THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



some of small size in which the lagoon is wanting. 

 These are found in all stages of development : in 

 some the reef is narrow and broken, forming a 

 succession of narrow islets with openings into the 

 lagoon ; in others there only remains a depression 

 of surface in the centre to indicate where the 

 lagoon originally was.* The most beautiful are 

 those where the lagoon is completely inclosed, and 

 rests within, a quiet lake. Maraki, one of the 

 Kingsmill group, is one of the prettiest coral 

 islands of the Pacific. The line of vegetation is 

 unbroken, and, seen from the mast-head, it lies 

 like a garland thrown upon the waters. 



" When first seen from the deck of a vessel, only 

 a series of dark points is descried, just above the 

 horizon. Shortly after, the points enlarge into the 

 plumed tops of cocoa-nut trees, and a line of 

 green, interrupted at intervals, is traced along the 

 water's surface. Approaching still nearer, the 

 lake and its belt of verdure are spread out before 

 the eye, and a scene of more interest can scarcely 

 be imagined. The surf, beating loud and heavy 

 along the margin of the reef, presents a strange 

 contrast to the prospect beyond— the white coral 

 beach, the massy foliage of the grove, and the 

 embosomed lake, with its tiny islets. The colour 

 of the lagoon water is often as blue as the ocean, 

 although but fifteen or twenty fathoms deep ; yet 

 shades of green and yellow are intermingled, 

 where patches of sand or coral knolls are near the 

 surface, and the green is a delicate apple shade, 

 quite unlike the usual muddy tint of shallow 

 waters. 



"These garlands of verdure seem to stand on the 

 brims of cups, whose bases root in unfathomable 

 depth. Seven miles east of Clermont Tonnere, the 



* This does not agree with Darwin's theory of subsidence. 

 9± 



