P. 222.
[6] The large claws or pincers of some of these crabs are most
beautifully adapted, when drawn back, to form an operculum to
the shell, nearly as perfect as the proper one originally
belonging to the molluscous animal. I was assured, and as far as
my observations went I found it so, that certain species of the
hermit-crab always use certain species of shells.
[7] Some natives carried by Kotzebue to Kamtschatka collected
stones to take back to their country.
[8] See Proceedings of Zoological Society, 1832, p. 17.
[9] Tyerman and Bennett. Voyage, etc. vol. ii. p. 33.
[10] I exclude, of course, some soil which has been imported
here in vessels from Malacca and Java, and likewise, some small
fragments of pumice, drifted here by the waves. The one block of
greenstone, moreover, on the northern island must be excepted.
[11] These were first read before the Geological Society in May,
1837, and have since been developed in a separate volume on the
"Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs."
[12] It is remarkable that Mr. Lyell, even in the first edition
of his "Principles of Geology," inferred that the amount of
subsidence in the Pacific must have exceeded that of elevation,
from the area of land being very small relatively to the agents
there tending to form it, namely, the growth of coral and
volcanic action.
[13] It has been highly satisfactory to me to find the following
passage in a pamphlet by Mr. Couthouy, one of the naturalists in
the great Antarctic Expedition of the United States: - "Having
personally examined a large number of coral-islands and resided
eight months among the volcanic class having shore and partially
encircling reefs. I may be permitted to state that my own
observations have impressed a conviction of the correctness of
the theory of Mr. Darwin." - The naturalists, however, of this
expedition differ with me on some points respecting coral
formations.
CHAPTER XXI
MAURITIUS TO ENGLAND
Mauritius, beautiful appearance of - Great crateriform ring of
Mountains - Hindoos - St. Helena - History of the changes in
the Vegetation - Cause of the extinction of Land-shells -
Ascension - Variation in the imported Rats - Volcanic Bombs -
Beds of Infusoria - Bahia - Brazil - Splendour of Tropical
Scenery - Pernambuco - Singular Reef - Slavery - Return to
England - Retrospect on our Voyage.
APRIL 29th. - In the morning we passed round the
northern end of Mauritius, or the Isle of France.
From this point of view the aspect of the island
equalled the expectations raised by the many well-known
descriptions of its beautiful scenery. The sloping plain of
the Pamplemousses, interspersed with houses, and coloured
by the large fields of sugar-cane of a bright green, composed
the foreground. The brilliancy of the green was the more
remarkable because it is a colour which generally is conspicuous
only from a very short distance. Towards the centre
of the island groups of wooded mountains rose out of
this highly cultivated plain; their summits, as so commonly
happens with ancient volcanic rocks, being jagged into the
sharpest points.
![The Voyage Of The Beagle By Charles Darwin
-
[5] Kotzebue's First Voyage, vol. iii. p. 222.
[6] The large claws or pincers of some of these crabs are - Page 383](../images/travel.jpg)
