The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-14

IoO Ieet corals began to form the reef D..
reei lhus made would generally he 49,
q 9irdn one SO DR.. Murray supposed tbo
Doth atoll and lagoon could be enIsro.I 10
ne former was extended in this wav. tn.
waves broke branches off the outer a5oo
VI tne reeI, which accumulated as a tal9S
at lts foot, and this made a foupao.ie
on which fresh coral could prou- ION
Wlthln the lagoon the condition of the ~
Ter would be unfavorable to the life -
polyps. Most of the coral would he 49,
L ms ne supposed, would be dissolved b.
the sea water and carried away bv ~
tide Thus the lagoon would he enloro ,li5
oy corrosive process, and the atolI. as
d Whole, would spread in the ocean like
talry ring" in a meadow.
Both these hypothesis. and. tndaad No..
of the disputants, admitted that tba liz I;S.
OF reet-building polyps was limited hv
oepth OF twenty-five. or, at most of thir-
" Iathoms. If, then, coral rocks cnuI5
De pierced continuously for a greater dentb
than this, or, indeed, true reef couId he
struck below that limit Darwin's exn;a-
nation alone was applicable to the atoII
In regard to other matters, the soundings
which mad been already obtained were
claimed as on their side by both narties
but very serious objections had been
brought against the idea of the lagoon
being enlarged by the corrosive action ~
sea water, so that a weak point had AL
ready been found in DR.
Murray's hypothesis. suu il
was generally felt that, without Ger.
tain knowledge of the actual structure
OF an atoil there was not the slightest
hope of settling the question.
The result of the expedition was reno-t-
ed to the Royal Society. The party ar
rived at Funafuti on May q. Difficult
ties are by no means at an end when
vessel is anchored in the lagoon. which
IN so many atolls forms a natural har-
Dor. Good landing places owing to
variety OF reasons, are few, and the plant
for boring is heavy. Thus. a. site which
seems favorable for that purpose may be
practlcally inaccessible, and the places
easily reached may not be promising in
the other respect. The bore hole also
must be near either the inner or the outer
edge OF the atoll, for much water is re-
CURED to work the apparatus, and the
wells in these islands are few and I'm.
suitable.
AT last place which seemed promising
was found, the apparatus was landed and
set up-no easy, task, but the word i'm
possible" seems hardly to exist in the
naval vocabulary and the good will of
both officers and sailors to be inexhausti-
pie. Boring began on June 8. At first
talr progress was made, though the mate
rial pierced presented some unexpected
difficulties. 1t was anticipated that.
whatever might be the nature of the up
per portion of the atoll zone Of con-
soldated coral rock would be reached at
a very moderate depth, which would be
as easy to deal with as an ordinary lime-
stone. The carbonate drill, or even the
cutters of hardened steel, which had been
taken for alternative use, would readily
make their way through this, and pro-
vide a continuous core for examination
No such material was found.
AT depth of fhirty-two feet they
struck coral rock, but even there il was
very far from solid; for it was, to use
Prof. Sollas' words like a coarse sponge
of coral with wide interstices either empty
or filled with sand. This continued for
thickness of fifty-two feet when mate
rial like a quicksand was struck. WIN
this nothing could be done; 1t clogged the
crown and choked the lining pipe. WIN
great difficulty-for here and there
bowlder-like mass of coral was met WIN
they forced the tubes down another
twenty feet, to a depth of 105 feet IN alL
aud then the experts declared furheI
progress impossible. A second attempt 4
was made on the seward side, where tio
reef at the surface appeared eXcepuonaHy
strong. But that Jared no better. Al
less depth than before-sxty-ilYe ies.
they fell in with their old enemy all
found 1t even more ntractable, so tna'
they had to cease work al a sth hlols s
moderate depth. Time and resouio
were now running short-it was nopelssss ~
to try again. and the expedition lel' 'HS
island at the end of July.