but they rendered it rather dangerous to walk in the water
at that time.
The party who were left on ihore with Mr. Williamfon,
■were a good deal peftered (as Mr. Gore’s had been) with
mufquitoes, in the night. Some o f them, in their excur-
fions, ihot two curlews, exadtly like thofe o f England; and
fawfomeplovers, or fand-pipers,upon the ihore; but, in the
wood, no other bird, befides one or two of the cuckoos that-
were feen at Wertooa.ette.
Upon the whole, we did not fpend our time unprofitably
at this laft iflot; for- we got there about twelve hundred
cocoa-nuts, which were equally divided amongft the whole
crew; and were, doubtlefs, of great ufe to them, both on
account of the juice and of the kernel. A. fhip, therefore,
pafling this way, if the weather be moderate, may ex-peifc
to fucceed as we did. But there is no water upon either of
the iilots where we landed. Were-that article to be had, and
a paffage could be got into the lake, as we may call it,, fur-
rounded by the reef, where a fhip could anchor, I ihould
prefer this to any of the inhabited iflands,. if the only, want
were refreihment. For the quantity of fiih that might be
procured, would be fufficient; and the people might roam
about, unmoleited by the petulance of. any inhabitants,
The nine or ten low Hlots, comprehended-under the name
of Palmerfton’s Ifland; may be reckoned the heads or fum-
mits of the reef of coral rock, that connects them together,
covered only with a thin coat of fand, yet clothed, as already
obferved, with trees and plants, molt of which are of
the fame forts that are found on the low grounds of the high
¡Hands of this ocean.
There are different opinions, amongft ingenious theoriftS, jwjfi
concerning the formation of fuch low iflands as Palmer- <-—.—
fton’s. Some will have it, that, in remote times, thefe little
feparate heads or, iilots were joined, and formed one continued
and more elevated trait of land, which the fea, in the
revolution of ages, has waihed away, leaving only the
higher grounds; which, in time, alfo, will, according to-
this theory, ihare the fame fate. Another conjecture is,
that they have been thrown up by earthquakes, and are the
effect of internalconvulfions of the globe. A third.opinion,
and which appears to me as the moft probable one, maintains,
that they are formed from fhoals, or coral banks, and,
of confequence, increafing. Without mentioning the feve-
itai arguments made ufe of in fupport of each of thefe.
fyftems, I ihall only defcribe fuch parts of Palmerfton’s
Ifland, as fell under my own obfervation when I landed
upon it.
The foundation is, every where, a coral'rock; the foil
is coral fand, with which the decayed vegetables have, but
in a few places, intermixed, fo as to form any thing like
mould. From this, a very ftrong prefumption may be
drawn, that thefe little fpots of land, are not of very ancient
date, nor the remains of larger iflands now buried in
the ocean. For, upon either of thefe fuppofitions, more
mould muft have been formed, or fome part of the original'
foil would have remained. Another circumftance confirmed
this doctrine of the increafe of tllefe iflOts. We
found upon them, far beyond the prefent reach of the
fiea, even in the moft violent ftorms, elevated coral rocks,
which, on examination, appeared to have been perforated,
in the fame manner that the rocks are, that nowjcompofe
the outer edge of the reef. This evidently fhews, that the
fea.