Ii. p. 32) says: "It is asserted, that on the arrival of a
stranger (at St. Kilda) all the inhabitants, in the common
phraseology, catch a cold." Dr. Macculloch considers the whole
case, although often previously affirmed, as ludicrous. He adds,
however, that "the question was put by us to the inhabitants who
unanimously agreed in the story." In Vancouver's Voyage, there
is a somewhat similar statement with respect to Otaheite. Dr.
Dieffenbach, in a note to his translation of the Journal, states
that the same fact is universally believed by the inhabitants of
the Chatham Islands, and in parts of New Zealand. It is
impossible that such a belief should have become universal in
the northern hemisphere, at the Antipodes, and in the Pacific,
without some good foundation. Humboldt (Polit. Essay on King of
New Spain, vol. iv.) says, that the great epidemics of Panama
and Callao are "marked" by the arrival of ships from Chile,
because the people from that temperate region, first experience
the fatal effects of the torrid zones. I may add, that I have
heard it stated in Shropshire, that sheep, which have been
imported from vessels, although themselves in a healthy
condition, if placed in the same fold with others, frequently
produce sickness in the flock.
[4] Travels in Australia, vol. i. p. 154. I must express my
obligation to Sir T. Mitchell, for several interesting personal
communications on the subject of these great valleys of New
South Wales.
[5] I was interested by finding here the hollow conical pitfall
of the lion-ant, or some other insect; first a fly fell down the
treacherous slope and immediately disappeared; then came a large
but unwary ant; its struggles to escape being very violent,
those curious little jets of sand, described by Kirby and Spence
(Entomol., vol. i. p. 425) as being flirted by the insect's
tail, were promptly directed against the expected victim. But
the ant enjoyed a better fate than the fly, and escaped the
fatal jaws which lay concealed at the base of the conical
hollow. This Australian pitfall was only about half the size of
that made by the European lion-ant.
[6] Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemen's
Land, p. 354.
CHAPTER XX
KEELING ISLAND: - CORAL FORMATIONS
Keeling Island - Singular appearance - Scanty Flora -
Transport of Seeds - Birds and Insects - Ebbing and flowing
Springs - Fields of dead Coral - Stones transported in the
roots of Trees - Great Crab - Stinging Corals - Coral
eating Fish - Coral Formations - Lagoon Islands, or Atolls -
Depth at which reef-building Corals can live - Vast Areas
interspersed with low Coral Islands - Subsidence of their
foundations - Barrier Reefs - Fringing Reefs - Conversion of
Fringing Reefs into Barrier Reefs, and into Atolls - Evidence
of changes in Level - Breaches in Barrier Reefs - Maldiva
Atolls, their peculiar structure - Dead and submerged Reefs -
Areas of subsidence and elevation - Distribution of Volcanoes
- Subsidence slow, and vast in amount.
