mile, with patches of 3 to 5 fathoms beyond, and in a northerly direction, also, nearly as far as the Middle Shoals.

Northwest Shoals, situated at the northwest extremity of the bank, occupy a space of about 5 miles in length, with depths of 1 to 3 fathoms.

North Patches, two in number, lie near the north edge of the bank, with 3 fathoms least water.

Middle Shoals are a cluster of coral patches forming the middle of Great Danger Bank. They cover a space of about 6 miles east and west, with as little as 2 fathoms in one or more places.

Middle Channel, separating Great Danger Bank from Mangsee Danger, is 1 mile wide at its narrowest part, with depths of 16 to 33 fathoms in the fairway.

Ray Bank, of sand and coral, is 1 mile in length, mile in breadth, and steep-to, with a least known depth of 4 fathoms near its center. It lies on the north side of the approach to Middle Channel and 6 miles. westward of Northwest Shoals on Great Danger Bank, with Balabac Peak bearing 341° true (N by WW mag.) distant 16 miles from the 4-fathom spot.

Directions. Middle Channel lies out of the usual track of vessels, but may be used if necessary. From a position about 2 miles south of Sand Cay steer 292° true (WNW W mag.); when Salingsingan Island, on Mangsee Danger Bank, is abeam, distant about 1 mile, the course should be altered to 283° true (W by N mag.); when Balabac Peak bears 351° true (N by W mag.) all dangers will be passed and the course may be shaped as desired.

Mangsee Danger Bank, situated southward of Great Danger Bank, from which it is separated by Middle Channel includes within its limits the Mangsee and Salingsingan Islands, with the dangers adjacent; also Loxdale, Jessie, and many smaller shoals. This bank is 10 miles in length in an east by south and opposite direction and 4 miles in breadth at the eastern end, tapering to the western extremity.

Loxdale Shoal, at the west end of the bank, is a coral shoal nearly 13 miles in length and from 600 to 1,000 yards in breadth, with 2 to 3 fathoms of water, and fairly steep-to. From the west end of this danger, Balabac Peak bears 336° true (NNW W mag.) and Salingsingan Island 95° true (ES mag.).

Salingsingan Island, situated 253° true (WSW W mag.) distant 5 miles from Sand Cay, on Great Danger Bank, is composed of sand and coral and covered with trees. It is rather more than mile east and

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west and 200 yards wide. A shoal nearly awash in parts stretches off mile eastward and 13 miles westward from the island, the breadth of the latter being nearly 1 mile.

Jessie Shoal, with a least depth of 1 fathom, lying 2 miles 115° true (ESE mag.) from Salingsingan Island, is 13 miles in length and mile in breadth. This danger is situated on the eastern part of the bank, and shallow patches outlie its extremities.

North Mangsee Island, situated about 2 miles southward from Salingsingan Island, is covered with trees which rise to an apex near the center, 130 feet above high water. The island is a mile in length and from its east end reefs and shoals extend beyond those projecting from South Mangsee, for a distance of 24 miles, and some patches of 4 to 7 fathoms mile farther eastward. From the west end a line of reefs extends in a 290° true (WNW 3 W mag.) direction for 31⁄2 miles.

South Mangsee Island, covered with trees, is round, about mile in diameter, and stands on a reef which extends from it 1 mile eastward, 1,200 yards westward, and less distances in other directions.

Mangsee Great Reef, situated southwestward from Great Danger Bank, from which it is separated by a channel more than 1 mile wide, is 5 miles in length in an east and west direction by 24 miles in breadth and steep-to on its southern side. It is nearly everywhere covered at high water, but a sand cay upon the eastern part is generally visible from aloft when near the edge. At low water the reef presents a vast expanse of coral and sand, with lagoons here and there.

From the west end of the reef, shallow water, under 10 fathoms, extends about 2 miles in a west-southwest direction, with irregular depths; the least known is 4 fathoms, but this locality should be avoided. Banguey Peak bearing southward of 205° true (SSW mag.) leads westward of it.

