

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTIOM. 265 



agents of the Pacific. The latter prepare the way by pour- 

 ing forth the liquid rock, and building up the lofty summit. 

 Quiet succeeds, and then commences the work of the zoophyte 

 beneath the sea, while verdure covers the exposed heights. 



We may add a few more illustrations from other parts of the 

 coral-reef seas. 



Along the north and north-west coasts of Australia there 

 appears to be little or no coral in the Gulf of Carpentaria, 

 while some extensive patches occur on the shores west of this 

 Gulf, as far as the north-west cape in latitude 23° S. 



In the East Indies, there are large, scattered reef-islands 

 south of Borneo and Celebes, about some of the Moluccas, 

 and near the west end of New Guinea. The islands of Timor- 

 laut, and Timor, with many of those intermediate, have large 

 reefs. The Arru Group consists wholly of coral. This sea, 

 from Arru, to the islands south of Borneo, is more thriving in 

 corals than any other in the East Indies. 



Another East Indian coral-reef region of some extent is 

 the Sooloo Sea, between Mindanao and the north of Borneo. 

 Yet the reefs are mostly submerged. The author saw no wide 

 platforms bordering the high lands, like those of the Pacific. 

 There are, however, some small coral islets in the Balabac 

 Passage. 



In other parts of the East Indies coral reefs are quite in- 

 considerable. Occasional traces, sometimes amounting to a 

 fringing reef, occur along Luzon and the other Philippines. 



The Wilkes Exploring Expedition coasted by the west shore 

 of Luzon to Manila, and thence by Luban, Mindoro, Panay, 

 to Caldera, near Samboangan in Mindanao ; and through this 

 distance no reefs were distinguished, as would have been the 

 case had there been any of much extent. At the last-men- 

 tioned place we found coral pebbles on the beach, and, by 

 dredging, obtained living specimens in six to eight fathoms of 

 water. The only large reefs were those between Mindoro and 

 the Calaminianes. There are fringing reefs at Singapore. The 

 islands of Borneo, Celebes, Java, and Sumatra, according to 

 all the authorities seen by the writer, have but few coral 



