the ends for which God bestowed so much art, A LION'S CUBS NURSED BY A GENERAL WATSON, while out one SONNET. WRITTEN ON THE SABBATH DAY. pre WHEN by God's inward light, a happy child, DISTANCES OF THE PLANETS. Just Published, BRITISH COLLEGE OF HEALTH, KING'S MORISON'S UNIVERSAL VEGETABLE Mr. Earl, body, legs, and hands, and exhibited all the symptoms Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire, Oct. 3, 1832. JOHN BALEY. P.S.-Mr. Anthony, Agent at Wisbeach, informs me of "two females that were attacked with the cholera; one of them took the Universals,' in strong doses, and was well after a few doses; the other took five pills, and would not take any more, but would have a medical attendant: the consequence was, she was bad for three weeks, and at the present time is not able to walk about." It is quite amusing to hear, at the different places where I have been, how the doctors try to bias the public mind of one thing, some another, and some of all manner of by the trumpery tales of "poison," "bread crumbs," some things! but the mystery is, they cannot say the right it. Say, however, all they can, invent and do all they thing; or if they could, it would not pay them to act upon can, the world is awake, and the public will have "Mori- Cambridge, Oct. 4th, 1832. CAUTION TO THE PUBLIC. MORISON'S UNIVERSAL MEDICINES having superseded the use of almost all the Patent Medicines which the wholesale venders have foisted upon the credulity of the searchers after health, for so many years, the town druggists and chemists, not able to establish a fair fame on the invention of any plausible means of competition, have plunged into the mean expedient of puffing up a "Dr. Morrison" (observe the subterfuge of the double r), a being who never existed, as prescribing a "Vegetable Universal Pill, No. 1 and 2," for the express purpose (by means of this forged imposition upon the pubMEDICINES" of the "BRITISH COLLEGE OF HEALTH." A BRIEF EXPOSITION of the ORIGIN, ic), of deteriorating the estimation of the "UNIVERSAL DESIGN. and FULFILMENT of the JEWISH abridged from the writings of Dr. Heylin, John Calvin, Archdeacon Paley, Dr. Whately, William Penn, and London: Whittaker and Co. Liverpool: T. Hodgson. For Convulsion Fits, Epileptic Fits. DR. HADLEY'S POWDERS, a safe and certain Cure for Inward Weakness, Convulsion Fits, From Lord Viscount Amiens. To Mr. Rowland. Sir, I feel I should be doing you the greatest injustice, and also to the public generally, were I to withhold from you my testimony in favour of your inestimable medicine, Dr. Hadley's Powders, which, under Providence, has been the means of restoring my infant child under circumstances the most unparalleled, having the first medical advice, and no more effect than momentary relief. The infant daily declining, insomuch that the bones were nearly through the skin, in this wretched situation I administered daily your powders, and no other medicine; and, to the astonishment even of my medical friends, it had the hap: piest result in restoring my infant to perfect health. I shall be most happy to satisfy any respectable inquirer (by previous appointment) in person. I am, Sir, Your much obliged and most obedient servant, Temple House, January 7, 1824. AMIENS. These Powders are faithfully prepared and sold by the sole Proprietors, A. ROWLAND and SON, 20, Hatton Garden. Packages at 2s. 9d. and 4s. 6d. per packet, or in bottles containing three 4s. 6d. at 11s. each, and in larger bottles 22s. each, duty included. Sold, by appointment, by Mr. Sanger, Medicine WareFleet Market; Edwards, 66, St. Paul's Church-yard; C. house, 150, Oxford-street: Messrs. Barclay and Sons, 95, Butler, 4, Cheapside; W. Sutton and Co., Bow Churchyard; Prout, 229, Strand; Johnston, Cornhill, and Greekstreet, Soho; J. and C. Evans, Long-lane, Smithfield; PROFESSOR WILSON. and Bolton and Tutt, Royal Exchange. KNOW ALL MEN, then, that this attempted delusion must fall under the fact, that (however specious the pretence), none can be held genuine by the College but those which have "Morison's Universal Medicines" impressed upon the Government Stamp attached to each box and packet, to counterfeit which is felony by the laws of the land. The "Vegetable Universal Medicines" are to be had at the College, New Road, King's Cross, London; at the Surrey Branch, 96, Great Surrey-street; Mr. Field's, 16, Airstreet, Quadrant; Mr. Chappell's, Royal Exchange; Mr. Walker's, Lamb's-conduit-passage, Red-lion-square: Mr. J. Loft's, Mile-end-road; Mr. Bennett's, Covent-gardenmarket; Mr. Haydon's, Fleur-de-lis-court, Norton-falgate; Mr. Haslet's, 