INDIAN OCEAN. 
249 
the land appears to be (Life of Sir J. Mackintosh, vol. ii. 
p. 165) hilly and rugged. I am unable to decide whether 
these reefs belong to the barrier class, as seems probable 
from their great extension, or to the fringing class ; un- 
coloured. 1 — Bourbon : the greater part of the shores of this 
island are without reefs ; but Captain Carmichael (Hooker’s 
Bot. Misc.) states that a portion, 15 miles in length, on the 
S.E. side, is imperfectly fringed with coral-reefs ; I have not 
thought this sufficient evidence for colouring the island. 
Seychelles. — The rocky islands of primary formation, 
composing this group, rise from a very extensive and toler- 
ably level bank, having a depth of between 20 and 40 
fathoms. In Captain Owen’s chart, and in that in the atlas 
of the Voyage of the Favourite, it appears that the east 
side of Mahi and the adjoining islets of St. Anne and Cerf, 
are regularly fringed by coral-reefs. A portion of the S.E. 
part of Curieuse Island, the N. and part of the S.W. shore 
of Praslin Island, and the whole west side of Digue Island, 
appear fringed. From a MS. account of these islands by 
Captain F. Moresby, in the Admiralty, it appears that 
Silhouette is also fringed ; he states that all these islands 
are formed of granite and quartz, that they rise abruptly 
from the sea, and that * coral-reefs have grown round them, 
and project for some distance.’ Dr. Allan of Forres, who 
visited these islands, informs me that there is no deep water 
between the reefs and the shore. The above specified 
points have been coloured red. Amirantes Islands : the 
small islands of this neighbouring group, according to the 
MS. account of them by Captain F. Moresby, are situated 
on an extensive bank ; they consist of the debris of corals 
and shells ; they are only about 20 feet in height, and are 
1 [There are fringing-reefs of a width of four and a half miles to 
leeward and of a few yards to windward. Outside them the water 
shoals gradually. The island is high and basaltic, with upraised 
coral in many places up to a height of about 50 feet above the sea.— 
Capt. Wharton. See Appendix II.] 
