108 A NATURALIST ON DESERT ISLANDS. 



we might have morahzed over this outward and visible 

 sign of the old coral " adam " being renewed in the form 

 of the vegetable life above ; since here we could almost 

 see the coral reef that was, appearing in a new form of 

 organic life, as the roots of the trees above us struck 

 deep into its crevices : we could almost Jienr the 

 sap — full of hfe-creating salts derived from these hme- 

 stone relics of dead coral animals — coursing up to the 

 sunlight, fco the leaves and the expanded branches of the 

 trees ; there to be woven again into the mystery of revealed 

 life : or we might have expressed our thoughts better by 

 quoting Longfellow, where he poetically epitomises the 

 theory of the conservation of energy in the lines — 

 "Nothing that is shall perish. 

 But perish only to revive again, 

 In other forms ; as clouds restore in rain 

 The exhalations of the land and sea." 

 As you advance eastwards down the centre of the island, 

 the going, in comparison with the rough work you have 

 been through, becomes quite good : there is a more or 

 less even surface of mould under your feet and a dense 

 canopy of trees above your head. The furrows have 

 disappeared, but their place is taken by several parallel 

 terraces which are aligned along the length of the island. 

 The walls of these terraces vary from about ten to fifteen 

 feet high and are nearly perpendicular. You can get 

 along quite easily here ; for in spite of the huge spreading 

 roots of trees and occasional massive blocks of haK-buried 

 rock, there is beneath the dense foliage of the tree-tops 

 a curiously subdued greenish light, which has prevented 

 much undergrowth. 



Very soon after entering these shady glades for the first 

 time, we were much puzzled by a curious chattering or 

 muttering noise which came from above ; and as nothing 

 <;ould be seen from below, it was a few minutes before we 

 realized that we were w^alking beneath a nesting colony 

 of frigate-birds. We had previously come across colonies 

 of tliese splendid birds in the Testigos and the Los 



