Exclusive of spiders, which were
numerous, there were thirteen species. [4] Of these, one only
was a beetle. A small ant swarmed by thousands under the
loose dry blocks of coral, and was the only true insect which
was abundant. Although the productions of the land are
thus scanty, if we look to the waters of the surrounding sea,
the number of organic beings is indeed infinite. Chamisso
has described [5] the natural history of a lagoon-island in the
Radack Archipelago; and it is remarkable how closely its
inhabitants, in number and kind, resemble those of Keeling
Island. There is one lizard and two waders, namely, a snipe
and curlew. Of plants there are nineteen species, including
a fern; and some of these are the same with those growing
here, though on a spot so immensely remote, and in a different
ocean.
The long strips of land, forming the linear islets, have
been raised only to that height to which the surf can throw
fragments of coral, and the wind heap up calcareous sand.
The solid flat of coral rock on the outside, by its breadth,
breaks the first violence of the waves, which otherwise, in a
day, would sweep away these islets and all their productions.
The ocean and the land seem here struggling for mastery:
although terra firma has obtained a footing, the denizens of
the water think their claim at least equally good.
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