180 AGE OF CORAL REEFS. 
more like cigars than anything else, float in large 
numbers about the Reef. I have sometimes seen 
them in the water about the Florida Reef in such 
quantities, that one would have said some vessel 
laden with Havana cigars had been wrecked 
there, and its precious cargo scattered in the 
ocean. 
In consequence of their shape, and the devel- 
opment of the root, one end is a little heavier 
than the other, so that they float unevenly, with 
the loaded end a little lower than the lighter one. 
When they are brought by the tide against such 
a cap of soil as I have described, they become 
stranded upon it by their heavier end; the root- 
lets attach themselves slightly to the soil; the 
advancing and retreating waves move the little 
plant up and down, till it works a hole in the 
sand; and having thus established itself more 
firmly, steadied itself, as it were, it now stands 
upright ; and, as it grows, throws out numerous 
roots, even from a height of several feet above 
the ground, till it has surrounded the lower part 
of its stem with a close net-work of roots. Against 
this natural trellis, or screen, all sorts of mate- 
rials collect. Sand, mud, and shells are caught 
in it. And as these Mangrove-trees grow in large 
numbers, and to the height of thirty feet, they 
contribute greatly to the solidity and compact- 
ness of the shores on which they are stranded. 
