BY JOHN RElNHOLD FORSTER, LL. D. i r 



gerous to navigators. Since for the moft part eaflerly winds are 

 frequent in thefe feas, thefe animalcules, as if aftuated by inflinft, 

 endeavour to exclude the waves driven by the winds, by means 

 cf their ftupendous works ; and therefore, carrying on the artful 

 fcrufture of their calcareous or irony habitations, they extend 

 them in long arms, which at laft unite in a circle, within which 

 they include a portion of calm untroubled fea. On the oppofite ■ 

 •or windward fide, the v/aves continually throw up fragments of 

 corals, which, accumuladng by degrees, form a mound againft 

 the force of the billows, and on that part the fea is rendered gra- 

 dually fhallower ; whilft on the other fide, immediately under the 

 arms raifed by the zoophytes, the fea is of aftonlfhing depth ; and 

 not unfrequently a part of the work remains open, for the ingrefs 

 and egrefs of the tide. In the coral banks themfeives, fand is 

 collected by the waves, which j^fford foil and aliment for the 

 feeds of fhore plants brought thither by the fea ; and thefe plants 

 at length perifhing, gradually create and accumulate a vegetable 

 mould. If by chance a cocoa-nut be carried by the fea to thefe 

 ipots, it germinates, and grows into a tall tree, bearing and dif- 

 feminating many nuts, fome of which again germinating, foon 

 form a palm-grove, affording fliade to birds, and other animals, 

 and fupplying navigators, driven to the place by ftrefs of weather, 

 with a grateful food and liquor. The bay included within the arms 

 conftrufted by the zoophytes is a receptacle for fiflies which re- 

 quire a calm unagitated fea, and thus another food from the ani- 

 mal kingdom is prefented to ftrangers. The fhallows, too, afford 

 quiet and defirable fituations to moUufca, and fliell-fifh of all 

 kinds, and contribute much towards fupplying the inhabitants of 

 the iflands with a variety of food. 



C 2 - The 



