120 FUNAFUTI 



We eagerly await the result, which will inform us 

 whether these central oceanic islands are ancient remains 

 of land which have plunged beneath the sea and are 

 renewing their youth, or whether they are among the 

 latest products of our planet aspiring mountains which 

 have scarcely yet succeeded in their struggle upward to 

 the light of day; whether they are, as has been said, " a 

 garland laid by the hand of Nature on the tomb of a 

 sunken island," or whether they may not be a wreath of 

 victory crowning a youthful summit on its first conquest 

 of the main. 



material passed through was coral limestone. It is of interest to 

 observe that, soon after passing the bottom of Professor David's bore- 

 hole, loose unconsolidated deposits ceased to be encountered, and the 

 drill passed with comparative facility through a hard limestone con- 

 taining numerous well-preserved corals. A crux of all theories of 

 atolls is the lagoon. On Darwin's theory its explanation follows 

 naturally from the fundamental assumption. Sir John Murray has to 

 supplement his hypothesis by a separate explanation, and proposes to 

 account for the lagoon by solution. In this connection the success 

 which has attended an attempt of the present expedition to bore into 

 the bed of the lagoon is most welcome. The boring was made from 

 the deck of H.M.S. Porpoise, commanded by Captain Sturdee, and 

 after passing through 101 feet of water, sank 144 feet into the deposits 

 of the floor. The first 80 feet were found to consist of the calcareous 

 alga Halimeda mixed with shells ; the remaining 64 feet of the same 

 material, mingled with coral gravel. This alga is universally distri- 

 buted over the floor of the lagoon, as proved by an examination of 

 the material obtained by Captain Field in sounding. 



