A CORAL REEF. 123 



at Macassar told me that, when he arrived at that 

 city, he did not have the means to pay his passage 

 back to Europe. The first inquiry, therefore, that 

 was made, was whether we had brought a new gov- 

 ernor. The captain's reply was, that he had but one 

 passenger in the first cabin, and the only place he 

 appeared to care to see in that region was the coral 

 reef at the mouth of the harbor. 



The native boats that came off with bananas, 

 cocoa-nuts, oranges, and fowls, were all veiy naiTow, 

 only as wide as a native at the shoulders. Each was 

 merely a canoe, dug out of a single small tree, and 

 built up on the sides with pieces of wood and palm- 

 leaves. They were all pro^aded \^dth outriggers. It 

 was then low water, and the reef was bare. It had 

 not been my privilege to visit a coral reef, and I 

 was most anxious to see one, but I could not make 

 up my mind to risk myself in such a dangerous skiff. 

 The captain, ^vith his usual kindness, however, of- 

 fered me the use of one of his large boats ; and as 

 we neared the reef, and passed over a Avide garden 

 richly-tinted mth polyps, with here and there ver- 

 milion star-fishes scattered about, and bright-hued 

 fishes darting hither and thither like flashes of light, 

 a deep thrill of pleasure ran along my nerves, which 

 I shall never forget to the end of my days. Here in 

 an hour I collected three species of beautiful star- 

 fishes, and sixty-five kinds of shells, almost all of 

 the richest colors. The coral rocks, thus laid bare 

 l)y the receding tide, were all black, and not white, 

 like the fragments of coral seen on shores. This reef 

 is scarcely covered at high water, and therefore breaks 