147, Ratcliffe-highway; Messrs. Norbury's, Brentford; Mrs. Stepping, Clare-market; Messrs. Salmon, Little Bell-alley; Miss Varai's, 24, Lucas-street, Commercial-road; Mrs. Beech's, 7, Sloane-square, Chelsea; Mrs. Chapple's, Royal Library, Pall-mall; Mrs. Pippen's, 18, Wingrove-place, Clerkenwell; Miss C. Atkinson, 19, New Trinity-grounds, Deptford; Mr. Taylor, Hanwell; Mr. Kirtlam, 4, Bolingbroke-row, Walworth; Mr. Payne, 64, Jermyn-street; Mr. Howard, at Mr. Wood's, hair-dresser, Richmond; Mr. Meyar, 3, May's-buildings, Blackheath; wall-road, Lambeth; Mr. J. Dobson, 35, Craven-street, Mr. Griffiths, Wood-wharf, Greenwich; Mr. Pitt, 1, CornStrand; Monck, Bexley Heath; Mr. T. Stokes, 12, St. Ronan's, Mr. Oliver, Bridge-street, Vauxhall; Mr. J. Deptford; Mr. Cowell, 22, Terrace, Pimlico; Mr. Parfitt, 96, Edgware-road; Mr. Hart, Portsmouth-place, Kenningten-lane; Mr. Charlesworth, grocer, 124, Shoreditch; Mr. J. Avila, pawnbroker, opposite the church, Hackney; Mr R. G. Bower, grocer, 22, Brick-lane, St. Luke's; Mr. S. J. S. Briggs, 1, Brunswick-place, Stoke Newington; Mr. falgate; Mr. J. Williamson, 15, Seabright-place, HackneyT. Gardner, 95, Wood-street, Cheapside, and 9, NortonHomerton; Mr. H. Cox, grocer, 16, Union-street, Bishopsroad; Mr. J. Osborn, Wells-street, Hackney road, and gate-street; Mr. T. Walter, cheesemonger, 67, Hoxton Old Town; and at one agent's in every principal town in Great Britain, the Islands of Guernsey and Malta; and throughout the whole of the United States of America. N. B. The College will not be answerable for the consequences of any medicines sold by any chymist or druggist, cines." as none such are allowed to sell the "Universal Medi Printed by J. HADDON and Co.; and Published by J. CRISP, at No. 27, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, where all Advertisements and Communications for the Editor are to be addressed. 4 English travellers who have favoured us with their opinions on this point, and with descriptions of the place, are Addison and Eustace; and from their researches, and from the accounts of others, we will endeavour to collect such facts as appear most interesting, both of a descriptive and historical kind. Addison, in the account which he gives of this place, expresses his scepticism as to the fact which gives to it all its interest. He says" At about eight miles from Naples lies a very noble scene of antiquities. What they call Virgil's tomb is the first that one meets with on the way thither. It is certain that the poet was buried in Naples; but I think it almost as certain that his tomb stood on the opposite side of the town, which looks toward Vesuvio. By the tomb is the entrance to the grotto of Posilippo. The common people believe it to have been wrought by magic, and that Virgil was the magician, who is in greater repute among the Neapolitans for having made the grotto than the Æneid." In intimating his opinion as to the place of Virgil's burial, Addison does not go into the arguments which support it. They are drawn from some verses of an ancient Roman poet, in which he describes himself as having arrived at the tomb, "secutus littus," (literally, "following the beach,") and that, therefore, it cannot be on the hills; and in which he also describes it as situated "where Vesuvius vents his rage;" whence it is argued that it must be near the foot of that mountain. Against these conclusions, however, Mr. Eustace contends, we think with justice, that, with respect to the first argument, the mode of interpretation adopted is barely admissible, even in logical or metaphysical discussions; that it is not conformable to the latitude allowed in ordinary description, whether in conversation or writing, and still less to the boldness of poetical composition. The expressions alluded to seem evidently to describe the general features of the country, and not the particular spot where stood the tomb of Virgil. Besides, the word littus does not mean the beach only, but extends to the immediate neighbourhood of the sea. Now the road to Virgil's tomb runs actually along the beach; and though it turns from it in ascending the hills, yet it is always within sight of it, and, in fact, never deviates half a quarter of a mile from it, even when it terminates in the sepulchre itself. Surely, says Eustace, a sepulchre, standing upon an eminence a quarter of a mile from the sea, and looking down upon it, may be said to be upon the coast. With respect to the second passage, the same author shows that the word translated where does not necessarily mark contiguity, but