THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. 275 



trades, entirely out of proportion to that which takes place in smaller 

 atolls, although they are exposed to the same conditions, but where the 

 sea does not gather the strength it attains in these gigantic atolls. 



It will be seen on examination of the charts of the various Marshall atolls 

 that the land rim is especially developed on the side exposed to the raking 

 of the northeast trade. It is somewhat less developed on the faces where 

 the trades strike the shore at a greater angle. The land rim on the 

 southern and western faces is usually bare of islands and islets. This is 

 well seen at Namu, where the bulk of the land rim is on the southern and 

 eastern faces, while the western and northern faces, except at the northern 

 horn are a belt of reef flats awash. In Odia, where the west coast faces 

 almost southwest, the effect of the trades in throwing up the land rim is 

 more apparent. It is somewhat less so on the southeastern face and 

 hardly appreciable on the northwestern face. Similarly we may trace the 

 effect of the trades on the extent of the land rim of the irregularly 

 shaped Menschikov atoll. Wherever the coast line faces the general trend 

 of the trades, the narrow land rim of the Marshall Islands is found ; 

 wherever, on the contrary, it runs more or less parallel to it, the land 

 rim is limited to a few insignificant islands and islets ; where the outer 

 face of the lagoon is protected during the greater part of the year, the 

 land rim is still more insignificant, or becomes a belt awash. Where any 

 part of the land rim is exposed to the northwest winds a few islands 

 and islets are thrown up on a part of the reef flat which is usually pro- 

 tected from the eastern trades. By carefully examining the charts we 

 may usually determine the causes which have brought about special condi- 

 tions on short stretches of the outer land rim in such irregularly shaped 

 lagoons as Menschikov, Namu, Arhno, and others. 



The amount of water forced by the trades into the lagoons of the 

 Marshall Islands must be very great, the land rim being reduced to a 

 minimum, and a large proportion of the outer rim often covered by a 

 considerable depth of water either on the lee or on the weather side. 

 The islands and islets of the land rim are, except in occasional instances, 

 the merest threads of land ; the lagoon is often separated from the sea by 

 a dam not more than six to seven feet in height, and sometimes not more 



