BOTANY OF THE LACCADIVES. 281 



Kadamum lies south-west of Kiltan and due south of Chitlac in 

 Lon. 72° 44' E. and Lat.° 11° 12' N. Of this island topographical 

 accounts have been given by Mr. Robinson who visited it in 1844 and 

 1845, and by Mr. Hume who visited it and made a botanical collec- 

 tion in 1875, while Dr. Alcock and Mr, Fleming made a second and 

 very exhaustive botanical collection in 1891. Kadamum is the 

 largest island o£ the group and is situated on a long oval atoll like 

 that of Kiltan ; the reef here is, however, about 4^ miles long, and 

 the island itself 3^ miles long and about three-quarters of a mile 

 across the widest portion. The lagoon is also larger and much deeper 

 than that of Kiltan, but with no good passage through the reef.* 



*' The body of the island appears generally lower than that of any 

 " of the others, and has an excellent natural protection in a ridge of 

 "low sand- drift which runs down the west side."t The soil is 

 naturally fertile, being damper and firmer than in some of the other 

 islands, but the coco-nut cultivation is limited to a strip across 

 the middle, leaving more than three-fourths of the island, divided 

 into two nearly equal parts on either side of this strip, covered with 

 natural jungle, the southern portion of the island being occupied 

 by a thick low scrubby undergrowth in which the Screw-pine is 

 conspicuous, the western part being an open plain covered with 

 grassy weeds and low bushes. The island, " especially in its 

 " northern half, has a deserted and neglected air, and the coco-nuts, 

 " instead of dominating the scene and monopolising attention, are 

 " almost lost sight of in the surrounding jungle ^'.+ There is no area 

 specially prepared for grain-tillage, but the natural soil being better 

 adapted for the purpose than in the other islands, a considerable 

 portion of the dry -grain raised in the group is produced in this island. 

 The people of Ameni go there and cultivate during the mon- 

 soon, ragl {Eleusine Coracana), joiudri [Sorghum vulgare), and 

 loba {Vigna Gatjang),^ Mr. Hume mentions two species of the 

 cultivated class, viz.: Indigofera /wciorm, which he speaks of as 

 'wild' ; Dr. Alcock also sends specimens of this without any 



* Hume, " Stray Feathers," vol. vi., pp. 443, 444. 



t Robinson, " Madr. Jouni.," vol. xiv., p. 20. 



X Alcock, " Administration Eeport of Marine Survey of India," year 1891-2, p. 9. 



§ Robinson, "Madr. Journ.," vol. xiv., p. 22. 



