INDIAN MAP.INE SURVEYS. 19 



The boat party, in charge of Lieutenant "W. H. Coombs, R.N., 

 also did some useful work. It executed a survey of False Point, 

 on two sheets, the scales being 600 feet to 1 inch, and 4 inches to 

 1 nautic mile, respectively. For the first month the whole of the 

 work had to be carried on with only the whale boat, and all the 

 officers and men suffered more or less from the malarial fever, for 

 which the place is notorious. The remainder of the season was 

 taken up with surveys of Santapilly reef, Coconada, and the 

 southern portion of Madras harbour. 



During most of the following year the charge of the surveys was 

 temporarily transferred to Lieutenant A. Channer, R.N., and under 

 his superintendence a survey of the Karil Kachal channel and 

 Vingorla rocks was made, after which the " Investigator " weighed 

 anchor and proceeded to run a line of deep-sea soundings parallel 

 to and about 60 miles off the coast to the Gulf of Manar, and 

 across the gulf to Colombo, passing over the " Wedge bank." 



The nest work undertaken was a survey, in December 1882, of the 

 Dhumra river entrance, and the portion of the Baitarani (Bvturnee) 

 river from its junction with the Dhumra up to Chandbally, and the 

 following month Balasore roadstead and Burraballung river up to 

 Balasore town were charted. The "Investigator" nest proceeded 

 to Chittagong, where a rough reconnaissance of the Meghna river, 

 from Narayanganj to Sandwip channel, and of the Karnaphuli or 

 Chittagong river, to three miles seaward was made, after which the 

 ship returned to Bombay. 



No. 1 Boat survey party, which had been in abeyance during the 

 previous year on account of the officers formerly composing it 

 having been required for duty on board the new surveying steamer, 

 was reconstituted on the 1st October 1882. Under Commander 

 Dawson, a survey of Back bay, Bombay, on the scale of two inches 

 to the mile, was commenced, and continued and completed by 

 Lieutenant Pascoe, the result being to show a slight deepening of the 

 bay to the northward as compared with Lieutenant Whish's survey 

 of 1861. Karachi harbour was nest taken in hand, and plotted 

 on a double-elephant sheet, the work comprising 19^ miles of coast 

 line, and 16 square miles of sounding. A decided silting of the 

 harbour on the west side, and also a great decrease of water space 

 to the northward by the Puhi and Soti creeks were revealed, and 

 westward of Manora Point several rocky patches, wdjere numerous 

 vessels had lost their anchors, were found, and clearly marked and 

 B 2 



