PACIFIC OCEAN. 22] 



mile and three quarters from the shore ; but on the north side 

 it is five miles distant from the included high islets. The 

 reef is broken in several places ; and just within it, the depth 

 in one place is 30 fathoms, and in another, 28, beyond which, 

 to all appearance, there was ' un port vaste et sur ' (Lutke, 

 vol. ii. p. 4). Coloured pale blue. — Hogoleu or Roug. This 

 wonderful group contains at least 62 islands, and its reef is 

 135 miles in circuit. Of the islands, only a few, about six or 

 eight (see Hydrog. Description, p. 428, of the Voyage of the 

 Astrolabe, and the large accompanying chart taken chiefly 

 from that given by Duperrey) are high, and the rest are all 

 small, low, and formed on the reef. The depth of the great 

 interior lake has not been ascertained ; but Captain D'Urville 

 appears to have entertained no doubt about the possibility of 

 taking in a frigate. The reef lies no less than 14 miles 

 distant from the northern coasts of the interior high islands ; 

 seven miles from their western sides, and 20 from the 

 southern : the sea is deep outside. This island resembles on 

 a grand scale the Gambier group in the Low Archipelago. Of 

 the low 1 islands forming the chief part of the Caroline Archi- 

 pelago, all those of larger size (as may be seen in the Atlas by 

 Captain Lutke), and some even of the small ones of which plans 

 are given in the Atlas of the Coquille's Voyage, are true atolls. 

 There are, however, some low, small islands of coral formation, 

 namely, Ollap, Tamatam, Bigali, SataJwual, which do not 

 contain lagoons; but it is probable that lagoons originally 

 existed, but have since filled up : Lutke (vol. ii. p. 304) seems 

 to have thought that all the low islands, with only one excep- 

 tion, contained lagoons. The most southern island in the 

 group, namely, Piguiram, is not coloured, because I have found 

 no account of it. JSTougouor, or Monte Verdison, which was not 



1 In D'Urville and Lottin's chart, Pescrare is written with capital 

 letters ; but this evidently is an error, for it is one of the low islets on 

 the reef of Namonouyto (see Lutke's charts), which is a regular atoll. 



