SJfORE OBELISKS 1 9 



the Atlantic coast the best of this chiss of hardy i)roduct of 

 sea and rocl<; are found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. •' La 

 Roche Percee," or the pierced rock, a steep-faced isle near 

 the mouth of Gaspe Harbor, is perhaps the noblest arch of 

 the eastern American coast. IVhiny beautiful fantastic arches 

 and natural tunnels, thouij^h never of a;reat size, are found 

 along the shores where coral reefs have been lifted a little 

 way above the sea and exposed to the cutting action of the 

 waves and the solvent work of the streams which flow frnm 

 the land. A very beautiful small example of these coral reef 

 islands is found on the western shore of the northern part 

 of Biscayne Bay, Fla., where a little river escapes froni the 

 Everglades through the elevated barrier reef beneath a rock 

 arch. 



Vet another picturesque group of shore structures, suffi- 

 ciently common to have received a name in the vernacular, 

 are the steep detached masses of stone known as pulpit rocks. 

 This name is commonly given to any pinnacled stones parted 

 from the land by a space of water no wider than could have 

 been bridged by the voice of a sturdy old-fashioned pound- 

 text, and which afford a good place for the imagined preacher. 

 On other shores these islets are often so high that the 

 conditions would not admit of the term pulpit rock : in such 

 cases the isolated mass usually receives some other name with 

 clerical associations. The memories of monks and friars arc 

 often thus preserved. At only one place on our American 

 shore do I know of an)- of those natural monuments which 

 have been associated with the religious orders ; this is the 

 Old Friar, on the northwestern shore of the beautiful island 

 of Campobello, a bit of British ground which forms the sea- 

 ward wall of Eastport Harbor, Me. Even where the pleas- 



