April, 1836. 



KEELING ISLAND. 



of life^ teems ; yet I must confess I think those naturahsts 

 who have described in well-known words the submarine 

 grottoes decked with a thousand beauties, have indulged in 

 rather exuberant language. 



April 6th. — I accompanied Captain FitzRoy to an island 

 at the head of the lagoon : the channel was exceedingly 

 intricate, winding through fields of delicately branched corals. 

 We saw several turtle, and two boats were then employed 

 in catching them. The method is rather curious : the water 

 is so clear and shallow, that although at first a turtle quickly 

 dives out of sight, yet in a canoe, or boat under sail, the 

 pursuers after no very long chase come up to it. A man 

 standing ready in the bows, at this moment dashes through 

 the water upon the turtle^s back ; then clinging with both 

 hands by the shell of its neck, he is carried away till the 

 animal becomes exhausted and is secured. It was quite an 

 interesting chase to see the two boats thus doubling about, 

 and the men dashing into the water trying to seize their 

 prey. 



When we arrived at the head of the lagoon, we crossed 

 the narrow islet and found a great surf breaking on the wind- 

 ward coast, I can hardly explain the cause, but there is to 

 my mind a considerable degree of grandeur in the view of 

 the outer shores of these lagoon islands. There is a sim- 

 plicity in the barrier-like beach, the margin of gfeen bushes 

 and tall cocoa-nuts, the solid flat of coral rock, strewed here 

 and there with great fragments, and the line of furious breakers, 

 all rounding away towards either hand. The ocean throwing 

 its waters over the broad reef appears an invincible, all- 

 powerful enemy, yet we see it resisted and even conquered 

 by means which at first seem most weak and inefficient. 



It is not that the ocean spares the rock of coral ; the 

 great fragments scattered over the reef, and accumulated on 

 the beach, whence the tall cocoa-nut springs, plainly bespeak 

 the unrelenting power of its waves. Nor are there any 

 periods of repose granted. The long swell, caused by the 

 gentle but stead}' action of the trade-wind always blowing in 



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