82 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



of the tropic bush sloping upward and broken here and there by the 

 towering even lines of the great cocoanut plantations. Still higher 

 rose the volcanic ridge and peaks that make the roof of the island. 

 The nearer of these forest-covered peaks, lying immediately behind Apia, 

 is Mount Vaea, Stevenson's mountain. On a shoulder of this dark 

 green mountain is Stevenson's grave, with its low, flat tomb like those 

 of the Samoan chieftains. And under this grave-crowned shoulder, 

 lying beautifully in a little open space amid tall trees, is Vailima, the 

 house of the five streams. There are no longer five streams there, but 

 only two, which come trickling down the long hill slopes to pour their 

 slender threads of fresh water into Apia harbor. 



A bustling German customs house officer clambered aboard and we 

 went through the formalities of civilized travel. They were less irri- 

 tating than usual, and soon we were free to choose among the eager 

 naked-backed boatmen that clamored in the water about us like sea 

 gulls quarreling over ship's refuse. Waiula, old grizzle-haired, strong- 

 faced, sinewy-armed Waiula, claimed us by virtue of his special insist- 

 ence and our natural deference to age. We rowed in past the great 

 rusted hulk of the German warship Adler, lying beached on the reefs, 

 conspicuous relict and reminder of the awful hurricane, and made our 

 way, sleepy-eyed, exhausted and despondent to a two-story frame build- 

 ing on the beach, conspicuously labeled " Tivoli Hotel." Here we sat, 

 silent and helpless, until coffee could be made. With coffee and break- 

 fast and a morning nap, the world was new again and we turned our 

 eager attention to the problem before us, that of getting acquainted 

 with the life of the coral reefs. 



The islands of the Pacific are of two types ; either all made of coral, 

 or mostly made of volcano with fringing coral reef. Indeed the " all 

 coral" islands are only so on top, for they are simply volcanoes whose 

 summits do not project above the water's surface, but do come near 

 enough it to support a persistent coral growth. This builds up on its 

 volcanic support an atoll or islet rising a few yards above the ocean 

 level. The more striking and beautiful islands are volcanic peaks which 

 lift their great masses for four or five, seven or eight, even for thirteen 

 or fourteen, thousand feet above the water. Most of these volcanoes are 

 dead, but some are alive, as Mauna Loa on Hawaii and the recently re- 

 opened and still flaming volcano on Savaii of the Samoan group. But 

 practically every volcano island has its coral reefs, either fringing or 

 barrier or both. Like a ring of Saturn the flat-topped band encircles 

 the volcano's waist at the ocean surface, and in the shallow waters and 

 innumerable pools on the reef the naturalist finds a rich collecting 

 ground. We paid close attention to the tides, and every day the ebb 

 would find us working on the half-exposed reef, prying into crevices, 

 breaking up dead coral masses, wading the green water, and ever scrap- 