Kestrel Rock.-H. M. S. Kestrel passed over a patch with 5 fathoms water eastward of Mangsee Channel, with Banguey Peak bearing 240° true (SW by W W mag.) and the southwest extremity of South Mangsee Island 297° true (NW by W W mag.). A late report states that there is a depth of only 3 fathoms on Kestrel Rock. Soundings of 8 fathoms were obtained by H. M. S. Comus, in 1882, on a shoal about 1 mile southward of Kestrel Rock. Caution should be exercised while in this neighborhood.

Rock. A rock covered at high water and marked position doubtful is shown on some charts in approximately lat. 7° 28′ 30′′ N., long. 117° 32′ E. No further information in regard to this rock is available.

Mangsee Channel, separating Mangsee Great Reef from Mangsee Danger Bank, is 1 mile wide at the narrowest part, where the depths are irregular. It is deep throughout, having from 18 to 33 fathoms in the fairway. The reefs on the north side are steep-to; Mangsee Great Reef, forming the south side, is less so.

Directions. Navigators will rarely have occasion to use this channel, but in case of necessity the following directions may be of assistance: With a proper lookout no difficulty will be found in passing safely through. Coming from westward having sighted the Mangsee Islands bring the center of South Mangsee to bear 103° true (E by S mag.) and steer for it; when the west end of North Mangsee bears 69° true (ENE mag.) steer 137° true (SE mag.), passing midway between South Mangsee and the Great Reef.

Main Channel, between Mangsee Great Reef, northward, and Banguey Island southward, is 5 miles wide, but the navigable width is contracted to 1 miles by reefs extending northward from Banguey Island. Vessels coming from southwestward and bound through Balabac Strait during the northeast monsoon will find this channel the most convenient.

Directions. When approaching from westward do not bring the north hill on Banguey Island to bear eastward of 108° true (ESE E mag.) until Siagut Point, the northern point of Balambangan Island, bears 180° true (SE mag.). From a position 2 miles northward of Siagut Point a 79° true (ENEE mag.) course should carry a vessel about 3 mile southward of Mangsee Great Reef. The light-green color of the water over this reef will, even at high tide, enable a good lookout aloft to make out the edge sufficiently far off to permit a vessel being guided past it at a safe distance. From about mile off its south end steer to pass about 2 miles southward of South Mangsee Island and the same distance northward of Kestrel Rock; thence a course about 92° true (E mag.) until the Muligi Islands bear 137° true (SE mag.), when they may be steered for. This is the route usually adopted by vessels bound to Jolo and Sandakan, the channels southward being much encumbered with shoals.

PALAWAN PASSAGE is a deep passage 35 to 40 miles wide, lying between the wide bank which fronts the western side of Palawan and an extensive area of dangerous ground in the China Sea. The western side of Palawan Passage is indicated on the charts by a dotted line which no vessel should attempt to cross as the area defined by it is unsurveyed and is known to abound with dangers.

Dangers on the western side of the passage. The principal dangers shown on the charts, lying close to the dotted line on the western side

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of the passage, are: Half Moon; Investigator, N. E.; Carnatic and Seahorse or Routh Shoals.

Half Moon Shoal has a rock named Inclined Rock, situated in lat. 8° 51' N., 116° 16' E., which always shows above water, on its southeastern side. The shoal, formed by a belt of coral even with the surface, of an average width of 200 yards, is of oblong shape, nearly 3 miles in a northeast and opposite direction with a breadth of 1 mile. On the eastern side at 400 and 1,000 yards southward from Inclined Rock, there are two channels into the lagoon, the southern of which has a depth of from 4 to 9 fathoms in it and is marked by a cluster of rocks on its north side awash at half tide and which generally show. Other halftide rocks are interspersed over the belt. The average depth in the lagoon is 14 to 16 fathoms, with numerous patches of coral scattered about it. From the shoals, Balabac Peak (not in sight) bears 141° true (SES mag.) distant 71 miles. The tide rises and falls about 4 feet at Half Moon Shoal.

