THE PAGE OF NATURE. 87 



circumstances necessary for its development, in some 

 sheltered nook where the dashing waves have ground 

 the coral into glittering sand; and through course of 

 time it assumes a crust-like appearance, puts forth its 

 organs of fructification, and sows around it a colony of 

 similar individuals. These harbour the wind- wafted soil 

 beneath their tiny leaves, and form, by their decom- 

 position, a layer of mould to which new species are day 

 after day adding their decaying tissues, until at last a 

 sufficient soil has been deposited for t<he growth of the 

 ferns, hibiscus, bread-fruit, and cocoa-nut trees that have 

 been wafted from the neighbouring islands. And thus, 

 through the agency of an all but invisible seed, developed 

 into the lowliest form in which it is possible to conceive 

 that life can be maintained, what was once a barren, 

 solitary islet, where no sounds were heard but the cease- 

 less dashing of the waves against the snow-white reefs, 

 or the shrill cries of some chance flock of sea-birds, that 

 made it their temporary resting-place during their flight 

 to some happier shore, has become a paradise of bloom 

 and beauty where man takes up his abode, and finds 

 every comfort and luxury that can minister to his simple 

 tastes. 



Even on the desolate rocks that jut out from the sides 

 of lofty mountains, where the eagle or the condor builds 

 its eyrie, these humble sappers and miners of the vege- 

 table kingdom are busy, fulfilling the task appointed 

 them in the great household of nature, and forming a 

 layer of soil, which ever and anon, as soon as it is de- 

 posited, is carried down by the storm or the stream to 

 fertilize the valleys at the base. Egypt is the gift of 



