Mr Gardiner , The Atoll of Minikoi. 
25 
washing away as evidenced by (1) its narrowness and steepness, 
(2) a small sand cliff terminating it above, and (3) numerous 
fallen coconut trees. 
The north part of the island is composed almost entirely of 
an agglomerate limestone rock, such a rock as is being formed at 
the present day on any reef in this region freely exposed to the 
ocean. By the lagoon a little sand is in one place found. The 
rock further is found as a fringe on the seaward face of the whole 
of Minikoi island, and also forms the islands of Wiringili and 
Ragandi. To the north of Minikoi the lagoon face is everywhere 
rapidly washing away. It has a cliff above, varying up to 10 feet 
in height, a narrow rocky beach and off this a flat reef, just 
covered at low tide, about 130 yards broad. On the inner half of 
this reef and in the beach are a number of rocky masses, or 
pinnacles, exposed. On these many of the corals are in the 
position of growth and little broken ; and in the cliff the coral 
masses lie more or less horizontally. 
The beach on the seaward face north of Mou-Rambu Point is 
also very steep with, in places, a cliff above ; it is mainly formed 
of coral masses, which have been part of the rock of the island. 
They are often much rounded, but even after storms the beach 
shows no signs of any additions of recently living corals from 
seaward. There is no reef to seaward as is found ordinarily in 
such a position, but there is a flat, about 30 yards broad, covered 
with low green algae, sloping 2 feet and consisting of three ill- 
defined terraces, strewn with pinnacles. Outside the slope drops 
to 2 fathoms, and then attains its ordinary character outside 
atolls. South of Mou-Rambu Point the beach decreases in steep- 
ness, and the terrace formation of the flat gives place to a reef, 
closely resembling the seaward reef of Funafuti island. It 
reaches a maximum breadth of 120 yards, has a marked reef-flat 
at the low tide level with little or no coral growth and a broken 
buttressed edge with masses growing up outside, gradually 
joining on to the same. Corals are of little importance, nullipores 
covering the whole edge as off Rotuma and on the most exposed 
reefs of the Fiji Group. 
At the south-west end of Minikoi the fringe of rock continues 
into a well-marked rough (or boulder) zone, covered completely 
only at springs. This joins it to Wiringili and thence to Ragandi, 
continuing round, though less marked, to the deep channel at the 
north-east corner of the atoll. It is formed largely of loose coral 
blocks, but among these are found a number of masses, which 
actually form part of the reef itself. To seaward the reef has 
the same features as off the south of Minikoi. Against the ships’ 
channel the older natives of the atoll remember the existence of 
an island with three coconut trees, called Tori-Gandu. 
