MAKEMO. 99 



the reef flat of the west face extend nearly to the southwest point. North 

 of the southwest point and to the eastward, shallow gaps cut across the land 

 rim, and water passes freely through the gaps between the bars into the 

 lagoon across the southern face, and the eastern part of the northeast face 

 of the atoll. The whole face of the atoll from the eastern to the southwest 

 horn is open to the full force of the prevailing trades. 



Makemo. 



Plates 59-65 ; 75, fig. 4 ; 201, Q03, 20^.. 



The atoll of Makemo is about forty miles in length, its greatest width 

 not more than six or seven miles. We entered the lagoon through the 

 channel on the northeastern side of the island, near the eastern extremity. 

 The whole south face of this atoll is nothing but a series of rocky bars 

 exposed at low water, with here and there an isolated island thrown up on 

 the reef flat. The reef flat of the land rim of the southwest face of 

 Makemo forms a great arc ending in a sharp horn at the southeast point of 

 the atoll. The western part of the north face is convex; it then becomes 

 concave, the land rim trending to the southeast as far as the northeast pass, 

 when the face of the land rim makes a sharp angle and runs nearly due 

 east to the southeastern point. 



On our way to Takume we passed the northwest point of Makemo ; it 

 has a wide outer reef flat. The sea edge is higher than the platform flat, 

 with a depression running along the Nullipore edge, forming a narrow 

 platform lagoon. At the northwest point there is a high coral shingle 

 beach ; the land rim is narrow, with many low gaps over which one can 

 see into the lagoon. The islands on the west face of the atoll are thrown 

 up from the sea face. 



The northwest pass is wide, flanked on the east side by a well-wooded 

 spit with a steep coral shingle beach, and on the west by a low sand spit, 

 partly covered with large boulders of beach rock and edged by a line of 

 smaller boulders of recent conglomerate. 



On our return from Takume we struck Makemo about twelve miles north 

 of the northeast pass, where it presents the usual appearance of other 



