130 CORALS AND CORAL ISLANDS. 
the boldness of the shores and depth of waters, the reef is 
wanting. The barrier reef at one point has a passage through 
it, which is an opening to a harbor; and many such harbors 
exist about coral-girt islands. 








































































































































































HIGH ISLAND WITH BARRIER AND FRINGING REEFS. 
While some islands have only narrow fringing reefs, others 
are almost or quite surrounded by the distant barrier, which 
stands off like an artificial mole to protect the land from an 
encroaching ocean. ‘The barrier is occasionally ten or fifteen 
miles from the land, and encloses not only one, but at times 
several, high islands. From reefs of this large size, there are 
all possible variations down to the simple fringing platform. 
The inner channel is sometimes barely deep enough at low - 
tide for canoes, or for long distances may be wanting entirely. 
“hen again, it is a narrow intricate passage, obstructed by 
1olls or patches of coral, rendering the navigation dangerous. 
gain, it is for miles in length an open sea, in which ships 
find room to beat against a head wind with a depth of ten, 
twenty, or even thirty fathoms. Yet hidden reefs make caution 
necessary. Patches of growing corals, from a few square feet 
to many square miles in extent, are met with over the broad 
area enclosed by these distant barriers. 
These varieties of form and position are well exemplified 
in a single group of islands—the Feejees; and the reader is 
referred to the chart of this Archipelago at the close of this 
volume. x 
