Locality and Site 29 



discomfort. We will only mention here the ap- 

 palling disaster of Karakatoa Island, in Anjer 

 Strait, West Java, which swallowed up an 

 entire island, cost many thousands of lives, 

 and destroyed the vegetation for hundreds of 

 square miles. This was in July, 1883. And 

 although nothing approaching this in serious- 

 ness has happened since then, the potentialities 

 are always present. 



But the " visitation of God " is always with 

 us, wherever we may be on this planet of ours, 

 and although such menaces do not and will not 

 deter the stout-hearted from venturing their 



o 



all, and entrusting themselves to the call and 

 the glamour of the vivid and fervid Tropics, 

 it is best -to avoid them when possible, for 

 if it is true that : "Only the Brave deserve 

 the Fair," it is equally true that " Discretion is 

 the better part of Valour." Inundations, pro- 

 vided they are not of protracted duration, 

 and the water drains away, do not seem to 

 have any deleterious effect upon the growth 

 and well-being of coco-nut palms. Where 

 these are caused by rivers, they would 

 naturally do more damage, if accompanied by 

 any strength *of current, sufficient say to up- 

 root some of the trees, which happens at 

 times, because the roots spread wide around, 

 rather than go to any appreciable depth, 

 neither have they any great strength. 



The root system of a full-grown coco-nut tree 

 extends radially to 20 and even 25 ft. around 



