CH. Ti MAPJNE FAUNA OF TALISSE SROBES 107 



It must not be supposed that the shores of the island are 

 really so very precipitous as coral shores seem to be in some 

 regions of the world. If TaUsse Sea were to become dry we 

 should have a great plain, which, with the exception of one 

 or two low hillocks, and a slight depression here and there, 

 would appear to the observer on the island as a tolerably level 

 plateau. At the approaches of what is now dry land there 

 would be a sHght incMne to a low chff (the edge of the coral 

 reef) not more than 12 or 14 feet ia height. This incline is 

 not much more than one in seventeen — a good stiff gradient 

 for a railway, but not what a pedestrian would consider a 

 serious climb. It is a mistake to suppose that if we could 

 imagine a passenger walking along the bottom of the ocean 



Fig. 12. — Diagram to illustrate the average shore slopes in the neighbourhood 

 of Talisse Pier, Manado, and Mananinta, compared with the inclination 

 of Talisse Hill, in the neighbourhood of Koa. 



he would come to a precipitous impassable barrier at the foot 

 of the reefs. He would find nothing more than a gradual 

 slope perfectly easy to surmount. Let me take an example 

 to illustrate my meaning. The hill at the back of my 

 house in Talisse was a good stiff chmb ; no one could caU it 

 precipitous ; and yet it was not easy to negotiate without 

 occasionally using hands and knees. The incline was here 

 certainly not less that one in every three and a half. Let 

 us suppose now a traveller approaching the coral reef at 

 Mananinta from the bottom of the Celebes sea. He would 

 find an incline of not more than one in four and a half. 

 At Manado, which has the reputation of being very steep, 

 not more than one ia seven. In fact, if he wished to reach 



