FELIDU. 115 



reef flat with foiu' narrow lagoons, in one of which near the eastern horn is 

 found eleven fathoms of water. Along the northern face of the eastern 

 part of Felidu four elongated reef flats extend, separated by narrow passes. 

 One of the flats is an elliptical faro with seven fathoms in its lagoon. 



The faros on the southwestern and eastern face of Felidu are most 

 irregular in shape. In no group have we found such irregular edges to the 

 inner face of the reef flats as on the northwest face of Felidu. Off each flat 

 runs a series of cusps, spits, and points, similar to those south of Akirifuri 

 on the northwest face of North Male. Some of these extend a considerable 

 distance into the lagoon. They form bays and hooks enclosing parts of the 

 adjoining waters, some of them of considerable depth varying from three to 

 twelve fathoms. It is probable that the eastern extension of the narrow 

 reef flat forming the foot of Felidu was originally developed from a series 

 of such cusps and spits growing on a shallow part of the Felidu plateau, 

 and uniting small faros more or less elliptical, once separated by shallow 

 passes. 



The faros of the western and eastern faces of Felidu are separated by 

 comparatively narrow and deep passes. There are no less than ten of these 

 along the southwestern face in a distance of about twelve miles. The west- 

 ern part of Felidu is dotted with rings, faros, banks, and heads ; several of 

 the rings are nearly a mile in diameter. There are only four islands and 

 islets in the central part of Felidu; the eastern projection of Felidu is nearly 

 clear of obstructions. The greatest depth of Felidu is forty-one fathoms in 

 the southeastern part ; the majority of the soundings range between twenty 

 and thirty fathoms. 



Rakidu Island is on the east of the pass by which we entered Felidu; to 

 the east of the island is another very narrow pass, a long spit makes out 

 from the western extremity of Rakidu enclosing a small lagoon. On the 

 west side of the pass a small islet has been formed by the accumulation of 

 sand behind the heaps of shingle and of boulders thrown up on the eastern 

 edge of the reef flat of the large faro on the west side of Rakidu Pass. 

 As far as could be seen, similar heaps of shingle and of boulders flank 

 the outer edge of the west face of the faros forming the southwest face 

 of Felidu. 



