1835.] Survey of the Maldive Islands. 32 1 



pleasant walks, shaded from the sun by the thick foliage of the cocoa- 

 nut and other trees. Like the natives of the other Atolls they gain their 

 livelihood by fishing. Cocoanuts, and the fish called by them Goom-le- 

 mus (Boneta), which are caught in great quantities, form their princi- 

 pal food : rice, being imported, is very scarce, and only procurable by 

 the better class of inhabitants. Fresh water is plentiful, wells having 

 been dug in almost every quarter of the island ; but the best is procured 

 from those situated in the burying ground. Fowls are abundant on all 

 the islands, but not easily procured, being remarkably wild and difficult 

 to catch, and the natives too indolent to take the trouble necessary to 

 secure them. Money, for which they have little use, will not fetch its 

 full value ; rice, tobacco, and betel-nuts being the best medium of 

 barter. 



WEATHER. 



October. The winds moderate and variable from W. S. W. to 

 N. with cool, pleasant weather, and occasional hard squalls, accom- 

 panied by heavy showers of rain. 



November. Light breezes from N. N. E. to N. N. W., and occasional 

 squalls from the eastward, until the 22nd, when dark, cloudy tempes- 

 tuous weather and incessant rain set in from the W. N. W. On the 

 27th, it cleared up, and continued fine for the remainder of the month. 



December. Moderate breezes generally from E. N. E., with plea- 

 sant clear weather, occasionally from E. S. E., with squalls and rain. 



During these three months, the mean temperature of the atmos- 

 phere ranged from 80° to 84°, frequently decreasing in the squalls to 

 78°. 



The tides are extremely irregular, and at all times influenced by the 

 prevailing winds and currents. 



During the strong westerly breezes, the flood set to the eastward, and 

 continued to run for the greater part of the day ; but when they mo- 

 derated, the ebb, in like manner, set to the westward, the water falling 

 6 or 7 inches lower than I had ever seen it before even on the 

 springs. 



In moderate weather, when the tides flow with somewhat greater 

 regularity, the ebb always runs an hour and a half longer than the flood. 



The rise and fall of water is then about five feet, and the velocity 

 about a mile and a half per hour. 



In October, November, and December, the current to the westward 

 of the Atoll set to the southward, at the rate of 36 miles per day : the 

 natives say, that it commences about the middle of September, and 

 continues to the end of December, when the easterly winds set in, 

 then turns to the westward, and runs in that direction until April. 



S R 