Investigator NE Shoal, shown on the charts in lat. 9° 12' N., long. 116° 23′ E is apparently awash.

Carnatic Shoal, charted in lat. 10° 06′ N., long. 117° 21′ E is said to have as little as 3 fathoms over it. The British surveying vessel Royalist, in 1853, could not discover this shoal in the position assigned it, or succeed in obtaining soundings with from 100 to 200 fathoms of line when in the neighborhood.

Seahorse or Routh Shoal, forming the northernmost known danger on the western side of Palawan Passage, is a pear-shaped coral reef 8 miles in length in a north-northeast and opposite direction, and from 3 to 4 miles in breadth. The least known depth is 4 fathoms in lat. 10° 50′ N., long. 117° 47′ E., which was found on a patch about mile in extent, at the northern extremity of the shoal. Nothing less than 6 fathoms was obtained on any of the other patches surrounding the lagoon; the depths in the lagoon vary fron 17 to 20 fathoms at the edge to 35 fathoms in the center.

Dangers in Palawan Passage. The only charted dangers in the fairway of Palawan Passage are the Royal Captain and Bombay Shoals and King Robert Reef.

Royal Captain Shoal lies about 24 miles 69° true (ENE mag.) from Half Moon Shoal, contracting the Palawan Passage, which is here the narrowest part, to about 30 miles between it and the shoal heads on Paragua Ridge and other 4 and 5 fathoms patches lying southwestward from it. Observation Rock, at its northern extremity, in lat. 9° 02′ N., long. 116° 39′ E., shows at half tide and from it Bulanjao Range bears

120° true (SE by EE mag.) distant 48 miles. In clear weather the high land of Mantalingajan is visible from this distance. The shoal is elliptical, the length being 13 miles in a northwest and opposite direction with a breadth of 1 mile. The coral belt, on which a few rocks are visible at low water, is covered at high water and varies in width from 100 to 400 yards. There are depths of from,15 to 17 fathoms, sand and coral, with several coral patches in the lagoon. There is no entrance but at high water boats can cross the belt. The outer edge is steep-to having no bottom with upwards of 100 fathoms within 100 yards of the reef.

Bombay Shoal, lying 31° true (NNE E mag.) 29 miles from Royal Captain Shoal, is circular in shape, about 1 mile in diameter and steepto. From Madagascar Rock, on its northeastern extremity in lat. 9° 26' N., long. 116° 56′ E., which shows at half ebb, Mantalingajan Mountain bears 130° true (SEE mag.) distant 56 miles and is visible in clear weather. The lagoon, in which there are depths of 16 to 18 fathoms, sandy bottom, is completely inclosed by a coral belt on which three or four rocks show at half tide. There is a tidal range of about 4 feet here and the flood was observed setting northeastward.

King Robert Reef is shown on some charts as existing about 51 miles 58° true (NE by E mag.) from Bombay Shoal and the same distance southward from Seahorse Bank in lat. 9° 52′ 40" N., long 117° 38′ 30" but no further information in regard to it is available.

WEST COAST OF PALAWAN.

The west coast of Palawan is fronted by a bank studded with innumerable shoals and reefs. The 100-fathom curve, marking the outer edge of this bank, is about 20 miles northwest of Cape Buliluyan. From this position it trends in a general direction 35° true (NE by N mag.), and is about 26 miles off at the northern end of the island. This bank has not been thoroughly surveyed and new dangers are frequently reported. Navigators are advised to keep outside of the 100-fathom curve unless they are possessed of local knowledge or are obliged to enter the ports of western Palawan. A brief description, as they are known to exist at present, will be given.

Cape Buliluyan, the southern point of Palawan, is a low shelving point, fronted by mangroves, having on its south side depths of 4 to 8 fathoms close-to, and on the eastern side, between it and the north end of Pandanan Island, where the channel is 1,600 yards wide, from 28 to 30 fathoms. The western side is fronted by a reef, bare at low water, to the distance of 600 to 1,000 yards, with depths of 6 fathoms, mud bottom, close to the edge.