GAZETTEER.
Santapilly (properly Chintapalle) is a small village 18 miles up the coast from Bimlipatam which gives its name to a dangerous ridge of rocks and the light erected to warn ships off them.
The rocks are about six miles from the shore, right in the track of coasting vessels; and as they give no indication of their presence in fine weather and are not visible until a ship is almost on them, they form one of the most dangerous reefs on the whole Madras seaboard. They are steep on all sides, surrounded with deep water. Between them and the land is a clear channel four miles in width and having a minimum depth of five fathoms, through which ships can pass safely.
The light was first erected in 1847, at the recommendation of Captain Biden, Master Attendant at Madras, who surveyed the Santapilly rock in September 1846, and it is a great boon to ships making Bimlipatam. In 1902 the old light was moved to Yizagapatam and a new light-house was erected in a position nearer the shore and the power of its light was increased. This now stands 140 feet above the sea and is a white light, hashing twice every ten seconds, of 45,000 candle-power. Three ships have grounded on the rocks since the light was first exhibited in 1847. Two of them floated off immediately, but the third, the Jules Rose (see p. 154) became a total wreck.
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