344 CORALS AND CORAL ISLANDS. 



Nonouti, Kuria, Maiana, and Tarawa, lying between the 

 two islands above mentioned, were seen only from the ship, and 

 nothing decisive bearing on the subject of elevation was ob- 

 served. On the northeast side of Nononti there was a hill 

 twenty or thirty feet in height covered with trees ; but we had 

 no means of learning that it was not artificial. We were, how- 

 ever, informed by Kirby, a sailor taken from Kuria, that the 

 reef of Apamama was elevated precisely like that of Apaiang, to 

 a height of five feet ; and this was confirmed by Lieutenant De 

 Haven, who was engaged in the survey of the reef. We were 

 told, also, that Kuria and Nononti were similar in having the 

 reef elevated, though to a less extent. It would hence appear 

 that the elevations in the group increase to the northward. 



Marakei, to the north of Apaiang, is wooded throughout. 

 We sailed around it without landing, and can only say that it 

 has probably been uplifted like the islands south. Mahin, the 

 northernmost island, presented in the distant view no certain 

 evidence of elevation. 



The elevation of the Kingsmills accounts for the long con- 

 tinuity of the wooded lines of land, an unusual fact considering 

 the size of the islands. The amount of fresh water obtained 

 from springs is also uncommon, (p. 281). 



I. The Marshall and Caroline Islands. — The facts in 

 reference to the islands of these groups, are not yet fully known. 

 The very small amount of wooded land on the Pescadores in- 

 clines us to suspect rather a subsidence than an elevation ; and 

 the same fact might be gathered, with regard to some of the 

 islands south, from the charts of Kotzebue and Kruesenstern. 

 But McAskill's, as stated on page 304, is an elevated coral 

 island, having a height of 100 feet. 



m. Ladrones. — The seventeen islands which constitute this 

 group may all have undergone elevations within a recent pe- 



