482 CHARLES DARWIN 



here, though on a spot so immensely remote, and in a dif- 

 ferent ocean. 



The long strips of land, forming the linear islets, have 

 been raised only to that height to which the surf can throw 

 fragments of coral, and the wind heap up calcareous sand. 

 The solid flat of coral rock on the outside, by its breadth, 

 breaks the first violence of the waves, which otherwise, in a 

 day, would sweep away these islets and all their productions. 

 The ocean and the land seem here struggling for mastery : 

 although terra firma has obtained a footing, the denizens of 

 the water think their claim at least equally good. In every 

 part one meets hermit crabs of more than one species,* car- 

 rying on their backs the shells which they have stolen from 

 the neighbouring beach. Overhead, numerous gannets, frig- 

 ate-birds, and terns, rest on the trees; and the wood, from 

 the many nests and from the smell of the atmosphere, might 

 be called a sea-rookery. The gannets, sitting on their rude 

 nests, gaze at one with a stupid yet angry air. The noddies, 

 as their name expresses, are silly little creatures. But there 

 is one charming bird : it is a small, snow-white tern, which 

 smoothly hovers at the distance of a few feet above one's 

 head, its large black eye scanning, with quiet curiosity, your 

 expression. Little imagination is required to fancy that so 

 light and delicate a body must be tenanted by some wander- 

 ing fairy spirit. 



Sunday, April $rd. After service I accompanied Captain 

 Fitz Roy to the settlement, situated at the distance of some 

 miles, on the point of an islet thickly covered with tall cocoa- 

 nut trees. Captain Ross and Mr. Liesk live in a large barn- 

 like house open at both ends, and lined with mats made of 

 woven bark. The houses of the Malays are arranged along 

 the shore of the lagoon. The whole place had rather a deso- 

 late aspect, for there were no gardens to show the signs of 

 care and cultivation. The natives belong to different islands 

 in the East Indian archipelago, but all speak the same lan- 

 guage : we saw the inhabitants of Borneo, Celebes, Java, and 



The large claws or pincers of some of these crabs are most beautifully 

 adapted, when drawn back, to form an ooerculum to the shell, nearly as 

 perfect as the proper one originally belonging to the molluscous animal. _I 

 was assured, and as far as my observation went I found it so, that certain 

 species of the hermit-crab always use certain species of shells. 



