robinson describes the island as 

 two to two and a half miles long and about three-quarters of 

 a mile wide, situated on the eastern side of a large and perfect 

 atoll. The surface is less even than in the other islands, owing 

 to a ridge of sanddrift that runs up the middle, rendering the 



* Alcock, " Administration Eeport of Marine Sarvey of India," year 1891-2, p. 10. 



t Hume, " Stray Feathers," vol. iv. p. 436. 



X Carpenter, "Administration Report of Marine nrvey of India," year 1887-8, p. 7. 



