THE TACIFIC OCEAN. 259 



careous sand lies undisturbed, and offers to tlie seeds 

 of trees and plants cast upon it by the waves, a soil 

 upon which they rapidly grow, to overshadow its 

 dazzling white surface. Entire trunks of trees, 

 which are carried by the rivers from other countries 

 and islands, find here, at length, a resting-place, after 

 their long wanderings ; with these come some small 

 animals, such as lizards and insects, as the first inha- 

 bitants. Even before the trees form a w^ood, the real 

 sea-birds nestle there ; strayed laud-birds take refuge 

 in the bushes ; and at a much later period, when 

 the work has been long since completed, man also 

 appears, builds his hut on the fruitful soil formed 

 by the corruption of the leaves of the trees, and 

 calls himself lord and proprietor of this new crea- 

 tion." * 



The species of Polypes which contribute to the 

 formation of coral structures are very numerous, 

 and differ greatly from each other in the forms of 

 their respective habitations. Some form large rounded 

 masses, with numerous winding depressions, as the 

 Brainstones {Meandrina) ; some are studded with holes, 

 filled with thin shelly plates placed perpendicularly, 

 and converging to a point in the centre, as 

 AstrcBa ; some assume the appearance of a mush- 

 room, as Agaricia ; but the most general form is 

 that of an irregular, branching shrub. The various 

 kinds are not found scattered indiscriminately over 

 the whole edifice, but each occupying its own zone 

 and position, each performing its own part, assigned 

 by God, in carrying up the wondrous architecture. 



* Kotze'iue's Voyage. 



