— 31 — 



lïiatra , it is clcar that if that coa§t lias been elcvatcd wiUiin tlic 

 recent period , as Mr. Dauwin aiFirms , tliis must also have bee» 

 the case with all these isles and reefs, and of course also with the 

 Cocos, which, as aforesaid, is not onlj' as high as any, but higher 

 than maiiy of them ; what conseqnently becomes of his // Six 

 hundred miles long lever ? " Oh , but proofs are proofs , and there- 

 fore whatever may have happened to the lever, Mr. Darwin may 

 still continue to afPirm that on the Cocos proofs exist that they 

 areundergoing a progress of subsidence into the depths of the ocean, 

 //their upper platforms witli the isles lying thereon being raeanwhile 

 permanently borne up som e feet above the sea level by the won- 

 derful labours of the reef building polypi"". Wonderful labours 

 indeed ! Mr. Darwix may fairly demand , that they be placed 

 in //the third (the highest) tier of wonders above "vvonders." 



XXI. »As I have remarked , the islands in this great Archipelago are 

 »onIy skirted with reefs, and it appears from the statements of those who 

 » have visited thera , as well as from an examination of the chaits , tliat 

 »lagoon islands are not found there. This in itself is remarkabie, but it 

 » becomes far more so, when il is known that they are iikewise absent in the 

 »West Indian Sea, where coral is most abundant, and every ene is aware 

 »of the nuraerous proofs of recent elevalion in most parts of that archi- 

 » pehigo ; again it is reported that lagoon islands do not occur in the Red. 

 »Sea, and proofs are given of recent elevalion on a hirge part of the sho- 

 »resoflhiit sea. Excepling on the theory of Ihe form of reefs being deter- 

 »inined by the kind of movement to -whicli they have been suhjected , il is 

 »a most anomaloiis circumslance and which has never been atternpted to 

 » be solved , that thé lagoon structure being universal and considered as cha- 

 »raeterislic in certain parts of the ocean , shouid be enlirely absent in ethers 

 »of equal extenl." 



We shall see before we have done, that reasons are to be 

 found, for not expecting to fiud lagoon islands on the cen- 

 tral line of direction of the highly elevated islands, nor on 

 the central portion of elevated groups. Howbeit , if Mr. Dakwin 

 or any one for him , has found a proper lagoon island , existing 

 within the range of hurricanes, or of heavy monsoonstorms , 

 then, and then ouly, we shall have to agree with him, that 

 their absence in the West Indian and other areas of the inter- 

 tropical seas, constitutes an anomaly, of which however it may 



