the
tops of these coral rocks, and at last fairly raises them above water;
where the above things continue to be accumulated by the sea, till by
a bird, or by the sea, a few seeds of plants, that commonly grow on
the sea-shore, are thrown up, and begin to vegetate; and by their
annual decay and reproduction from seeds, create a little mould,
yearly accumulated by the mixture from sand, increasing the dry spot
on every side; till another sea happens to carry a cocoa-nut hither,
which preserves its vegetative power a long time in the sea, and
therefore will soon begin to grow on this soil, especially as it
thrives equally in all kinds of soil; and thus may all these low isles
have become covered with the finest cocoa-nut trees. The animalcules
forming these reefs, want to shelter their habitation from the
impetuosity of the winds, and the power and rage of the ocean; but as
within the tropics, the winds blow commonly from one quarter, they, by
instinct, endeavour to stretch only a ledge, within which is a lagoon,
which is certainly entirely screened against the power of both; this,
therefore, might account for the method employed by the animalcules in
building only narrow ledges of coral rocks, to secure in this middle a
calm and sheltered place, and this seems to me to be the most probable
cause of the origin of all the tropical low isles, over the whole
South Sea."--F.

This theory has been pretty generally adopted by scientific men, and
does not seem liable to any valid objection. The astonishment it may
excite, is quite analogous to what is experienced on any discovery of
the important ends to which the instinctive labours of other creatures
are subservient, and is great, merely because of the conceived
magnitude of the object to which it relates. But this affords no
presumption against the truth of the theory; rather indeed, if the
doctrine of final causes be allowed any credit, may be held, as in
some degree, circumstantial evidence in its favour. We shall
elsewhere, it is expected, have occasion to consider the subject with
the attention it deserves.--E.

SECTION X.

_Arrival of the Ships at Otaheite, with an Account of the critical
Situation they were in, and of several Incidents that happened while they
lay in Oaiti-piha Bay._

On the 15th, at five o'clock in the morning, we