30 INDIAN MARINE SURVEYS. 



She had reached Ras-el-Hadd on the east coast of Arabia, when 

 she was caught in a gale and foundered in a few hours ; seven of 

 the crew managed to climb into an empty wooden water-tank 

 which had been washed off the deck, and there the seven men 

 lived for ten days without either food or water. After the lapse 

 of those ten days the survivors died one by one, the bodies being 

 flung overboard, and the tank drifting on steadily towards the coast 

 of Cutch at the rate of 28 miles a day. The sixth man died whilst 

 within sight of land, and the last solitary survivor managed to 

 crawl ashore at Jakao, in Cutch. He found a pot of millet, but 

 his throat was so parched that he was unable to swallow it till it 

 was moistened with sea water ; thus refreshed he was able to make 

 his way along the shore till he reached a native hut, where he was 

 kindly treated, though laid up for a long time with fever. 



Commander Carpenter considers that there is very little doubt 

 that this same tank, after touching the coast at Jakao on the north 

 side of the entrance to the Gulf of Cutch, was driven seaward by 

 the outset of the gulf consequent on the heavy monsoon rains, 

 and drifting southwards along the west coast of India in the 

 southerly current that relieves the pressure of water on the Sind 

 coast during the S.W. monsoon, was carried out to the Laccadives 

 after the monsoon was over. 



The " Investigator " proceeded in November to the Andaman 

 islands, which, with the exception of the little Andamans, had been 

 all recently triangulated by Captain Holiday of the Trigonometrical 

 Survey. A coast survey based on the land triangulation, and 

 on the scale of one inch to the mile, was set in hand, and 724 

 square miles in all sounded. Of the harbour of Port Blair a rough 

 chart by Lieutenant Dickson and Mr. Marshall, I.N., had been 

 made in 18(51. and as a more perfect survey was now considered 

 necessary, a detached party under Lieutenant B. Wbitehouse, R.N"., 

 took this in hand, and completed 1 6 square miles of soundings on 

 the 5-inch scale, including 288 square miles about the Western 

 Coral banks, which were gone over most minutely to ascertain 

 whether there was any really dangerous shoal water on them. The 

 Least water found was six fathoms. On two occasions instead of 

 anchoring on the banks for the night the ship was allowed to drift, 

 and some very rare marine specimens were obtained by trawling, 

 and sent to the Calcutta Museum. 



