84 A NATURALIST ON DESERT ISLANDS. 



the head of the bay : and here, for the first time in our 

 life, we saw, at a certain spot, danae Nature engaged in the 

 very act of making " stone." The beach here has a very 

 gentle slope ; and just out of reach of the breaking 

 waves, were long slabs of a stony rock similar to the larder 

 doorstep. They ran at a very gentle angle inland ; 

 and were presently covered by the sand of the beach, 

 further up the slope, and by the debris and humus which 

 had gone to make up the little plateau on which the 

 bungalow was built . Twenty yards or more from the high- 

 water mark, the hammer rebounded off the hard, smooth 

 and uniform surface of the slabs, like a pea on a hot brick ; 

 but as one gradually approached nearer and nearer 

 to the water, so gradually the rock dipped and became 

 softer and softer, until at last it was of such a consistence 

 that one could push a walking stick through it. Finally, 

 it became nothing more than a smooth, glistening surface 

 of muddy-looking sand, which was planed and pohshed 

 by every surge of the sea which came gliding up 

 the slope. 



So here it was, just between the limits of high and low 

 water, that Nature was manufacturing "stone," or blocks 

 of cement, in such an unusually rapid way ; mixing, 

 blending and churning the ingredients of which it was 

 composed, and finally spreading the plastic sludge along 

 the gently sloping beach, where it received its final grind- 

 ing, polishing and hardening. This mixing must have 

 been carried out in certain very definite proportions ; 

 for to all intents and purposes this portion of the beach 

 was nothing more than a natural cement manufactory. 

 As far as one could discover, the ingredients concerned 

 were sea-water, calcium carbonate in solution, coral sand, 

 and a peculiar marine clay-like deposit of an exceedingly 

 fine and soft consistence, which appeared to underlie 

 the whole of the western island. 



This last deposit deserves special notice, for, as far as 

 we are aware, nothing of quite a similar nature has been 

 described from any of the West Indian Islands. 