frequently only a general vicinity, as in the same country or district. after the death of Virgil, that in his tim, although his works had ever since his death been the admiration of all the Romans, and even formed a part of the rudiments of their early education, that his tomb was already neglected, and that Silius Italicus alone restored its honour Nor is this neglect without its parallel in all ages, not even excepting our own. Sixty years after the death of Pope, whose works might be found in al hands, and almost in all languages, his house was levelled with the ground, his grotto defaced, and the trees, planted by his own hand, rooted up. With respect to two epigrams of a Roman poet, adduced by an author who maintains the sceptical opinion, he says they only seem to insinuate that Silius Italicus was proprietor both of the tomb of Virgil and of Cicero's villa, a circumstance very immaterial to the present question, but rather favourable than otherwise to the common opinion; for it is known that Cicero's villa lay on the same side of Naples as Posilippo, and, as Virgil's tomb belonged to the same master as the villa, it may be supposed that they were not far distant from each other. In fine, says he, in opposition to these arguments, or rather conjectures, The edifice to which the above remarks founded upon the vague expressions of a refer is situated on the hill of Posilippo, single poet (a poet often censured for his which derives its name (and not inapobscurity), we have the constant and un-propriately, as appears from the descripinterrupted tradition of the country, sup- tions furnished by travellers) from two ported by the authority of a numerous Greek words, which signify to banish host of learned and ingenious antiqua- sorrow. It is a small and ruined square ries; and upon such grounds we may building, of reticulated masonry, flat still continue to cherish the conviction roofed, placed on a sort of platform on that we have visited the tomb of Virgil, the brow of a precipice on one side, and and hailed his sacred shade at the spot on the other sheltered by a superincumwhere his ashes long reposed. bent rock. An aged ilex, spreading from But the arguments already stated are the sides of the rock, and bending over not the only ones which attest the inter- the edifice, covers the roof with its everesting fact for which we are collecting verdant foliage. A number of shrubs evidence. There is an inscription which, spring around, and interwoven with ivy, though not genuine, is still very ancient, clothe the walls, and hang over the preengraven upon a marble slab opposite cipice. The laurel, however, which was the entrance of the tomb, distinctly once said to have sprung up at its base, claiming for this ruined structure the and covered it with its luxuriant branches, honour of containing the remains of the now flourishes only in the descriptions of poet. It was inscribed by order of the poets and ancient travellers. Close to the Duke of Pescolangiano, then proprietor tomb, a little lower on the hill, is the of the place. In addition to this, an entrance to the celebrated Grotto of PoItalian author, Pietro de Steffano, assures silippo. This is an excavation through us that he himself had seen, about the the rock, nearly three quarters of a mile year 1526, the urn supposed to contain in length, and twenty-four feet in breadth, the ashes of Virgil, standing in the mid-constituting the high road between Naples dle of the sepulchre, supported by nine on the one side, and Puteoli, Baiæ, &c., little marble pillars, with an inscription on the other. "Its height," says Eusupon it, which is well known to have tace, "is unequal, as the entrance at been intended by the poet for himself, each end is extremely lofty, to admit the and written some few moments before he light, while the vault lowers towards the expired. He adds that Robert of Anjou, middle, where it is about twenty-five feet apprehensive lest such a precious relic from the ground. It is paved with large should be carried off or destroyed during flags of lava, and in many places lined, the wars then raging in the kingdom, and, I believe, vaulted with stone-work. took the urn and pillars from the tomb, During the day two circular apertures, and deposited them in the Castel Nuovo. bored through the mountain, admit a dim This extreme precaution had an effect glimmering of light from above; and at very different from that intended, and night a lamp, burning before an image of occasioned the loss it was meant to pre- the blessed Virgin, placed in a recess in vent; for, notwithstanding