viii PREFACE 



of a coral-island naturalist is done amidst a splendour of 

 tropical sunshine and luxuriant vegetation. 



In all my doings I was aided and encouraged by the 

 members of the Clunies-Ross family, and the kindly assistance 

 of George Clunies-Ross — a man born with a true love of 

 nature, trained by his life's work to observe, and familiar with 

 every creature that lives within the confines of his domain — 

 was always ready for my guidance. To him, and to the 

 members of his family, I am deeply indebted, not only 

 for an intimate knowledge of many things not easily known 

 to a stranger, but for a splendid hospitality and a true 

 friendship. 



When, in 1907, I returned to the atoll and lived under 

 his roof, I had the advantage of discussing with him those 

 many details of coral-island biology which, though they may 

 be guessed at, assumed, or scoffed at by a museum naturalist, 

 are things familiar to a man whose long life of keen observation 

 has been passed in their midst. 



The greater part of this account of the atoll was written 

 during my residence in the islands, and this fact I mention for 

 two reasons : first, as an apology for scant references to former 

 papers on the same subject ; and secondly, as a guarantee that 

 the ideas put forward are those actually arising out of the 

 study of the atoll, and not of its literature. 



A word must be said with regard to the native names 

 employed in these pages. Throughout I have used those 

 names to designate the islands, and the animals and plants 

 that live upon them, which are in everyday use in the atoll ; 

 and for this I make no apology. I do not regret the fact that 

 the names here used to distinguish the islands do not 

 correspond with those on published charts. Did a stranger 

 arrive in the atoll and ask his way of any one — native or 

 European — to " Scsevola Islet " or " Workhouse Island," he 

 would certainly not arrive at his destination ; and the giving of 

 such made-up names to pieces of land already possessing well- 

 known native names has nothing to recommend it. The names 

 that I have employed are those in local and long-established 



