. Three voyages of a naturalist, being an account of many little- known islands in three oceans visited by the "Valhalla," ; . ldabra, sighting it an hour or twolater. CHAPTER XII. ALDABRA ISLAND. Very soon after leaving Assumption we sightedthe island of Aldabra. I had previously no ideathat the circumference of this island was sogreat—at the lowest computation it must beone hundred miles. Aldabra is undoubtedly a huge atoll of veryancient formation. The coral of which it is formedis, like that of Assumption, of a deep browncolour. The lagoon enclosed by this atoll is verylarge, with se
. Three voyages of a naturalist, being an account of many little- known islands in three oceans visited by the "Valhalla," ; . ldabra, sighting it an hour or twolater. CHAPTER XII. ALDABRA ISLAND. Very soon after leaving Assumption we sightedthe island of Aldabra. I had previously no ideathat the circumference of this island was sogreat—at the lowest computation it must beone hundred miles. Aldabra is undoubtedly a huge atoll of veryancient formation. The coral of which it is formedis, like that of Assumption, of a deep browncolour. The lagoon enclosed by this atoll is verylarge, with several outlets into the sea, how many,we were unable to estimate in the time at ourdisposal. The principal outlet is situated on theleeward side, and, as the anchorage is markedon the charts as if it were in the mouth of thispassage, we steamed up and dropped anchorclear of the tide rip. The place, however,proved to be totally unsafe, owing to the rushof water entering the lagoon. Indeed, the tidecame in with such violence that Valhallasoon dragged her anchor. We therefore put tosea again, cruising off the leeward side of the. ABBOTT S IBISES ON ALDABRA ISLAND. [1141 THE GIANT TORTOISE 115 island until the morning, when a boat was sentfrom the shore to pilot us to a much safer andbetter spot, not far from the settlement. Aldabra is the home of a huge tortoise,* whichwas at one time fairly abundant, but is now con-jfined to a small area on the northern side. Sodifficult is it to get to this locality that we wereunable to see the tortoises in their wild Hon. Walter Rothschild rents the island ofAldabra from the British Government andprotects the tortoises as well as a peculiar speciesof ibis, so that it is to be hoped that theseinteresting creatures may long hold their own. A great part of the leeward side has lately beenplanted with cocoanuts, whicli are now growingon nearly every patch of sand above high-watermark. The settlement is composed of a few woodenhuts, inha
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