Pratas

Captain King began now to entertain apprehenſions, leſt, in the proſecution of our ſearch for thoſe iſlands, we ſhould get ſo far to the ſouth as to be under the neceſſity of paſſing to leeward of the Pratas ; in which caſe, it might have proved extremely difficult for ſuch bad ſailing veſſels as our to fetch Macao, eſpecially if the wind ſhould continue to blow (as it now did) from the north-north-eaſt and north. . . . On the approach of day-light, we had ſight of the iſland of Prata ; and, between the hours of ſix and ſeven, we ſtood towards the ſhoal, but finding ourſelves unable to weather it, we bore away, and ran to leeward. . . . The iſland of Prata was now three or four leagues diſtant, bearing north three quarters eaſt. Near the southern extremity of the iſland, and on the ſouth-weſtern ſide of the reef, we imagined that we ſaw, from the maſt-head, ſeveral openings in the reef, which ſeemed to promiſe ſecure anchorage. The extent of the Prata ſhoal is conſiderable ; for it is about ſix leagues from north to ſouth, and extends three or four leagues to the eaſt of the iſland : its limits to the weſtward we had not an opportunity of aſcertaining.

1784, James Cook, James King, Cook's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, volume IV, London: John Stockdale, pages 211–213

In the 'Zoologist' for 1860 (Zool. 7236) I contributed a list of animals observed on Pratas Island, situated at one side of the Pratas Reef, a coral formation in the China Sea. Since then I have come across a short account of my visit to the Pratas Shoal, which possibly may interest some of your readers, as conveying some notion of what these isolated coral islands are like.

1862, Arthur Adams, “A Visit to Pratas Island”, in The Zoologist, volume 20, pages 8183-8184

CHINA SEA.—Proceeding from north to south, we first meet the Pratas Shoal (lat. 20° N.), which, according to Horsburgh (vol. ii. p. 335), is composed of coral, is of a circular form, and has a low islet on it. The reef is on a level with the water's edge, and when the sea runs high, there are breakers nearly all round; 'the water within seems pretty deep in some places; although steep in the most parts outside, there appear to be several parts where a ship might find anchorage outside the breaks;' coloured blue.

1874, Charles Darwin, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, 2nd edition, London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 238

Later in the same typhoon season the members of a similar fowling expedition had their vessel smashed up during a cyclone, and being marooned upon the Pratas, were, I think, upon news of their fate becoming known, brought off, the island by an Osaka Shosen Kaisha steamer, officially sent to effect their rescue.

1909 August 21, “THE TRUTH ABOUT PRATAS ISLAND”, in The Japan Weekly Mail, volume LII, number 8, Yokohama, page 241

It is emphatically with Japan that the most serious trouble has taken place. Early in the year it was discovered by the Chinese authorities that the Pratas Islands had been occupied by Japanese and that their supplies of nitrates were being carried off to Japan without so much as a "By your leave.". . .The question of the jurisdiction over Chientao has been before the two Governments for the last two and a half years and it was causing a good deal of friction between them, so Japan gave way in the matter of Pratas Island, more or less, and this was after all a most insignificant affair, with the hope of getting her own way about Chientao.

1910, The Provinces of China, Shanghai, page 172