Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-08-08
Sea Wonders.

OF all the wonderful sights in this
land OF wonders there are hone greater
than the wonders Of the reef when the
tide is low. The ideas about coral
which people have who have never seen
II IN Its living state are generally erro-
neous. They know it is beautiful
white ornament under a glass shade or
IN delicate pink branches in their jew
elry. and they imagine living coral is
like these. Their ideas are helped along
by the common missioner of trees and
branches. as applied to coral. 1 have
never seen IT in the South Sea Islands,
but throughout the Eastern seas the
most common variety takes a laminated
form, not unlike the large fungi to be
met with any summer + day in An Eng
!Ish wood growing ont of the older
trees. Flat, circular tables Of dingy
brown, growing one over another, with
spaces under each. These attain great
size, extending for years without
break, 50 that the bottom of the sea is
perfectly level. This kind Is much
sought after by the lime burners. An
other species grows in detached bosses
like thick stemmed plants which the
gardener has trimmed round the top.
These clumps grow out of the sand
and stand up in dull brown against the
white flooring. A third pattern is
spiked like a stays horns tangled to.
gether and is of a dingier brown than
the first /; its spikes collect the drifting
weeds and its appearance is conse-
quently untidy. There are scores of
varieties of corals and madrepores, but
the three mentioned are those which
principally make up the mass which is
ever growing under the still waters in
side the reef At Maheburg the reef
is distant seven miles from the shore,
and the whole of this great lagoon is
in process of filling up by coral. There
are one or two holes left capriciously,
and q channel which the river has cut
to the reef which it pierces in what is
locally called "a pass Everywhere
else tho bottom is only few feet under
water, and is always slowly rising. The
various corals, the patches of silver
sand, the deep winding channel, lend
each tint to the water-sapphire;blue,
where it is deepest sea-green with en-
erald hecks, or cerulean blue shot with
opaline tints, in the shadows. The
reef is solid wall, shelving towards
the ocean, and varies in width from 20
to 1GO yards. Against the outer face
the rollers rage necessarily. Swell
follows swell smoothly and regularly.
There is no hurry, for here there is no
shelving bottom to keep them back.
On they come, separating their ink
blue masses from the tumble of the
ocean, rearing aloft their crests, like liv-
ing things anxious to try their strength,
and fall with roar on its edge as it
stands up to meet them. You can
stand within few feet of the practi-
cally bottomless sea and watch them
tumble, with the water no further than
your knees, as the surge of their on
ward rush carries across the reef. To
stand so and watch them coming on
appears, to one not used to the sight,
to court destruction the wave is so
vast, its crest rising higher as it ad.
vances, shuts out the sea behind !;
nothing can be seen but wall of water
rolling in ; its strength is SO apparent,
so irresistible, and the pause it appears
to take as the top curls over seems to
check your breath. The rock and
Jumps of dead coral with which storms
have strewn the reef are high and dry !;
the pools of limpid water in the holes
sink down and drain away, their sur
face CLASSY and their depths full of
color and strange-shaped living things;
then the roller breaks and sends a
surge of water kissing by, and the reef
has sunk beneath the foam and bub-
bling water.-1rdder's Magaziae.