150 PROF. W. J. DAKIN : EXPEDITION TO THE 



The two large islands form a kind of central mass. To the west of them 

 lies a more or less shallow lagoon with an outer reef margin four miles 

 or so to the west of East Wallaby Isle. To the eastward of the two 

 Wallaby Isles is another lagoon with irregular coral reef bounding it, 

 and small islets exist here and there where the reef rises above the sea-level. 

 When sailing from the coast, one first sights the small islets of the reef on 

 the eastern side, especially the rather long narrow islet (known as Long 

 Island). The elevation of the Wallaby Islands, however, is sufficient to 

 make them more conspicuous than is the case with any of the southern 

 groups, so that in reality they are picked up from the masthead practically as 

 soon as their eastern outposts. On our first expedition we ran into Turtle 

 Bay (see map, text-fig. 5) first, as this shelter was easily reached from the 

 open sea. After a few days we moved down Recruit Bay until a position 

 was reached close to East Wallaby Island and almost opposite the channel 

 between it and West Wallaby Island. On the second expedition we reached 

 the Wallaby Group from the south, and after passing through the Channel 

 close to the east side of Long Island (see map, text-fig. 2) we entered 

 the lagoon and anchored close to the latter. Later on we changed to 

 an anchorage of the former expedition in order to investigate the larger 

 islands over again. Dredging was carried out north of the Wallaby Group 

 between the East Wallaby and North Islands, in Recruit Bay, in the 

 Channel east of Long Island, north of Morning Reef, in the lagoon, and 

 some distance south of the group. 



We shall consider the large islands first. The East and West Wallaby 

 Islands appear to have been only recently separated, and the separation does 

 not amount to much at the present time. The channel between them, which 

 has a width of about a mile, is only a foot or so deep at high tide, and large 

 areas are exposed at low water. It was regularly crossed by members of the 

 party when they wished to reach West Wallaby Island, and if the tide were 

 up and one were near the middle of the channel, with a fresh breeze stirring 

 up the water, the situation was distinctly peculiar — one seemed to be standing 

 in the centre of the sea ! The floor of the channel is a flat of coral, here and 

 there covered with a thin layer of mud, and bearing very distinct evidence of 

 solution and erosion by the sea. The only additions are being made in odd 

 places by the ever-present Vermetus. Beyond a few sponges, crabs, and some 

 fish which abound in the large hollows of the flat, little is flourishing here. 



East Wallaby Island. 



The East Wallaby Island is about 1\ miles from north to south and a 

 little more from east to west measured along the northern coast. Its longest 

 diameter runs N.E. to S.W. and juts out considerably in the form of a 

 north-eastern cape, Fish Point, which separates Turtle Bay from Recruit Bay. 

 The highest part of East Wallaby Island is 40-50 feet high and this occurs 

 right on the eastern coast, which is of some little elevation from the north- 



