PEE FACE 
TO 
THE FIRST EDITION. 
I shall have occasion, in many parts of tlie follow- 
ing volume, to acknowledge the valuable information 
I have received from several persons ; but I must 
more particularly express my obligations to Captain 
R. Moresby, I.N., who conducted the survey of the 
Red Sea, and of the archipelagoes of low coral-islands 
in the Indian Ocean. I beg, also, to be permitted to 
return my best thanks to Captain Beaufort, R.N., for 
having given me free access to the charts in the Ad- 
miralty, as well as to Captain Beecher, R.N., for most 
kindly aiding me in consulting them. My thanks are 
likewise especially due to Captain Washington, R.N., 
for his invariable desire to assist me in every possible 
manner. Having in former publications had the 
pleasure of acknowledging how much I owe to Captain 
