286 



THE OCEAN. 



The islands of the third class differ greatly in 

 appearance and structure from those of either of 

 the preceding. Abundant traces of their volcanic 

 origin show that they have been elevated from the 

 bed of the Ocean by the resistless energy of fire, 

 ■which has given a bold and irregular form to their 

 rocky mountains that greatly increases the romantic 



Volcanic Islands. 



beauty of their scenery. Every visitor to the South 

 Seas has spoken in eulogy of these lovely islands. 

 The highly-wrought descriptions given in Cook's 

 voyages are declared by recent writers to be no 

 whit beyond the reality. Instead of the long, low 

 coral island, with its grove of cocoa-nut trees almost 



