18 THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC.

of the continents and to the great mountain ranges ofthe world; which indicates that the same cosmic forcesthat lifted the continents and their mountain ranges up-heaved these islands.

The Oceanic islands are of two kinds: the coral andthe volcanic. The coral islands consist of atolls andelevated islands. The atolls are mere sand-banks, formedby accumulations of debris washed by the ocean uponcoral reefs, and are generally not more than ten or twelvefeet in height above high-water mark. They are narrow,varying from a few yards to a hundred yards in breadth,and generally inclose lagoons, into which the oceanwashes through openings on the leeward sides. Onthese strips of sandy soil, seeds, enveloped in thick husks,borne thither by the waves, have taken root and growninto lofty trees. But the flora does not comprise morethan fifty species. These islands are subject to drouths,being too low to attract the clouds and obtain frequentrainfalls, and for this reason have been called‘‘thedeserts of the Pacific.” The food of the inhabitantsconsists of cocoanuts, pandanus, and fish.

The elevated coral islands are few in number, andsituated amongst the volcanic islands, to which classthey belong. They have a fertile soil and a luxuriantand varied vegetation. Many of them are of remarkablebeauty and fruitfulness.

These atolls and elevated coral islands lie, as it were,in a valley between two ranges of volcanic islands, theMarquesas and Hawaiian on the north, and the Society ,the Samoa , and other islands, on the south.