CORAL ISLANDS. 79 
of the various arts of civilized life could exist in a land where shells 
are the only cutting instruments,—the plants in all but twenty-nine 
in number,—but a single mineral,—quadrupeds none, with the ex- 
ception of foreign mice,—fresh water barely enough for household 
purposes,—no streams, nor mountains, nor hills?’ How much of 
the poetry or literature of Kurope would be intelligible to persons 
whose ideas had expanded only to the limits of a coral island,—who 
had never conceived of a surface of land above half a mile in breadth, 
—of aslope higher than a beach,—of a change of seasons beyond a 
variation in the prevalence of rains?) What elevation in morals should 
be expected upon a contracted islet, so readily over-peopled that 
threatened starvation drives to infanticide, and tends to cultivate the 
extremest selfishness? Assuredly there is not a more unfavourable 
spot for moral or intellectual development in the wide world than the 
coral island, with all its beauty of grove and lake. 
These islands are exposed to earthquakes and storms like the con- 
tinents, and occasionally a devastating wave sweeps across the land. 
During the heavier gales the natives sometimes secure their houses 
by tying them to the cocoanut trees, or to a stake planted for the 
purpose. A height of ten or twelve feet, the elevation of their land, 
is easily overtopped by the more violent seas; and great damage is 
sometimes experienced. ‘The still more extensive earthquake-waves, 
such as those which have swept up the coast of Spain, Peru, and the 
Sandwich Islands, would produce a complete deluge over these islands. 
We were informed by both Gray and Kirby, that effects of this kind 
had been experienced at the Tarawan Islands; but the statements 
were too indefinite to determine whether the results should be attri- 
buted to storms or to this more violent cause. 
The preceding pages have been occupied with a simple description 
of the actual condition, structure, and appearances of reefs and reef 
islands. From this review of their existing features, we may pass on 
to the consideration of those agencies by which these features were 
produced, tracing out the steps in the progress of such formations, 
and the influence of various causes on their forms and distribution. 
We may commence with a brief account of the living zoophyte, its 
habits and its mode of growth,—as some knowledge on these points 
is essential to the correct appreciation of the discussion before us. 
This branch of the subject has been treated of at length in another 
volume, to which reference may be made for fuller details.* 
* Report on Zoophytes, by the author. 
