The Struggle for Life in the Swamp. 257 
the end either here or elsewhere, which may become 
valuable at a future period. 
This is a fair example of what has been going on for 
ages. Without the courida, banks of sand and mud 
would probably have been formed, but nothing like the 
rich soil of the coast, nor perhaps half its area. What 
happens when the courida is removed is so well-known 
to every planter that they are not likely to run the risk 
of interfering with nature's handiwork. 
To comprehend the forces at work in the swamp would 
require careful observation for many years in connection 
with tides, currents and rainfall. The influence of em- 
powering is no doubt considerable, but the plants were 
at work long before man interfered and what we see to- 
day is mainly the result of their labours. With the 
examples of Dauntless Island and Courabanna Point be- 
fore us it is quite easy to understand how our muddy 
shores have been formed, and how by choking the out- 
lets, the dense mat of courida in front helps to keep up 
the swamp. Before any plantations existed many 
small creeks drained the coast and lower reaches of the 
rivers, and it may be confidently stated that the water in 
the swamp hardly ever rose to the height now reached in 
almost every rainy season. Somehow or other the rainfall 
nearly always kept the creeks full enough to prevent 
silting up, and if this ever took place a new outlet was 
soon formed. With every plantation stopping the way 
however, these natural outlets have been closed, at times 
with most serious results. After all in sea defences as in 
many other things a great deal can be learnt by observing 
nature's methods oi doing her work. 