the most la- the middle, casts a feeble gleam over the borious search, and frequent inquiries, gloomiest part of the passage. Such, made by the orders of Alphonso of however, is the obscurity towards evenArragon, they were never more disco-ing, that nobody ventures to go through vered. It may, perhaps, excite a feeling of surprise that it should be necessary to adduce evidences so latent and farfetched as these which we have mentioned, with reference to a fact which ought to be so notorious. We need, however, the less to wonder, when we read, from the pen of the poet Martial, who was born about forty-eight years it without a torch; and even with a torch one feels a sort of joy on escaping from these subterraneous horrors. The grotto is, on the whole, a very singular and striking object; and the approach to it on both sides, between two vast walls of solid rock, and its lofty entrances, like the gates into the regions of the dead, and the shrubs and tufts of wild flowers that wave in loose festoons from the top of the precipice, as if to soften the terrors of the chasm beneath, form altogether a most picturesque and extraordinary combination." THE LIFE OF PETRARCH. pas (Concluded from page 242.) AFTER the death of his parents, Petrarch devoted himself more than ever to literature, under the auspices of John of Florence, an elderly ecclesiastic with whom he became acquainted; and in such pursuits it is probable that he would have spent an uninterrupted life, but for the circumstance which formed the main era of his history, and determined the tenor of his character. This was his meeting with Laura, whose name has ever been inseparably connected with his own, and whose charms he has immortalized in his verses. He first saw her going to the church of St. Claire, in Avignon, and immediately became sionately enamoured of her. She, however, was a married lady, and consequently treated his advances with becoming disregard. His passion, however, lasted as long as her lifenay, as long as his own, and, connected with the circumstances already mentioned, gave birth to all those tender effusions of feeling which have ever since been ranked among the chief ornaments of Italian literature. About this time he became acquainted with and joined the household of the Colonna family, and shortly afterwards left Avignon to improve his knowledge and relieve his mind by travelling. This expedient, however, proved utterly ineffectual to banish the recollection of Laura. He returned, afresh devoted himself to study, re-opened his half-healed wounds by some casual encounter with the object of his regard, composed myriads of sonnets to her, and at length fled precipitately from Avignon to the solitudes of Vaucluse, where he had at first fallen in love with Nature, and was followed thither by all the demons which his own morbid sensibility had conjured. Arqua, nine miles from Padua, the Florentines book I often refer to. The loss convinces me there is no longer any thing worth living for. PHILOSOPHY AND CONSISTENCY. that you grew pale over the midnight lamp, HERODOTUS remarks (lib. ii. p. 150), “For my part, I believe the Colchi to be a colony of Egyptians, because, like them, they have black skins and frizzled hair." Upon this passage Volney, in his "Travels through Egypt and Syria," has the following remark:-"This historical fact affords to philosophy an interesting subject of reflection. How are we astonished when we behold the present barbarism and ignorance of the Copts, descended from the profound genius of the Egyptians and the brilreflect that to a race of negroes, at present our liant imagination of the Greeks; when we slaves, and the objects of our extreme contempt, we owe our arts and sciences, and even the very use of speech; and when we recollect that, in the midst of those nations who call themselves the friends of liberty and humanity, the most barbarous of slaveries is justified, and that it is even a problem whether the understanding of negroes be of the same species with that of white men!"