58 THE CORAL REEFS OF THE MALDIVES. 



a quarter wide, with a greatest depth of twenty-seven fathoms, the other 

 nearly two miles wide, with a depth varying from twenty-two to twenty-six 

 fathoms. 



The relation which these faros or small atolls hold to Middle Malosmadulu 

 are similar to those of Goifiirfehendu to South Malosmadulu, or of South 

 Malosmadulu to Middle and to North Malosmadulu, or of Gaha Faro to North 

 Male. The distances and depths separating the atolls are merely questions 

 of quantity. 



The faros, or atolls, or lagoon reefs, built up on the summits of the 

 plateaus rising from various depths, are all atolls, though they may differ 

 greatly in size and shape, they all represent variations similar in kind ; 

 there is no fundamental difference between them. The lagoons of the 

 largest Maldivian atolls, like Addu, Gaha Faro, Goifurfehendu, Makunudu, 

 Wataru, are but little deeper than the lagoons of smaller faros like those I 

 have just mentioned, or of the many others scattered over the various 

 groups of the plateau of the Maldives. 



We cannot distinguish these faros from atolls, whether isolated or 

 forming a part of an extensive chain, or occupying a portion of the face 

 of the Maldivian plateau, or scattered within the basins enclosed by these 

 chains. The faros and atolls have the same characteristic features, and 

 nowhere is this more prominently brought out than in the group of islands 

 forming the so-called Tiladummati and Miladummadulu atolls (Pis. 2, 3). 



Other cases of isolated faros and of atolls are the Powell Islands, about 

 eight miles west of Miladummadulu ; Makunudu, nearly ten miles off the 

 west coast of the same group with a depth of nearly eight hundred fathoms 

 in the centre of the dividing channel; Ihavandiffulu, separated from the 

 northern face of Tiladummati by a channel of nearly four miles in width, 

 with a greatest depth of two hundred and fifty-one fathoms. The large 

 faros at the northern extremity of Tiladummati, separated as they are ■■ 



by wide and deep channels, show the impossibility of distinguishing faros ^ 



from atolls. 



An extreme case, perhaps, is that of Karidu (PI. 3), distant about six- 

 teen miles from Fadiffolu and twelve from Gaha Faro, with greatest depths 

 in the channels of three hundred and seventy-two and two hundred and 



I 



