IN THE COCOH'KEELING 4SLANf>S, 



25 



Among the branches of the ginger-coral, a groat variety of 

 Crustacert are to he seen creeping about, and in all the crevices 

 Mollnsca of every family, most conspicuoa<j among them bein^ 

 the giant clams of the genus TridHcna, wh(>se mantle edged with 

 turquoisJG beads forms a beautiful object to look down on ; but 

 one must shudder for the diver who should accidentiiUy thrust 

 his head or a limb into its gape, ti'bich the slightest touch 

 causes to close with a snap. 



Nor was the interest of the atoll confined to its surf-beaten 

 barrier and its teeming lagoon ; every foot of the surface of the 

 land, every atom of its substance, every stem of the vegetation 

 that covered it, and each separate existence that crept or 

 winged itself on and around it, by its very presence in this 

 mid-ocean speck, was charged with a wondrous ^le of strange 

 vicissitudes and wanderings. By the inner margins of some 

 of the islands fas will lie seen on looking at the map), and 

 forming Jagoonlet^ in some of tiiem, there are soft limy mud- 

 flats, which are gradually becoming land, mainly by slow 

 elevation and hy crustacean agency. 



One of the largest of these is in West Island. Its lagoon- 

 ward portion, near the entrance conduit, which is submerged 

 at high water, is tenanted by two, if not three, species of 

 t*rab {Gelasimus voeam, teirmjomn^ and annnlipes). They live 

 in narrow corkscrew burrows, round the top of which there 

 is always a little mound just such iis is seen about an earth- 

 worm's ; and indeed they are most perfect worm substitutes. 

 I counted one hundred and twenty of their holes in an area 

 only two feet square ; and as there were many square acres in 

 the groimd of which I speak, some idea of the number of this 

 busy army may he obtained. They were incessantly active 

 daring the recess of the tide and even during high water, 

 which is generally perfectly still, in carrying down twigs of 

 trees or fncus leaves, scraps of cocoanut shell, and seeds, 

 laying the foundation of the future laud. 



On placing the fotit on the region occupied by them, one 

 perceives an undulation of the surface followed, over a circular 

 area, by a surprising change of the pure white ground into a 

 warm pink colour, which for the moment the stranger puts down 

 to some affection of his eyes from the reflection of the light. 

 He soon perceives that this movement is caused by the simnl- 