-Volney's Travels, 3rd English edition, p. 78. AMONG all the excellent things which Mrs. Barbauld has written, she never penned any thing better than her essay on the inconsisten cy of human expectations; it is full of sound philosophy. Every thing, says she, is marked at a settled price. Our time, our labour, our ingenuity, is so much ready money, which we are to lay out to the best advantage. Examine, compare, choose, reject; but stand to your Here he wrote much of his poetry, devoted own judgment, and do not, like children, when himself assiduously to study, and entered upon you have purchased one thing, repine that you the composition of some historical works. Here, do not possess another, which you would not however, he was not forgotten by the world. purchase. Would you be rich? Do you think In August, 1340, when he was in the thirty-that the single point worth sacrificing every seventh year of his age, a letter came to his thing else to? You may, then, be rich. hands from the Roman senate, inviting him to Thousands have become so from the lowest repair to Rome to receive the poet's crown of beginnings by toil, and diligence, and attenlaurel-a custom which had been obsolete at tion to the minutest articles of expense and Rome for more than a thousand years. By a profit. But you must give up the pleasures of most singular coincidence, another letter ar leisure, of an unembarrassed mind, and of a rived the same day from the Chancellor of the free unsuspicious temper. You must learn to University of Paris, offering him the same ho- do hard if not unjust things; and as for the IN the reign of Elizabeth, it was "the cusnour, and urging their claims against those of embarrassment of a delicate and ingenuous tome for maydes and gentelwomen to give Rome. spirit, it is necessary for you to get rid of it as their favourites, as tokens of their love, little fast as possible. You must not stop to enlarge handkerchiefs of about three or four inches your mind, polish your taste, or refine your square, wrought round about, and with a butsentiments; but must keep on in one unbeaten ton or a tassel at each corner, and a little one track, without turning aside to the right or to in the middle with silke and thread; the best the left. "But," you say, "I cannot submit edged with a small gold lace, or twist, which, to drudgery like this; I feel a spirit above it." being folded up in foure crosse foldes, so as the "Tis well; be above it, then; only do not re-middle might be seene, gentlemen and others pine because you are not rich. Petrarch was long in an enviable dilemma as to which offer he should take. On the one hand no poet had ever been crowned at Paris, and he coveted the proud distinction of being the first. On the other hand he thirsted for the honour of being ranked among the bards from whose works he had derived so much of his poetical genius and eminence, and whose names stand inseparably connected with the Eternal City. At length he decided for Rome, whither he repaired in the spring, and, after submitting himself to an examination from his paron, King Robert, of Naples, he arrived at Rome, and was formally crowned with laurel in the capitol. Shortly after this he was made Archdeacon of Parma, and, subsequently, Canon of Padua. Whilst he was living at A LOVER'S GIFT. did usually wear them in their hats, as favours Is knowledge the pearl of price in your esti- of their loves and mistresses; some cost sixmation? That too may be purchased by steady pence a-piece, some, twelvepence, and the application, and long solitary hours of study richest, sixteenpence." And of the gentleman's and reflection. "But," says the man of let-present, a lady in Cupid's Revenge, of Beaumont and Fletcher, says :ters, "what a hardship is it that many an illiterate fellow, who cannot construe the motto on his coach, shall raise a fortune, and make a figure, while I possess not the common necessaries of life!" Was it for fortune, then, "Given ear-rings we will wear, THE TOURIST. MONDAY, MARCH 25, 1833. THE SAFETY OF IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION. No. VI. THE CARACCAS. THE evidence given by Vice-Admiral Fleming before the Committee of the House of Commons is entitled to very serious attention, and cannot fail to make an impression eminently favourable to our cause. Amongst other matters, he was examined on the condition of the free negroes in the Caraccas; and the information which he communicated is adapted to dispel many of those delusions which colonial artifice has imposed on the British public. He not only bore testimony to the good order and prosperity of the emancipated negroes, but represented them as freely engaging in the cultivation of the sugar-cane, and that on terms more profitable to their employers than those on which slave-labour could be commanded. Admiral Fleming has thus supplied another practical refutation of colonial theory. The advocates of slavery boldly affirm that the free negro cannot be induced to engage in this onerous species of labour, and hence they assert the necessity of coercion. Were their premises correct, their inference would fail to command our assent; but facts prove their unsoundness, and justify the claims of humanity. It is deeply mortifying to our national pride to find the Spaniard an advocate of freedom, and the Englishman a defender of slavery. But we must allow the Admiral to speak for himself: "Have you visited the Caraccas?