South China Sea

Southeast of Hainan, the open waters of the South China Sea surround the low coral islands and reefs of the Paracels. Their shoals made the passage hazardous, and sailors' accounts gradually found their way onto maps. A surveyor aboard HMS Discovery described islands of sand and coral in an account published in 1809, noting the coral banks around them and the scarcity of good fresh water. Such details mattered to vessels crossing this wide sea.