The Coolidge examiner., 1933-07-14
GREAT BARRIER
LURES SAVANTS
Vast Submarine Reef of Coral
OFF Australia.
Prepared by National Geographic Society.

/ 1A1D SEA HShl uAy dIOuS luS
east coast of Queensland, thou
- sand miles of coral maze"
would be revealed. The Great Bar
rier Reef Of Australia must not be
imagined as continuous structure,
like the Great Wall of China; it is
formed by innumerable reefs, and
a map of just one section resem-
bles a complex jig-saw puzzle. Then
there are the isles, mountainous
and forested, of the inner zone, and
the atolls and Gays that are true
coral islands.
For nearly a century the Great
Barrier has intrigued science by the
problems that 1t presents to geol-
ogists, photographers and natural
lists. 1t has lured such masters of
marine zoology as Alexander Agas-
siz and A. G. Mayer from America,
and recently a British expedition
broke camp after year on Captain
Cooks first coral island.
In all the Seven Seas there is
nothing so wonderful as this vast
submarine curtain" Of coral, the
largest coral reef in the world,
whose nature and origin remain
half yelled in mystery.
Tourists from many lands and
thousands of Australians have made
the voyage through Australia S
Grand Canal" the area between the
mainland, with its purple hills, and
the Outer Barrier. A calm and
pleasant trip during a portion of
the year, it may be perilous in the
cyclone season.
Many launches and fishing craft
have been wrecked among the
coral, or gone down In the heart Of
a storm within the Barrier. But
navigation is no longer the night
mare it was to the early voyagers,
before the reef mazes had been
mapped and routes safe for even
large vessels discovered. Danger
exists still, but the old fear has
gone-the haunting fear of disaster
in the Realm of Coral.
Surf Is Amazing Spectacle.
Majestic is the meeting of league
long rollers of the ocean and the
Great Barrier On days when the
sunlit water behind the coral bas-
ton is calm enough for a canoe,
mountainous waves pound the reefs
increasingly. The surf on the Out
er Barrier at high tide, when the
broad reefs crests are hidden, pre-
sents an amazing spectacle. A
'1ong line of boiling surf, springing
up in mid-ocean without any ap-
parent cause" is the late Charles
Hedley's description. That great
naturalist, whose knowledge of the
Barrier was unrivaled, devoted the
last few years of his life to the
study of its problems.
Swain Reefs, far south, mark the
beginning Of the Great Barrier
Outer System. Farther north, the
linear reefs are developed. They
are some miles in length and up to
half a mile across, with broad sep
arating channels.
4 lighthouse on Lady Elliot Islet
marks the southern limit of coral
formed land, "a broad platform of
solid coral half a mile in circum-
ference" Then comes an archi-
pelago, the Bunger group, followed
by the Capricorn group, popular
resort now of naturalists, and al
most "a picnic ground for holiday
makers from the mainland.
Within the tropics, the maze is
multiplied. From a hill at Cook
town you may see, as Captain Cook
did in 1770, the shadows of the
coral reefs wherever you look out
to sea. The navigator who explored
1000 miles of the east coast of Aus
tralia was ignorant of the exist
ence Of coral in those waters when
his ship struck on Endeavour reef
at night.
Had the weather been stormy she
must have been lost, for coral fangs
had pierced her hull. But calm sea
enabled the sailors to patch up the
bark by "fothering," and Cook
sailed her to the beach for careen-
ing and repairs. Meanwhile, gazing
from the hilltop, he discovered the
coral.
With a seaworthy ship again, he
won a way out of the maze, gaining
open ocean through one of the great
openings in the Barrier. He es.
capped many dangers only to meet
with others a few days later.
The Endeavour, becalmed off the
Outer Barrier, was borne toward
the reef. She rose at last on a
huge wave and seemed doomed to
destruction, with only the breadth
of a wave between her and the
coral. But "a light air of wind
sprung up," and the ship was
saved.
Cook Claimed the Coast.
Captain Cook sought eagerly for
an opening, and found his "Provi-
Dental Channel" He was in the