—I have. "Did you find the black population free at that time?-They were all free to a certain age; but the old negroes were not free, they were continued as slaves. When Bolivar first issued the order for emancipating the slaves, he confined it to those of a certain age, I think twelve the women, and fourteen the men, and he gave greater facilities to those who remained slaves for obtaining their freedom. "Was sugar cultivated in the Caraccas ?-Yes, and exported to a considerable extent. In all parts of the Caraccas there is an immense quantity used, and a great deal exported, notwithstanding there is a heavy export duty. "Were free blacks so employed?-Free blacks, upon their own account. Are you able to state what the rate of wages is of the free blacks?—In the Caraccas it is lower than in Cuba; they can get a black man to work for 9d. a day. "Have you ever heard the point discussed in the Caraccas as well as in Cuba, among planters, of the comparative cost of free labour and slavelabour?-No, I never heard it among the Spaniards; I have heard some English planters and American planters that were there discuss it. "What was the prevalent opinion among persons whose judgment you thought best entitled to consideration?There was no difference of opi nion; the Spaniards and Columbians thought that free labour would do perfectly well; the Americans and the English were for the establishment of slavery, but the old Spaniards and Columbians were for freeing them. Upon general principles, or upon the score of profit?-Upon the score of profit; the Marquis del Toro, a cousin of Bolivar, who has immense estates there, and had a great number of slaves, worked them all by free labour. "From your rank in the Spanish navy, and from your long connexion with Spaniards, had you not facilities of intercourse on friendly terms with persons possessing large property and great influence on plantations at the Caraccas?Yes, after I became acquainted with them, I was as much at home as I could have been in any country in the world. I knew every body of any condition; I was four months here, and went 200, or 300, or 400 miles in the interior; I went to Valentia, and I went twice down from the Caraccas to Port Cavalio; I was down at the lake of Valentia, and all through the Vallor de Veragua, which is the finest country there. "Having travelled in the interior, with your attention particularly directed to the subject, and seeing the condition of those newly-emancipated negroes, will you state the result of your reflection and observation upon the subject?-My opinion, from what I saw, is, that the black population in the Caraccas are making rapid progress towards civilization. There are many schools established, of. Many of them are learning trades, and, genewhich the people are anxious to avail themselves rally, the desire of knowledge was very great amongst them. They maintain themselves perfectly well, without any assistance, either from their former masters, or from Government. “Was the manumission in the Caraccas suddenly effected?—Yes, it was done by an order of Bolivar, who had authority from the Congress for doing it in 1821. He had previously freed his own negroes. Many of the principal people had done the same. 'Did you see any traces of cultivation receding, or was the agriculture and the cultivation of the country progressing? It was progressing very rapidly, but it had been the seat of war before, and consequently there had been ruin. The second time I went to the Caraccas there were large fields of wheat, which had never been sown before, and, since that time, I know that America cannot import whea there. "Have you reason to know whether the cultivation of sugar has increased or decreased through out the Caraccas?-It has increased, I was told. "You visited the Caraccas at two periods, first in 1828, and again afterwards; were you able yourself to form an estimate of the progress that had been made in the interval?—Yes, they were rapidly improving; the second time I visited the Caraccas there had been a year and a half of peace, and the party-spirit had evaporated, and confidence in the Government had been established; they were rapidly improving in every respect, in agriculture and in all the arts. "Were they driven to labour on sugar plantations as the sole means of obtaining a subsistence, or did they take it as labour which they had no strong objection to, as furnishing them good wages, and the means of livelihood to maintain themselves in comfort?