PACIFIC OCEAN. 
223 
or horse-shoe formed, like so many other submerged annular 
reefs, I have ventured to colour it blue. 
Saloman Archipelago. — The chart in Ivrusenstern’s 
Atlas shows that these islands are not encircled ; and as 
coral appears, from the w T orks of Surville, Bougainville, and 
Labillardiere, to grow on their shores, this circumstance, 
as in the case of the New Hebrides, is a presumption that 
they are fringed. I cannot find out anything from Dentre- 
casteaux’s Voyage, regarding the southern islands of the 
group, so have left them uncoloured. — Malay ta Island, in 
a rough MS. chart in the Admiralty, has its northern shore 
fringed. — Ysabel Island : the N.E. part of this island, as 
shown in the same chart, is also fringed : Mendana (Burney, 
vol. i. p. 280), speaking of an islet adjoining the northern 
coast, says it is surrounded by reefs : the shores, also, of 
Port Praslin appear regularly fringed. Choiseul Island : 
parts of the shores are fringed by coral-reefs, in Bougain- 
ville’s chart of Choiseul Bay. — Bougainville Island : accord- 
ing to Dentrecasteaux, the western shore abounds with 
coral-reefs, and the smaller islands are said to be attached 
to tlielarger ones by reefs ; all the above-mentioned islands 
have been coloured red. — Boulca Islands : Captain Duperrey 
has kindly informed me in a letter that he passed close 
round the northern side of this island (of which a plan is 
given in his atlas of the Coquille’s Voyage), and that it 
was ‘ garnie d’une bande derecifs a fleur d’eau adherentes 
au rivage ; ’ and he infers, from the abundance of coral on 
the islands north and south of Bouka, that the reef pro- 
bably is of coral ; coloured red. 1 
Off the north coast of the Saloman Archipelago there 
are several small groups which are little known : they 
appear to be low, and of coral formation ; and some of 
them probably have an atoll-like structure : the Chevalier 
1 [Bouka, according to the best accounts, has a barrier-reef, but 
our information is still imperfect. — Capt. Wharton.] 
