THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 205 



ex])osure to the action of the atmospheric air, to- 

 gether with that of the water percolating through 

 them, the loose particles of calcareous matter have 

 been washed away, and the whole mass has become 

 harder and brighter." In the islands named Atiu 

 and jVIauke, the latter of which was discovered by 

 Mr. Williams in 1823, that gentleman found seve- 

 ral extensive caverns, having a stratum of crystal- 

 lized coral, fifteen feet in thickness, as a roof In 

 one of these exquisitely beautiful caverns he walked 

 about for two hours, and found no termination to its 

 windings. This circumstance, together with the 

 absence of scoria, lava, and other volcanic products, 

 in these islands, has led him to the conclusion that 

 they have been elevated by some expansive power, 

 or volcanic agency, without eruption.* 



In one of the Tonga Isles there is a very curious 

 submarine cavern, connected with an interesting 

 legend. Mr. ]\Iariner, who describes it, informs us 

 that being in the vicinity one day, a chief proposed 

 to visit this cave. One after another of the young 

 men dived into the water without rising again, and 

 at length the narrator followed one of them, and 

 guided by the light reflected from his heels, entered 

 a large opening in the rock, and presently emerged 

 in a caverm The entrance is at least a fathom 

 beneath the surface of the sea at low water, in the 

 side of a rock upwards of sixty feet in height ; and 

 leads into a grotto about forty feet wide, and of about 

 the same height, branching off into two chambers. 

 As it is apparently closed on every side, there is no 



• Williams' Missionary Enterprises, p. 23. 



