284 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892. 



coco-nufc leaves, thus depriving the ground to some extent of the 

 advantage of the natural manure that the soil of the other islands 

 receives. The whole island is under cultivation, principally coco- 

 nut, and there is no underwood. The coco-nut plantation runs 

 down to the sea-side on the east and the north, but along the 

 western, more exposed side, a strip of waste land 200 yards wide is 

 interposed between the plantation and the shore, while at the south- 

 west corner and south end of the island, where the exposure is too 

 great for young trees and the dry sand is deeper than elsewhere 

 many acres are lying waste. 



The structure of the island is like that of the other formed 

 islands already described ; the soil is of light coral sand, finer 

 than, and quite as dry as, common sea-sand, or, in some parts, of 

 small loose pieces of coral. This soil varies in thickness from two 

 to six or eight feet, and has a bare sandy surface, which gets wind- 

 blown unless covered with undergrowth; where the soil is under 

 coco-nut or other cultivation this sand is hidden by the humus, of 

 variable thickness and richness, that has accumulated. Underneath 

 this surface soil of sand and humus is the bed of coral-rock 

 already mentioned in the account of Bitrapar. This layer, a 

 foot to two feet thick, appears to be just above water-level and 

 stretches uniformly throughout the island. Underneath this layer 

 lies a bed of wet sand and when the crust is cut through and wells 

 or small tanks are dug in the damp subsoil the people obtain a 

 constant supply of water, slightly brackish but still potable, except 

 in the case of Bitra, where, as has been already said, the wells yield 

 water which is quite salt. The water in these tanks and wells rises 

 and falls a little with the tide. 



In the middle of Ameni, however, unlike any of the islands yet 

 described, the upper soil and the coral-crust have been completely 

 removed from about 50 acres of ground, the surface of the soi 

 thus left being hardly above the level of the sea. This carefully 

 prepared area, termed locally the kat, has a poor, light, sandy soil, 

 but is fertile on account of having the subsoil water within a 

 foot or so of its surface. This hat is reserved practically 

 for the cultivation of grain and vegetables. " The 

 '^coco-nut trees planted in or about its edges are exceedingly 



