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HYDROGRAPHY. 



GARDNER'S OR KEMIN'S ISLAND. 



Gardner's Island was visited by the Vincennes. It is a low coral 

 island, with a shallow lagoon, which occupies the northwest end ; 

 there is no opening into the lagoon, and the tide flows over the reef 

 into it. The island is II miles square. The trees on it are of large 

 growth, 40 to 50 feet high, of the same kind as are usually found on 

 the islands, but it is remarkable that there is no undergrowth similar 

 to other islands. There are no inhabitants, and the birds in conse- 

 quence congregate in numbers, and are quite tame and fearless. 



SWAIN'S ISLAND. 



Swain's Island was first seen by Captain Swain, of the whale ship 

 Swain, and visited by the Peacock in 1841. It is of coral formation, 

 has no lagoon, and may be classed with the high coral islands. 

 It forms a large segment of a circle, and is 4 T 3 5 miles in circum- 

 ference. Its height above the sea is from 15 to 25 feet. It is well 

 wooded with cocoanut palms, pandanus, and other tropical trees and 

 shrubs, is not inhabited, and there are no signs of its ever having 

 been so, except the trees that produce fruit. The sea breaks violently 

 on all sides, and landing must be at all times difficult. There are no 

 soundings within a mile of the island with 250 fathoms of line. I am 

 inclined to believe this island may be the Solitaire of Mendana, dis- 

 covered in 1595. 



SIMINOFF AND MIRIKOFF. 



Twenty miles to the south of the Island of Ono, lie the two small 

 islands of Siminoff and Mirikoff, both of which are inhabited. They 

 were discovered by Bellinghausen the same year as Ono. They are 

 separated from each other 6 miles in a west-by-south and east-by- 

 north direction, are of nearly the same size, and have a coral reef sur- 

 rounding them, which extends one mile. The most northern and 

 eastern one is Mirikoff ; it trends northwest-by-west and southeast- 

 by-east ; it is li miles long, by half a mile wide. The southern 

 Siminoff, has its length northeast-by-east and southwest-by-west. 



