LAGOON ISLANDS. 203 



INDIAN OCEAN. 



tain Ross found embedded in the conglomerate on the outer 

 coast a well -moulded 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 occurrence of this one stone, where 

 every other particle of matter is of lime, 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 become 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 discov- 

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

 apparently so improbable. It was, therefore, with great in- 

 terest that I found Chamisso, the justly distinguished nat- 

 uralist who accompanied Kotzebue, stating that the inhabi- 

 tants of the Radack 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. 



In the morning of April 12th we stood out of the lagoon 



