234 ISLES OF SUMMEft. 



lieved it contained not less than fifty living creatures. Channels 

 had also been cut in the stone six inclics deep, by stone-boring 

 mollusks. When Capt. Basil Hall wrote a description of the 

 corals in his "Voyage to the Islands of Loo Choo," which the 

 author of "The Pelican Island" used as a text for his poem, he 

 evidently supposed that corallum is the work of the " Avorms of 

 different lengths and colors" with which the bottom rock is 

 "full," — hence the great mistake which both authors made. 



We deem it not improbable that it will ultimately be discovered 

 that corals, as well as sponges, can be artificially propagated; if 

 so, we see no reason why the more valuable red varieties may not 

 be successfully cultivated in the Bahama waters. The colonial 

 government, at a small expense, can by wise legislation cause 

 experiments looking to such a result to be made. The old world 

 has coLmizcd the new with men, choice live stock, delicious fruits 

 and destructive insects — why should it not give us its superior 

 sponges and corals? 



Eci'erring the reader to the excellent work of Prof. Dana, upon 

 "Corals and Coral Islands," for full and comi)lete information 

 from a scientific standpoint upon the subject of tliis chapter, we 

 take leave of the corals for the present, fully aware that we have 

 hardly crossed the threshold where we wouM have been only too 

 happy, had we been able, to fully enter and thoroughly explore. 



