222 A VOYAGE TO 



'777- fea had formerly reached fo farj and fome of thefe perfo- 

 » , ' rated rocks were almofl in the centre of the land. 



But the flrongeft proof of the increafe, and from the caufe 

 Ave have affigned, was the gentle gradation obfervable in 

 the plants round the flcirts of the iflands ; from within a 

 fev/ inches of high-water mark, to the edge of the wood. 

 In many places, the divifions of the plants, of different 

 growths, were very diftinguifhable, efpecially on the lee, or 

 • wefl-fide. This, I apprehend, to have been the operation 

 of extraordinary high tides, occafioned by violent, accidental 

 gales from the Weilward ; which have heaped up the fand 

 beyond the reach of common tides. The regular and gentle 

 operation of thefe latter, again, throw up fand enough to 

 form a barrier againft the next extraordinary high tide, or 

 florm, fo as to prevent its reaching as far as the former 

 had done, and deftroying the plants that may have begun 

 to vegetate from cocoa-nuts, roots, and feed brought thither 

 by birds, or thrown up by the fea. This, doubtlefs, hap- 

 pens very frequently ; for we found many cocoa-nuts, and 

 fome other things, juft fprouting up, only a few inches 

 beyond where the fea reaches at prefent, in places where, 

 it was evident, they could not have had their origin from 

 thofe, farther in, already arrived at their full growth. At 

 the fame time, the increafe of vegetables will add fa|l to 

 the height of this nevz-created land ; as the fallen leaves, 

 and broken branches, are, in fuch a climate, foon con- 

 verted into a true black mould, or foil *. 



Perhaps 



'*■ 



* Mr. AntJerfon, in his Journal, mentions the following particulars, rela- 

 ; tive to Palmerfton's Ifland, v/hich ftrongly confirm Captain Cook's opinion about 

 , its formation. " On the Lift of the two rflots, where we landed, the trees, being in 



" great 



