142 OBSERVATIONS ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE 



All the islands in this chain examined, shew bold coasts towards 

 the sea. 



There is a considerable opening north of Domel, where a distinct 

 archipelago of bleak and rocky islands begins, and stretching north and 

 south. The belt is formed of four or five parallel rows of islands, and 

 maybe twenty miles in breadth. They are not laid down in the Charts. 

 A vessel, I sailed in, passed through amongst them in coasting, and as 

 the numerous dangerous rocks with which this hitherto unexplored track 

 abounds, rendered it necessary to anchor frequently, I had opportunities 

 of visiting many of the islands. The channels are, for the most part, 

 deep, and a vessel of two or three hundred tons can scarcely find anchor- 

 age near many of the islands when within half a cable's length of them. 



Their formation is primitive. The granite is occasionally associated 

 with black shistose strata, or sandy slate. The specimen produced, was 

 taken from a vertical stratum, of exceedingly indurated shist tinged 

 by oxyd of iron. Lime rock was not observed to prevail. But several 

 of the islands seem heterogeneously composed. Occasionally quartz, 

 white and tabular, was seen to pervade in broad veins the granitic 

 rocks. 



Several " birds' nest" rocks are scattered amongst this group, and 

 it may be inferred that they are calcareous. Pearl oysters are occasion- 

 ally picked up. The pearls got from them are seldom of much value. If 

 pearl beds of any desirable extent do exist, the practice of diving for 

 them, as at Ceylon, might be applied with advantage. The whole of the 

 islands noticed, are destitute of any fixed population. But there is a tribe, 

 termed Chalome and Pase, the families of which rove about collecting the 

 birds' nest, the dammer, the beche-de-mer, conch slugs, wax, scented 



woods, 



