THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 275 
corals leave off building higher; sea-shells, frag- 
ments of coral, sea-hedgehog shells, and their broken- 
off prickles, are united by the burning sun through 
the medium of the cementing calcareous sand, which 
has arisen from the pulverization of the above-men- 
tioned shells, into one whole or solid stone, which, 
strengthened by the continual throwing up of new 
materials, gradually increases in thickness, till it at 
last becomes so high that it is covered only during 
some seasons of the year by the spring-tides. The 
heat of the sun so penetrates the mass of stone when 
it is dry, that it splits in many places, and breaks off 
in flakes. These flakes, so separated, are raised one 
upon another by the waves, at the time of high- 
water. The always-active surf throws blocks of coral 
(frequently of a fathom in length, and three or four 
feet thick), and shells of marine animals, between 
and upon the foundation stones. After this the cal- 
careous sand lies undisturbed, and offers to the seeds 
of trees and plants cast upon it by the waves, a soil 
upon which they rapidly grow, to overshadow its 
dazzling white surface. Entire trunks of trees, 
which are carried by the rivers from other countries 
and islands, find here, at length, a resting-place, after 
their long wanderings; with these come some small 
animals, such as lizards and insects, as the first inha- 
bitants. Even before the trees form a wood, the real 
sea-birds nestle there; strayed land-birds take refuge 
in the bushes; and at a much later period, when 
the work has been long since completed, man also 
appears, builds his hut on the fruitful soil formed 
by the corruption of the leaves of the trees, and 
