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THE OCEAN. 



Imagine a belt of land in the wide Ocean, not more 

 than half a mile in breadth, but extending, in an 

 irregular curve, to the length of ten or twenty miles 

 or more : the height above the water not more than 

 a yard or two at most, but clothed with a mass of 

 the richest and most verdant vegetation. Here and 

 there, above the general bed of luxuriant foliage, 

 rises a grove of cocoa-nut trees, waving their fea- 

 thery plumes high in the air, and gracefully bending 

 their tall and slender stems to the breathing of the 

 pleasant trade-wind. The grove is bordered by a 



Coral Island. 



narrow beach on each side, of the most glittering 

 whiteness, contrasting with the beautiful azure 



