174 DISTRIBUTION OF CORAL-REEFS. Ch. VI. 



Oahu, and Tauai (or Kauai), all in this group. Mr. Pierce, 

 an intelligent resident at Oahu, is convinced, from changes 

 which have taken place within his memory during the last 

 sixteen years, ' that the elevation is at present going forward 

 at a very perceptible rate.' The natives at Kauai state 

 that the land is there gaining rapidly on the sea ; and 

 Mr. Couthouy has no doubt, from the nature of the strata, 

 that this is the result of elevation. 



Elizabeth Island, in the southern part of the Law or 

 Paumotu Archipelago, and Metia in the northern part, 

 consist of upraised coral-rock, closely fringed by living reefs. 1 

 In cases like these, where islands have the appearance which 

 one of the smaller surrounding atolls with a shallow lagoon 

 would present if elevated, we are led to conclude that the 

 elevation has taken place at an epoch not geologically re- 

 mote ; for it is improbable that such small and low fabrics 

 should have resisted for an immense period all the many 

 destroying agents of nature. When the surface of an ordi- 

 nary island is strewed with marine remains, from the beach 

 to a certain height, and not above that height, it is exceed- 

 ingly improbable that these remains, although they may not 

 have been specifically examined, should belong to any very 

 ancient period. It is necessary to bear these remarks in 

 mind, in considering the evidence of the elevatory move- 

 ments in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as it does not often 

 rest on specific determinations, and therefore should be re- 

 ceived with caution. Six of the Cook and Austral Islands 

 (S.W. of the Society group) are fringed ; of these, five 

 were described to me by the Eev. J. Williams, as formed of 

 coral-rock (associated with some basalt in Mangaia), and the 

 sixth as lofty and basaltic. Mangaia is nearly 300 feet high 



1 Beechey's Voyage in the Pacific, p. 46,4to edit. Dana, Corals and 

 Coral Islands, p. 193. Wilkes, U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. i. p. 

 337. 



