180 AGE OF CORAL REEFS. 



more like cigars than anything else, floai in large 

 numbers about the Reef. I have sometimes seen 

 them in the water about the Florida Reef in such 

 quantities, that one would have said some vessel 

 laden with Havana cigars had been wrecked 

 there, and its precious cargo scattered in the 

 ocean, 



In consequence of their shape, and the devel 

 opment of the root, one end is a little heavier 

 than the other, so that they float unevenly, with 

 the loaded end a little lower than the lighter one. 

 When they are brought by the tide against such 

 a cap of soil as I have described, they become 

 stranded upon it by their heavier end ; the root- 

 lets attach themselves slightly to the soil ; the 

 advancing and retreating waves move the little 

 plant up and down, till it works a hole in the 

 sand ; and having thus established itself more 

 firmly, steadied itself, as it were, it now stands 

 upright ; and, as it grows, throws out numerous 

 roots, even from a height of several feet above 

 the ground, till it has surrounded the lower part 

 of its stem with a close net-work of roots. Against 

 this natural trellis, or screen, all sorts of mate- 

 rials collect. Sand, mud, and shells are caught 

 in it. And as these Mangrove-trees grow in large 

 numbers, and to the height of thirty feet, they 

 contribute greatly to the solidity and compact- 

 ness of the shores on which they are stranded. 



