Picking up the telescope which hung in brackets on the bridge rail Tlevelled it at the island. An 1 could see was a thin strip of snow white beach surmounted by green' bushes oF trees and, about the mid-[dle of the island, a tall coconut tree which stood out boldly against the As we approached we could see that a level reef or shelf of coral extended for about three - hundred yards from the beach to where it Shelved off into deep water. Right opposite where we had anchored a Jong rusty iron pier extended from the beach to the edge of the reef, I could see that it had extended be-Yond this Into deep water, but the fend had apparently been wrecked by some passing typhoon and was thrown up on the reef ina tangle' of twisted beams and girders, 'A few yards off the edge of the reet T made the men turn the boat round and back her in so that T was fable to scramble off onto the coral without bumping the boat, The tide was low so that the level shelf was a few inches above sea level and showed a mass of coral of fascinating shapes with pools of clear water in which swam and crawled wonderful fand. fantastic creatures the like of which Thad never seen before. Off the edge of the reef, although the water rapidly deepened to fifteen twenty feet, It was so clear that, could see every outline of the beau:
coral with schools of brilliantly mottoes and submarine caves.
Telling the men in the boat to shove off and lie on their oars until T returned I climbed up to the pier which was sbout twelve feet high. Two lines of a light railway ran along the top, rusted and corroded with many years exposure to the salt Jaden alr.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.