, 1877-07-20
AtOlIs.

Thousands of miles away, IN the Indian
Ocean and that part of the Pacific called
Polynesia, there are some of the most
charming spots in the world for playing
Robinson CrusOe. 1t would not be con-
venient, however, to be shipwreCked upon
the wrong islands; for some of them are
already inhabited, and the swarthy Malays
who have built their huts there under the
tall cOcosnut trees might not welcome in
truders. Indeed, the monarchs of these
curious little islands in the midst of the
ocean know little and care less for what
may be beyond its waves. They spend
their quiet, monotonOus lives in little
worlds of their OVID, without desiring to
explore lands out of sight. Neither do
they care to understand the strange orr
gin of their home in the sea.
These lovely little islands we're formed
in very wonderful way. Ages ago there
were myriads of little creatures, called
coral polyps, or zo6phytes, slowly build
ing in the bottom of the ocean. They
had no intention of erecting a monu-
ment which would endure as long as the
world itself; for they were merely grow
ing in Natures own way, the way in
which the Creator designed they should.
Their tiny bodies were at first soft and
jelly-like, with gayly-colored fringes ut
the top, like the petals of a flower. In
the course of time little particles of lime
began to accumulate in their sides, until
at length they became so stiff and hard
as to appear like stone. The young polyps
had very singular way of growing from
the sides of their parents, like the buds
and branches of tree, and as the lower
ones gradually grew solid and perished
new ones were continually growing above.
After many years a large and high ridge
was in this way formed out of the stony
skeletons of these strange little animals.
These ridges are called coral-reefs or Is
lands. Some of them extend for hun
dreds of miles in the ocean. Others are
nearly circular in form and are of all
sizes. After they have reached the sur
face of the sea the waves wash over them
bits of sand, mud, shells, seeds, ETC., un-
til at length low but solid and immov-
able island is formed. Various kinds of
trees and vegetables grow upon these is
lands and some of them are inhabited by
man. They are called atolls by the ma
tives. They enclose small sheet of quiet
water, which seems like q peaceful lake
set in q verdant ring of land and planted
in the middle of the ocean, This inner
lake is called lagoon, and it is generally
connected with the ocean by narrow
channel, through which ships sometimes
enter and find safe harbor, even when
the breakers are beating the outer coast
of the reef in great fury. The atolls or
reefs are seldom more than few hun
dred yards in width, and the highest por-
tions are not over ten or twelve feet above
the surface of the sea at high tide. In
deed, the natives are sometimes obliged
to lash their huts to the coccauut trees to
prevent their being washed away in very
severe storms. But the waves do not often
molest them, and they pass lives of indo-
lence and quietness, subsisting mostly
upon cocoanuts and fish.
A few years ago a party Of American
explorers landed upon one Of these atolls,
and they were greeted by the natives as
gods from the sun. They were supposed
to have launched their ship direct from
that bright orb upon the ocean, at sunset
or sunrise, when the sun seems to sink be-
meath the water
These explorers also landed at another
island, not inhabited by human beings,
where the birds had evidently never
learned that man is an enemy to be feared;
for they allowed themselves to be ap-
preached and captured, without appearing
in the least afraid ss al ~
Such aquiet, lovely spot, with the beau
tiful lake within and the restless sea with
out, mightpossibly make delightful sum-
mer resort; but even Robinson Crusoe
would probably become weary of its per-
petual solitude and long to hear again
the sound of busy life in larger world.
Hrs. e. G. FarnspOrth, in the IndS-
pendent.