1836.] STONES TRANSPORTED BY TREES. 443 



found embedded in the conglomerate on the outer coast, a well- 

 rounded fragment of greenstone, rather larger than a man's head : 

 he and the men with him were so much surprised at this, that 

 they brought it away and preserved it as a curiosity. The oc- 

 currence of this one stone, where every other particle of matter is 

 calcareous, certainly is very puzzling. The island has scarcely 

 ever been visited, nor is it probable that a ship had : been wrecked 

 there. From the absence of any better explanation, I came to the 

 conclusion that it must have come entangled in the roots of some 

 large tree : when, however, I considered the great distance from the 

 nearest land, the combination of chances against a stone thus 

 being entangled, the tree washed into the sea, floated so far, then 

 landed safely, and the stone finally so embedded as to allow of its 

 discovery, I was almost afraid of imagining a means of transport 

 apparently so improbable. It was therefore with great interest that 

 I found Chamisso, the justly distinguished naturalist who accom- 

 panied Kotzebue, stating that the inhabitants of the Eadack 

 archipelago, a group of lagoon-islands in the midst of the Pacific, 

 obtained stones for sharpening their instruments by searching the 

 roots of trees which are cast upon the beach. It will be evident 

 that this must have happened several times, since laws have been 

 established that such stones belong to the chief, and a punishment 

 is inflicted on any one who attempts to steal them. When the 

 isolated position of these small islands in the midst of a vast 

 ocean their great distance from any land excepting that of coral 

 formation, attested by the value which the inhabitants, who are 

 such bold navigators, attach to a stone of any kind,* and the 

 slowness of the currents of the open sea, are all considered, the 

 occurrence of pebbles thus transported does appear wonderful. 

 Stones may often be thus carried ; and if the island on which they 

 are stranded is constructed of any other substance besides coral, 

 they would scarcely attract attention, and their origin at least 

 would never be guessed. Moreover, this agency may long escape 

 discovery from the probability of trees, especially those loaded with 

 stones, floating beneath the surface. In the channels of Tierra del 

 Fuego large quantities of drift timber are cast upon the beach, yet 

 it is extremely rare to meet a tree swimming on the water. These 

 facts may possibly throw light on single stones, whether angular 



* Some natives carried by Kotzebue to Kamtschatk.i collected stones to 

 take back to their country. 



