Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Coral reefs and islands; Geology -- South America; Islands; Volcanoes
SANDWICH ARCHIPELAGO.—_Hawaii;_ in the chart in Freycinet’s “Atlas,”
small portions of the coast are fringed by reefs; and in the
accompanying “Hydrog. Memoir,” reefs are mentioned in several places,
and the coral is said to injure the cables. On one side of the islet of
Kohaihai there is a bank of sand and coral with five feet water on it,
running parallel to the shore, and leaving a channel of about fifteen
feet deep within. I have coloured this island red, but it is very much
less perfectly fringed than others of the group.—_Maui;_ in Freycinet’s
chart of the anchorage of Raheina, two or three miles of coast are seen
to be fringed; and in the “Hydrog. Memoir,” “banks of coral along
shore” are spoken of. Mr. F.D. Bennett informs me that the reefs, on an
average, extend about a quarter of a mile from the beach; the land is
not very steep, and outside the reefs the sea does not become deep very
suddenly; coloured red.—_Morotoi_, I presume, is fringed: Freycinet
speaks of the breakers extending along the shore at a little distance
from it. From the chart, I believe it is fringed; coloured red.—_Oahu;_
Freycinet, in his “Hydrog. Memoir,” mentions some of the reefs. Mr.
F.D. Bennett informs me that the shore is skirted for forty or fifty
miles in length. There is even a harbour for ships formed by the reefs,
but it is at the mouth of a valley; red.—_Atooi_, in La Peyrouse’s
charts, is represented as fringed by a reef, in the same manner as Oahu
and Morotoi; and this, as I have been informed by Mr. Ellis, on part at
least of the shore, is of coral-formation: the reef does not leave a
deep channel within; red.—_Oneehow;_ Mr. Ellis believes that this
island is also fringed by a coral-reef: considering its close proximity
to the other islands, I have ventured to colour it red. I have in vain
consulted the works of Cook, Vancouver, La Peyrouse, and Lisiansky, for
any satisfactory account of the small islands and reefs, which lie
scattered in a N.W. line prolonged from the Sandwich group, and hence
have left them uncoloured, with one exception; for I am indebted to Mr.
F.D. Bennett for informing me of an atoll-formed reef, in latitude 28°
22′, longitude 178° 30′ W., on which the “Gledstanes” was wrecked in
1837. It is apparently of large size, and extends in a N.W. and S.E.
line: very few islets have been formed on it. The lagoon seems to be
shallow; at least, the deepest part which was surveyed was only three
fathoms. Mr. Couthouy (“Remarks,” page 38) describes this island under
the name of _Ocean_ island. Considerable doubts should be entertained
regarding the nature of a reef of this kind, with a very shallow
lagoon, and standing far from any other atoll, on account of the
possibility of a crater or flat bank of rock lying at the proper depth
beneath the surface of the water, thus affording a foundation for a
ring-formed coral-reef. I have, however, thought myself compelled, from
its large size and symmetrical outline, to colour it blue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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