390 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



of a number of small atolls, called " faros " by the 

 natives, while the interior is studded with faros, shoals, 

 and islands. The peculiar conditions found in the Mal- 

 dives are probably due chiefly to the alternating north- 

 east and southwest monsoons, which convert a weather 

 into a lee shore, and vice versa, and set up alternating 

 currents in the lagoon ; thus creating forces which con- 

 tribute in a great measure not only to the shape of 

 the shoals upon which the corals have started, but 

 to the growth of the corals themselves. This view is 

 strengthened by the fact that in the southern part of 

 the archipelago, which is outside the region of mon- 

 soons, the atolls are very similar to some of those in the 

 Pacific. In the Maldives, however, the corals have grown 

 up from banks at a suitable depth, while in the Paumo- 

 tus, for instance, the foundations for the corals have 

 been cut from ledges of a once greater height. That 

 corals grow with unusual luxuriance within the lagoons, 

 in marked contrast to the scanty growths in atolls of 

 the Pacific, accounts for the many faros and flats found 

 in the Maldives. The numerous wide passes between 

 the faros on the rim of the lagoon allow a very free 

 circulation of water, which renders the conditions within 

 the lagoon more favorable for coral growths than in 

 most lagoons elsewhere ; the immense bodies of water 

 that the monsoons force across these lagoons are also a 

 very considerable factor in the formation of the com- 

 posite atoll. 



From his anchorage at Male, Agassiz had his first 

 view of those remarkable rings which form such a char- 

 acteristic feature in the coral reef scenery of the lagoons 

 of the Maldives. These rings, bands of shallow, light- 

 colored water, stand out from the deep-blue water 



