THE MAESHALL ISLANDS. 273 



Jemo, Lib, Kili, and Jabwat are small islands, tlie summits of diminutive 

 ridges surrounded by reef flats similar to those of somewhat smaller islands, 

 like Tike'i and others in the Paumotus. 



I am informed by our pilot that Lib and Mejit both have shallow, 

 diminutive lagoons filled with brackish water, entirely shut off from the 

 sea, with neither corals nor fishes, and only a few diminutive shells living 

 in the lagoon. Jemo has no sink, and is flat. Jabwat and Kili have 

 small sinks in which water collects. Jaluit, Namu, Kwajalong, Ujae, and 

 Wottho are more or less elongated, irregularly shaped atolls. Arhno is 

 the most peculiar atoll of the Marshall group, with characteristics of 

 some of the other atolls extravagantly exaggerated. Finally, Ebon, Nam- 

 orik, and Lae, three small atolls, six to seven miles in diameter, circular in 

 outline, approach nearer the condition of a theoretical atoll than any of the 

 other islands in the Marshall group. These form the principal types of 

 atolls of the Marshall Islands. The w^estern faces of Namorik and Lae are 

 formed by a narrow reef flat ; while in Ebon the western shore slanting 

 slightly towards the south is occupied by islands of considerable size, 

 through which a long and intricate pass leads into the lagoon. The 

 lagoon of Ebon varies from eighteen to twenty-five fathoms in depth. 

 That of Namorik has recently been gradually filled up, as it is impossible 

 for a schooner to pass the western reef flat ; when first visited by whites, 

 schooners of considerable size anchored in what is now a closed lagoon 

 as far as navigation is concerned. In Ebon a pass from the westward 

 leads into the lagoon with a depth of from ten to twelve feet. The 

 western face of Ebon is flanked on its lagoon side with innumerable sand 

 spits, sand bars, and coral patches; the passes into the lagoon are com- 

 pletely blocked by numerous shoals which exteiid through it. 



Ujelang, one of the Marshall Islands, nearly 300 miles to the west of 

 Ujae, has the same general direction as the islands of the Ralick Chain. 

 It is eleven miles in length, with a greatest width of about two- and 

 a half miles ; it is evidently the summit of a long narrow ridge to the 

 west of the Marshall Islands. The depth of its lagoon is said to be 

 eighteen to twenty fathoms, and numerous coral patches and sand bars are 

 scattered through the interior. 



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