ich afforded, perhaps, one of the most enchanting prospects that
nature has any where produced. Its base was fixed to the shore, but
reached so far in that it could not be seen; so that it seemed to be
suspended in the water, which deepened so suddenly, that at the distance
of a few yards there might be seven or eight fathoms. The sea was at
this time quite unruffled; and the sun shining bright, exposed the
various sorts of coral in the most beautiful order; some parts branching
into the water with great luxuriance; others lying collected in round
balls, and in various other figures;--all which were greatly heightened
by spangles of the richest colours, that glowed from a number of large
clams, which were every where interspersed: But the appearance of these
was still inferior to that of the multitude of fishes that glided gently
along, seemingly with the most perfect security. The colours of the
different sorts were the most beautiful that can be imagined, the
yellow, blue, red, black, &c. far exceeding any thing that art can
produce. Their various forms, also, contributed to increase the richness
of this submarine grotto, which could not be surveyed without a pleasing
transport, mixed however with regret, that a work so stupendously
elegant should be concealed in a place where mankind could seldom have
an opportunity of rendering the praises justly due to so enchanting a
scene.[156]

[Footnote 156: How beautifully does Captain Cook's description
illustrate those lines of Dr Young--

--Such blessings Nature pours,
O'erstock'd mankind enjoy but half her stores;
In distant wilds, by human eyes unseen,

She rears her flowers, and spreads her velvet green:
Pure gurgling rills the lonely desert trace,
And waste their music on the savage race.

Gray has a similar thought in His inimitable elegy, which every reader
will immediately recollect. Can it be imagined, that nature, which does
nothing in vain, nor indeed without a reference to the being who is
eminently signalized as lord of the lower creation, has been at pains to
decorate these spots, but in anticipation, if one may use the
expression, of the praise and enjoyment which their loveliness will some
time or other occasion? He that remembers the nature and formation of
the coral isles in the southern-ocean, will at once conjecture that the
Great Architect is raising up the materials of a new world, which, from
aught we can yet perceive, will not l