LAGOON ISLANDS. 



199 



INDIAN OCEAN. 



the broad reef, appears an invincible, all-powerful enemy ; yet 

 we see it resisted and even conquered by means which at 

 first seem most weak and inefficient. It is not that the ocean 

 spares the rock of coral: the great fragments scattered over 

 the reef, and heaped on the beach, whence the tall cocoa-nut 

 springs, plainly bespeak the unrelenting power of the waves. 

 Nor are any periods of repose granted. The long swell 

 caused by the gentle but steady action of the trade-wind, 

 always blowing in one direction over a wide area, causes 

 breakers almost equalling in force those during a gale of 

 wind in the temperate regions, and which never cease to rage. 

 It is impossible to behold these waves without feeling a con- 



VIEW OF AX ATOLL. 



viction that an island, though built of the hardest rock, let 

 it be porphyry, granite, or quartz, would ultimately yield, and 

 be demolished by such an irresistible power. Yet these low, 

 insignificant coral islets stand and are victorious; for here 

 another power, as an antagonist, takes part in the contest. 



