112 FUNAFUTI 



Such is the violence of the breakers that the tidal platform 

 presents the appearance of an almost lifeless desert ; a 

 few green and brown seaweeds, little fish darting in the 

 pools, occasional sea-snails with dense shells, and a few 

 hermit-crabs heavily armoured, are all that is seen at 

 first glance. All the inhabitants of the tidal platform 

 seem to stand in dread of the sea ; even the active shore 

 crabs (Grapsus) are afraid of it, and only venture in wiien 

 inspired by their greater terror of the human form"; even 

 then they cling tenaciously with their many legs close to 

 the sides of the rocky shore, and sidle off to land directly 

 they fancy the enemy's back is turned. 



The observer who trusted to first impressions, and 

 judged the platform by its outer aspect, would fall into 

 grievous error ; it is by no means so dead as it seems. 

 On breaking off a fragment with a hammer a new world 

 of life is revealed; the rock is tunnelled through and 

 through, as closely as it can be mined, by a variety of 

 animals, which have taken to an underground life as a 

 protection against the sea ; worms, shell-fish, crabs, sea- 

 squirts, and barnacles are to be found in these subterranean 

 dwellings ; they constitute a specialised fauna of marine 

 troglodytes, which might, if we wished to add to the 

 burden of nomenclature, be designated the "Cryptone." 



After this brief description of the superficial features of 

 the atoll, we may next endeavour to trace the history of 

 that part of it which rises above the sea and properly 

 constitutes the land. The sheet of hard coral-rock, 

 which we mentioned as cropping out beneath the storm - 

 beach, can be traced into the interior of the island, where 

 it forms the floor of the central depression ; and again to 

 the lagoon side, where it emerges to form the floor of the 

 lagoon, and in many places the beach, or as well even a 

 low line of cliffs. In the little islet of Pava, north of 

 Funafuti, it is seen to extend continuously from one 



