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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 5, p. 354.

354 AN7DAMIVAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS but the serious dangers of the western coral banks were not removed by surveys till I888-9 under Commander A. Carpenter, when a great advance in the charts generally was made. His general chart is that now in use, corrected by subsequent surveys up to I899. The coasts on the whole are fairly well charted, but some most necessary work still remains to be done before a voyage round these dangerous coral-bound coasts can be free from anxiety. It is, however, worth noting that the long-standing notice on charts that 'the dangers of the North Andaman have not been surveyed' is now at last removed, and that the Coco Channel is safe for ships. A fresh issue of the 2 miles to the inch maps with many additional names was made in 1902-3. At p. 31 of the Census Report, I9or, is a list of Andamanese names for places known to Europeans by other names. The whole of the Nicobars and outlying islands were surveyed topographically by the Indian Survey department in 1886-7, and a number of maps on the scale of 2 miles to the inch were produced, giving an accurate coast-line. The longitude of the former Camorta Observatory in Nancowrv Harbour has been fixed at 93° 31' 55.05" E. The marine surveys of these islands date back to the days of Ritchie (1771) and Kyd (I790), and are still meagre and not satisfactory. The chart in use is that of the Austrian frigate Novara (1858), combined with the Danish chart of 1846, with corrections up to I889. A large- scale chart of Nancowry Harbour was made by Kyd in 1790, and has been corrected up to I869. There are beacons for running in at Mus and Sawi Bay in Car Nicobar, at Bangala in Teressa, and (now doubtful) buoys in the eastern entrance to Nancowry Harbour. A voyage round these coral-bound and sparsely-sounded coasts is one to be made with caution. The Eastern Extension Telegraph Company's cable from Madras to Penang passes between the Central Group and Car Nicobar, the whole line across the Andaman Sea being, of course, charted. At p. 146 of the Census Report, 1901, is a series of village maps, which should, however, be used with the caution there given. [More detailed information about the islands will be found in the three articles on the ANDAMANS, NICOBARS, and PORT BLAIR (the Penal Settlement).] Andamans.-A group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, administered by the Chief Commissioner of the ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. The main part of the Andaman group is a band of five chief islands, so closely adjoining and overlapping each other that they have long been known as one: namely, the Great Andaman. The five islands are (north to south): North Andaman, Middle Andaman, South Andaman, Baratang, Rutland Island. The axis of this band forms almost a meridional line 156 statute miles long. Four straits divide these islands: namely (north to south), Austen Strait, Homfray's Strait,