'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎231] (340/496)

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where a vessel may ride with perfect safety, sheltered by the trade winds
and protected from any swell by the numerous reefs surrounding it.
The Tigris anchored half a mile from the shore, in twenty-five fathoms,
coral sand, with the extremes of the island bearing from South to North
73° E., Darnley’s Island N. 51° W., but this position was by no means
a good one, as we were within a hundred yards of a shoal dry at low
water. The best berth is about three quarters of a mile further to the
westward, in a small bay formed by coral reefs, projecting some distance
from each extreme of the land, and about half a mile or so from a hue
sandy beach of dazzling whiteness, composed of pulverized coral. The
south-east trade at times blows strong here, and heavy gusts sweep
over the land; precaution is therefore necessary to prevent the vessel
driving from, her anchors, but with good ground tackling, and a
moderate scope of cable, nothing need be apprehended. The tide
through these channels runs with great velocity, the flood setting
in from the eastward, and the rise and fall is considerable, so
that rocks and shoals, as that able and truthful navigator, Captain
Cooke, says, which are several feet under water one hour, may be
perfectly dry the next. During our passage through Torres Straits
we had frequent opportunities of testing the veracity of the above
remark, and of observing the extraordinary effect of this rapid change:
numerous patches seemed suddenly to emerge from the sea, as if by the
touch of a magician’s wand, exposing their crested branches to the gaze,
exhibiting a variety of beautiful tints, and forming in appearance a
rich pattern raised upon a groundwork of the brightest blue. On these
detached clusters might be seen coral in all stages of formation, from
the soft glutinous secretions of the infusorial animalcules, to the hardest
stone. It is astonishing to contemplate the gigantic structures which
are here erected by those small insects, whose dimensions, we are told,
are so minute that it is scarcely possible to form an adequate idea of
the conditions of their existence, more that ten millions being required
to fill the space of a cubic inch : and yet their labours have caused islands
as well as continents to spring up from the depths of the mighty ocean,
converting the wide waste of waters, by process of time, into a fit habita
tion for the abode of man ! Not only do we witness the work of progres
sion still going on, but ages before this planet was peopled were the
same tiny creatures in being ; and modern geologists have informed us,
that they occupy a really important place in the great plan of creation,
—their recent discoveries also fully proving that nearly the whole
of the tertiary or silurian formations are principally composed of