CORAL AND CORAL REEFS. 17 



of the inhabitants of the atoll islands, some of which disappeared 

 altogether, did a great deal of damage among all the islands 

 possessing only fringed reefs, and struck the west coast of South 

 America with fearful execution. 



In Fiji, with the exception of an unusually high tide 

 nothing was noticed in that part of the groiip in which I was 

 sailing ; but a friend of mine, who had been cruising in the 

 neighbourhood of the Navigators', told me he had passed 

 through a perfect sea of pumice-stone on about the 8th or 9th 

 of May. 



The Fiji Group illustrates all the varieties of coral-reefs. 

 For instance, Koro has a fringing-reef excepting on its western 

 side. The island of Angau is encircled with a coral breakwater, 

 which on the southern and western sides runs far from the 

 shores, and is a proper barrier-reef ; while on the east side it is 

 a fringing-reef. The Argo reef, east of Lakemba, is a large 

 barrier. It is actually a lagoon island twenty miles long, with 

 some coral islets in the lagoon. 



On the southern shores of the big island of Viti Levu the 

 coral-reef lies close to the coast, and the same is seen on the 

 east and north extremity of Vanua Levu. On the west side of 

 these islands this reef stretches far off from the land, and in 

 some parts is even twenty-five miles distant, with a broad sea 

 between. This sea, however, is obstructed by reefs, and along 

 the shores there are the ordinary fringing-reefs. 



To recapitulate this matter of reefs. Reefs around islands 

 may be (1) entirely encircling, or they may be (2) confined to 

 a larger or a smaller portion of the coast, either continuous or 

 interrupted ; they may (3) constitute throughout a distant 

 barrier, or (4) the reef may be fringing in one part and a 

 barrier in another, or (5) it may be fringing alone ; the barrier 

 may be (6) at a great distance from the shores, with a wide sea 



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