302 A. Agassiz — Expedition to the Maldives. 



the channel separating the northern extremity of Makunudu 

 and the northwestern extremity of Miladummadulu we obtained 

 792 fms. Eight miles west of the southern part of North 

 Malosmadnlu the depth was 1,247 fms. Off the southwestern 

 face of Ari we ran into 1,499 fms. at a distance of eight miles. 

 The only line we ran into deep water off the east face of the 

 Maldives was off the center of the east face of South Male, w T here 

 we found 1,270 fms. at a distance of twelve miles from Guru 

 Island. These soundings indicate a comparatively steeper 

 slope off the west face of the Maldive plateau than off the 

 eastern face. 



As regards the great wide basin which separates the chain of 

 the eastern group of atolls from the western one, beginning at 

 the north we find as great a depth as 513 fms. in the center of 

 the northern part of the channel separating Miladummadulu 

 and North Malosmadulu. In the line from Fadiffolu to South 

 Malosmadnlu we find 519 fms. within a mile and a half of the 

 former, with not more than 364 fms. in the center of the chan- 

 nel. In the center of the channel between Gafaru and Goidu 

 the greatest depth is 258 fms. A short line run west of North 

 Male atoll, somewhat south of the center of the west face, 

 indicates, from the depth of 186 fms. obtained at a distance of 

 five miles, that the plateau of that part of the western face i& 

 quite shallow, and that Toddu and Eoss atolls (Rasdu) are on 

 its western rim. This is corroborated by the soundings on the 

 charts off these atolls to the north of Ari, somewhat to the 

 west and south of our line. In the center of the channel 

 separating Ari and South Male we found 318 fms., while we 

 obtained 194 fms. near the center of the line between South 

 Nilandu and Mulaku, with a deepest sounding of 205 fms. 

 three miles off the west face of Mulaku. I should add that 

 the bottom of all the channels separating the composite atolls 

 appears to be quite flat, the soundings drop rapidly, and gener- 

 ally at a distance of a mile and a half from either face they 

 reach a depth but little inferior to the greatest depth in the 

 center of the channels. 



The greatest depths thus far obtained in the channels sep- 

 arating Minikoi from the northern Maldives (1,179 fms.) and 

 the former from the Laccadives (1,197 fms.) are about those 

 which separate the Southern Maldives from one another and 

 from the central part of the group. 



It is interesting to note that both Minikoi and the Laccadives 

 as well as the Southern and Northern Maldive atolls and some 

 others to which I shall refer later have none of the character- 

 istics of what has been called the composite Maldivian atoll,, 

 but on the contrary resemble such Pacific atolls as characterize 

 mainly the Ellis and Gilbert groups. 



A mere glance at the Admiralty Charts of the Maldives* can- 



* B. A. Charts Nos 66a, b, c. 



