CORAL SAND 



103 



which scurry along like blown thistledown and vanish 

 into holes with mysterious suddenness. It is at night 

 that these are most active, when they dig deep burrows 

 in the sand, casting up conical hillocks at the entrance 

 nearly a foot high, which give the beach the appearance 

 of a miniature encampment (Fig. 27). The sand is the 

 famous " coral " sand ; but on picking up a handful for 



FIG. 26. The Site of the First Boring, with Derrick and Machinery. 



nearer inspection we are surprised to find that it contains 

 scarcely any coral ; and, so far from consisting of detrital 

 material, it is almost entirely composed of the shells of 

 Foraminifera, two species predominating, Tinoporus 

 baculatus and Orbitolites complanata. From specimens 

 collected on other atolls by the late Professor Moseley, 

 and preserved in the University Museum at Oxford, 

 it would appear that the sand at Funafuti is by no means 



