260 



LAGOON-ISLANDS, OR ATOLLS. 



which does not at first strike the eye of the body, 

 but, after reflection, the eye of reason. 



I will now give a very brief account of the three 

 great classes of coral-reefs, namely, Atolls, Bar- 

 rier, and Fringing reefs, and will explain my 

 views* on their formation. Almost every voyager 

 who has crossed the Pacific has expressed his un- 

 bounded astonishment at the lagoon-islands, or 

 atolls, as I shall for the future call them by their 

 Indian name, and has attempted some explana- 

 tion. Even as long ago as the year 1605, Pyrard 

 de Laval well exclaimed, "Cost une meruille de 

 voir chacun de ces atollons, enuironne d'un grand 

 banc de pierre tout autour, n'y ayant point d'arti- 

 fice humain." The accompanying sketch of Whit- 

 sunday Island in the Pacific, copied from Captain 

 Beechey's admirable Voyage, gives but a faint idea 

 of the singular aspect of an atoll : it is one of the 



smallest size, and has its narrow islets united to- 

 gether in a ring. The immensity of the ocean, the 

 fury of the breakers, contrasted with the lowness 



* These were first read before the Geological Society in May, 

 1837, and have since been developed in a separate volume on the 

 "Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs." 



