18&1.] 
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everywhere overhanging, and occasionally with tunnelled projecting 
points. This wall is here on an average from 10-15 feet above high- 
water-mark. There was no time to circumnavigate the island, but the 
coast is said to present similar features in its whole circuit, the cliff 
being highest at the south-west corner of the island and being there 
about 50 feet high. 
The difficulty of landing is largely due to this feature of over- 
hanging cliff and is much increased by the strength of the tidal currents 
which, even in calm weather, cause a heavy swell to surge into the 
caverns and along the cliff-face. On reaching the edge of the cliff we 
find, at this pait of the coast, a rocky platform over which the waves 
evidently w'asli in the monsoon. The rock is a limestone, and is, by 
weathering and wave-action, worn into the most fantastic spikes and 
pinnacles and lidges,* the sharp edges of which make walking extremely 
difficult. This platform slopes backwards rather rapidly to a height of 
about 10 feet more when the jungle commences with the ordinary sea- 
fence of Pandanus, etc. ; the platform itself is almost destitute of vegeta¬ 
tion, the only species present in it being tufts of Oldenlayidio, coTynihosa, 
Boerhaavia repens and Fimbristylis diphylla. Within the sea-fence the 
surface of the island is even and almost flat from side to side of the 
island, t 
The commonest tall tree is Mimusops littoralis, which is not here 
confined to the coast-zone, but extends from side to side of the island. 
The jungle is less dense than Andamans and ISTicobar forests usually 
are. There is a wonderful absence of climbing species, especially 
of the class of armed climbers, and there is a remarkably large number 
of species with edible fruits, a feature that doubtless owes its existence 
* This fantastically-weathered limestone so much resembles the bottom of 
a coral-pool that the rock has actually been described as a raised coral-reef. (See 
Hume : The Islands of the Bay of Bengal, in Stray Feathers, vol. ii, p. 95). 
t The Admiralty maps give the island a “ landmark-height ” of 130 feet which 
is doubtless correct, and in some maps it will be seen that a hill is indicated in the 
centre of the island ; this, however, is quite incorrect. The height at the north-east 
corner is, as has been said in the text, about 30 feet ,• at the south-west corner 
the height is said to be about 60 feet; assuming that the whole island has an even 
surface the middle of the island cannot exceed 45 feet. Here, as in all other islands 
exposed to strong monsoons, the trees immediately oh the coast are stunted and 
dwarfed, becoming progressively taller as we pass inland. The principal tree is 
Mimusops littoralis, and even near the shore this often reaches a height of 60 feet, 
while trees a few hundred yards inland reach 80 feet ; this is the common height 
of the tree and one which it rarely exceeds. The height obtained by angular 
measurement from the sea thus not only does not require us to suppose that there 
is a hill in the middle, but shows that there cannot bo anything of the sort and the 
newer maps correctly indicate that the island has a flat surface. 
219 
