XX STONES TRANSPORTED BY TREES 491 



ever, I considered the great distance from the nearest land, the 

 combination of chances against a stone thus being entangled, 

 the tree washed into the sea, floated so far, then landed safely, 

 and the stone finally so embedded as to allow of its discovery, I 

 was almost afraid of imagining a means of transport apparently 

 so improbable. It was therefore with great interest that I 

 found Chamisso, the justly distinguished naturalist who 

 accompanied Kotzebue, stating that the inhabitants of the 

 Radack Archipelago, a group of lagoon islands in the midst of 

 the Pacific, obtained stones for sharpening their instruments by 

 searching the roots of trees which are cast upon the beach. It 

 will be evident that this must have happened several times, 

 since laws have been established that such stones belong to the 

 chief, and a punishment is inflicted on any one who attempts 

 to steal them. When the isolated position of these small 

 islands in the midst of a vast ocean — their great distance from 

 any land excepting that of coral formation, attested by the 

 value which the inhabitants, who are such bold navigators, 

 attach to a stone of any kind,^ — and the slowness of the 

 currents of the open sea, are all considered, the occurrence of 

 pebbles thus transported does appear wonderful. Stones may 

 often be thus carried ; and if the island on which they are 

 stranded is constructed of any other substance besides coral, 

 they would scarcely attract attention, and their origin at least 

 would never be guessed. Moreover, this agency may long 

 escape discovery from the probability of trees, especially those 

 loaded with stones, floating beneath the surface. In the 

 channels of Tierra del Fuego large quantities of drift timber 

 are cast upon the beach, yet it is extremely rare to meet a tree 

 swimming on the water. These facts may possibly throw light 

 on single stones, whether angular or rounded, occasionally 

 found embedded in fine sedimentary masses. 



During another day I visited West Islet, on which the 

 vegetation was perhaps more luxuriant than on any other. 

 The cocoa-nut trees generally grow separate, but here the 

 young ones flourished beneath their tall parents, and formed 

 with their long and curved fronds the most shady arbours. 

 Those alone who have tried it know how delicious it is to be 



^ Some natives carried by Kotzebue to Kamtschatka collected stones to take 

 back to their country. 



