THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 141 



good specimen of what Mr. Darwin calls an " atoll" or lagoon 

 island. It is coralline in formation, rising about six feet above 

 the sea level, and densely covered with cocoanut palms. The 

 island itself consists of a chaplet, or ring of coral about a 

 quarter of a mile broad, and bent into the form of a horseshoe, 

 enclosing a lagoon five miles by thirteen. In this lagoon the 

 Orient s.s. Co. have a coaling station. While our ship was 

 supplying her bunkers I made my way on shore. I had never 

 seen live coral, and the wonders of this tropical island were to 

 me entrancing. Having spent a short time amid the coral, and 

 picked up a number of specimens of coral, nautilus, hermit 

 crabs, and cowries, I pushed my way across the island to the 

 east side in order to solve a problem that had been warmly 

 discussed on board for some time. About 200 miles before we 

 reached Diego Garcia, the surface of the ocean was covered 

 with long bands of some brown substance, which some of the 

 officers assured me was seaweed with which the sailors stuffed 

 their beds. I believed it was volcanic ashes ejected at Sunda 

 on the 29th August, 1883, and carried westward by the 

 equatorial current ; of course, I was laughed at. But on the 

 eastern beach, I found, as I expected, immense heaps of pumice 

 stone, cast up by the sea, while as far as I could see the 

 surface of the water was covered by masses of the same material. 

 The lumps of pumice stone were rounded by friction in the 

 waves, and had depending from them bunches of barnacles. 

 Here then was proof that I was right. In thirteen months it 

 had been carried westward from Sunda, and landed at Diego 

 Garcia, while some was carried much farther towards the coast 

 of Africa. I saw none of it south of this island. 



I sent some specimens to the Geological Museum in London, 

 and now submit one to the members of the Field Naturalists' 

 Club, to whom, I feel sure, it will be interesting. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Ornithological. 



Large Collections of Birds' Eggs. — What is probably 

 the largest private collection of eggs in the world is in posses- 

 sion of Mr. William Stoate, of Wembdon, Bridgwater, 

 England. The catalogue of this famous collection, issued in 

 1884, contains 2154 species, and embraces eggs from all parts 

 of the world. In turning over its pages one cannot but wonder 

 how so many species could be acquired by one person ; and the 

 patience, skill, and perseverance requisite must have been 

 astonishins:. — Ornithologist and Oologist. 



