1 6 CORAL-REEFS. 



in the year 1605, exclaim, "C'est une merueille de voir 

 chacun de ces atollons, enuironne d'un grand banc de 

 pierre tout autour, n'y ayant point d'artifice humain." The 

 accompanying sketch of Whitsunday Island, in the South 

 Pacific, taken from Capt. Beechey's admirable Voyage, 

 although excellent of its kind, gives but a faint idea of the 

 singular aspect of one of these lagoon-islands. 



Whitsunday Island is of small size, and the whole circle 

 has been converted into land, which is a comparatively rare 

 circumstance. As the reef of a lagoon-island generally 

 supports many separate small islands, the word 'island,' 

 applied to the whole, is often the cause of confusion; 

 hence I have invariably used in this volume the term 

 'atoll,' which is the name given to these circular groups of 

 coral-islets by their inhabitants in the Indian Ocean, and is 

 synonymous with ' lagoon-island.' 



Barrier-reefs v when encircling small islands, have been 

 comparatively little noticed by voyagers; but they well 

 deserve attention. In their structure they are little less 

 marvellous than atolls, and they give a singular and most 

 picturesque character to the scenery of the islands they 

 surround. In the accompanying sketch, taken from the 

 Voyage of the Coquille> the reef is seen from within, 

 from one of the high peaks of the island of Bolabola. 1 



1 I have taken the liberty of simplifying the foreground, and leaving 

 out a mountainous island in the far distance. 