-They took it as a means of maintaining themselves; they were not driven to it by absolute necessity; they might have got other modes of living if they had chosen; in the interior of the country they might have got lands very easily to cultivate. And therefore they continue the labour on sugar plantations freely and voluntarily ?—Yes, freely and voluntarily. "Was not one of the generals in the Caraccas a black man?-Yes, General Peyanga was a perfectly black man, a complete negro; he was a very well-informed man, a very well-educated person, and well read in Spanish literature; he was a very extraordinary man. Did you happen to know whether English officers served under him?-Many were serving under him; I knew many other black officers, of very considerable acquirements, in the Caraccas and in Cuba also. I have known a black priest, a perfect negro, born in the Cape de Verde Islands, a very well-informed person. THE GROWTH OF CORAL ISLANDS. Of all the genera of lithophytes, the madrepore is the most abundant. It occurs most frequently in tropical countries, and decreases in number and variety as we approach the poles. It encircles in prodigious rocks and vast reefs many of the basaltic and other rocky islands in the South Sea and Indian Ocean, and, by its daily growth, adds to their magnitude. The coasts of the islands in the West Indies, also those of the islands on the east coast of Africa, and the shores and shoals of the Red Sea, are encircled and incrusted wit rocks of coral. Several different tribes of madrepore contribute to form these coral reef but by far the most abundant are those of th genera carophylla, astrea, and meandrin These lithophytic animals not only add to the magnitude of land already existing, but, acislands. cording to some naturalists, they form whole That excellent navigator, the late Captain Flinders, gives the following interesting account of coral islands, particularly of Half-way Island, on the north coast of Terra Australis. "This little island, or rather the surrounding reef, which is three or four miles long, affords shelter from the south-east winds; and, being at a moderate day's run from Murray's Isles, it forms a convenient anchorage for the night. to a ship passing through Torres Strait: L named it Half-way Island. It is scarcely more than a mile in circumference, but appears to be increasing both in elevation and extent. At those banks produced by the washing up of no very distant period of time, it was one of sand and broken coral, of which most reefs afford instances, and those of Torres Strait a great many. These banks are in different stages of progress: some, like this, are become islands, but not yet habitable; some are above high-water mark, but destitute of vegetation; whilst others are overflowed with every returning tide. It seems to me that, when the animalcules which form the corals at the bottom of the ocean cease to live, their structures adhere to each other, by virtue either of the glutinous water; and the interstices being gradually remains within, or of some property in salt filled up with sand and broken pieces of coral washed by the sea, which also adhere, a mass of rock is at length formed. Future races of these animalcules erect their habitations upon the rising bank, and die, in their turn, to increase, but principally to elevate, this monument of their wonderful labours. The care taken to work perpendicularly in the e stages would mark a surprising instinct these diminutive creatures. Their wall coral, for the most part, in situations wh the winds are constant, being arrived at surface, affords a shelter, to leeward of whi their infant colonies may be safely sent for and to this, their instinctive foresight, it see to be owing, that the windward side of a reel. exposed to the open sea, is generally, if n.... always, the highest part, and rises almost perpendicular, sometimes from the depth of 200, and perhaps many more, fathoms. To be constantly covered with water seems necessary to the existence of the animalcules, for they do not work, except in holes upon the reef, beyond low-water mark; but the coral, sand, and other broken remnants thrown up by the sea, adhere to the rock, and form a solid mass with it, as high as the common tides reach. That elevation surpassed, the future remnants, being rarely covered, lose their adhesive property; |