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They were now within a cable's length, and still the ship did not ground; a little nearer, and there was a grating at her bottom it was the breaking off of the coral-trees which grew below like forests under water again she grated, and more harshly, then struck, and then again; at last she struck violently, as the swell lifted her further on, and then remained fast amid quiet.
Most of the orchids are in full flower, the coral-trees glow, the castanospermum is full of bud, loose bunches of white fruit decorate the creeping palms, and the sunflower-tree is blotched with gold in masses. The birds make declaration of attachment for the season.
They were now within a cable's length, and still the ship did not ground; a little nearer, and there was a grating at her bottom it was the breaking off of the coral-trees which grew below like forests under water again she grated, and more harshly, then struck, and then again; at last she struck violently, as the swell lifted her further on, and then remained fast and quiet.
Give me that piece of dead coral, William. Do you see that on every branch there are a hundred little holes? Well, in every one of these little holes once lived a sea-insect; and as these insects increase, so do the branches of the coral-trees." "Yes, I understand that; but how do you make out that this island was made by them?"
"My loved one, know that there are strange beings which, though seeming almost mortals, are rarely visible to human eyes salamanders in the flames, gnomes down in the earth, spirits in the air. And in the water are myriads of spirits dwelling in crystal domes, in the coral-trees, and in the lovely shells.
Well, in every one of these little holes once lived a sea-insect; and as these insects increase, so do the branches of the coral-trees." "Yes, I understand that; but how do you make out that this island was made by them?" "Almost all the islands in these seas have been made by the labour and increase of these small animals.
These last, beneath resounding domes of crystal, through which the sky can shine with its sun and stars, inhabit a region of light and beauty; lofty coral-trees glow with blue and crimson fruits in their gardens; they walk over the pure sand of the sea, among exquisitely variegated shells, and amid whatever of beauty the old world possessed, such as the present is no more worthy to enjoy creations which the floods covered with their secret veils of silver; and now these noble monuments sparkle below, stately and solemn, and bedewed by the water, which loves them, and calls forth from their crevices delicate moss-flowers and enwreathing tufts of sedge.
We found that we were following the course of the river, passing through an avenue of coral-trees, loaded with the most brilliant flowers and fruit imaginable, and full of parroquets and fluttering birds of many hues.
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