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"
We
would
indeed
be
glad
to
have
a
few
,
"
rejoined
the
teacher
,
"
but
they
are
difficult
to
be
got
.
The
hogs
,
we
find
,
are
very
good
rat-killers
;
but
they
do
not
seem
to
be
able
to
keep
the
numbers
down
.
I
have
heard
that
they
are
better
than
cats
.
"
As
the
teacher
said
this
,
his
good-natured
black
face
was
wrinkled
with
a
smile
of
merriment
.
Observing
that
I
had
noticed
it
,
he
said
:
"
I
smiled
just
now
when
I
remembered
the
fate
of
the
first
cat
that
was
taken
to
Rarotonga
.
This
is
one
of
the
stations
of
the
London
Missionary
Society
.
It
,
like
our
own
,
is
infested
with
rats
,
and
a
cat
was
brought
at
last
to
the
island
.
It
was
a
large
black
one
.
On
being
turned
loose
,
instead
of
being
content
to
stay
among
men
,
the
cat
took
to
the
mountains
and
lived
in
a
wild
state
,
sometimes
paying
visits
during
the
night
to
the
houses
of
the
natives
;
some
of
whom
,
living
at
a
distance
from
the
settlement
,
had
not
heard
of
the
cat
's
arrival
,
and
were
dreadfully
frightened
in
consequence
,
calling
it
a
'
monster
of
the
deep
,
'
and
flying
in
terror
away
from
it
.
One
night
the
cat
--
feeling
a
desire
for
company
,
I
suppose
--
took
its
way
to
the
house
of
a
chief
who
had
recently
been
converted
to
Christianity
,
and
had
begun
to
learn
to
read
and
pray
.
The
chief
's
wife
,
who
was
sitting
awake
at
his
side
while
he
slept
,
beheld
with
horror
two
fires
glistening
in
the
doorway
,
and
heard
with
surprise
a
mysterious
voice
.
Almost
petrified
with
fear
,
she
awoke
her
husband
,
and
began
to
upbraid
him
for
forsaking
his
old
religion
and
burning
his
god
,
who
,
she
declared
,
was
now
come
to
be
avenged
of
them
.
'
Get
up
and
pray
!
get
up
and
pray
!
'
she
cried
.
The
chief
arose
,
and
on
opening
his
eyes
,
beheld
the
same
glaring
lights
and
heard
the
same
ominous
sound
.
Impelled
by
the
extreme
urgency
of
the
case
,
he
commenced
,
with
all
possible
vehemence
,
to
vociferate
the
alphabet
,
as
a
prayer
to
God
to
deliver
them
from
the
vengeance
of
Satan
!
On
hearing
this
,
the
cat
,
as
much
alarmed
as
themselves
,
fled
precipitately
away
,
leaving
the
chief
and
his
wife
congratulating
themselves
on
the
efficacy
of
their
prayer
.
"
We
were
much
diverted
with
this
anecdote
,
which
the
teacher
related
in
English
so
good
that
we
certainly
could
not
have
supposed
him
a
native
but
for
the
colour
of
his
face
and
the
foreign
accent
in
his
tone
.
Next
day
we
walked
out
with
this
interesting
man
,
and
were
much
entertained
and
instructed
by
his
conversation
as
we
rambled
through
the
cool
,
shady
groves
of
bananas
,
citrons
,
limes
,
and
other
trees
,
or
sauntered
among
the
cottages
of
the
natives
,
and
watched
them
while
they
laboured
diligently
in
the
taro-beds
or
manufactured
the
tapa
,
or
native
cloth
.
To
some
of
these
Jack
put
questions
,
through
the
medium
of
the
missionary
;
and
the
replies
were
such
as
to
surprise
us
at
the
extent
of
their
knowledge
.
Indeed
,
Peterkin
very
truly
remarked
that
"
they
seemed
to
know
a
considerable
deal
more
than
Jack
himself
!
"
Among
other
pieces
of
interesting
information
that
we
obtained
was
the
following
,
in
regard
to
coral
formations
:
"
The
islands
of
the
Pacific
,
"
said
our
friend
,
"
are
of
three
different
kinds
or
classes
.
Those
of
the
first
class
are
volcanic
,
mountainous
,
and
wild
--
some
shooting
their
jagged
peaks
into
the
clouds
at
an
elevation
of
ten
and
fifteen
thousand
feet
.
Those
of
the
second
class
are
of
crystallised
limestone
,
and
vary
in
height
from
one
hundred
to
five
hundred
feet
.
The
hills
on
these
are
not
so
wild
or
broken
as
those
of
the
first
class
,
but
are
richly
clothed
with
vegetation
,
and
very
beautiful
.
I
have
no
doubt
that
the
Coral
Island
on
which
you
were
wrecked
was
one
of
this
class
.
They
are
supposed
to
have
been
upheaved
from
the
bottom
of
the
sea
by
volcanic
agency
;
but
they
are
not
themselves
volcanic
in
their
nature
,
neither
are
they
of
coral
formation
.
Those
of
the
third
class
are
the
low
coralline
islands
,
usually
having
lagoons
of
water
in
their
midst
.
They
are
very
numerous
.
"
As
to
the
manner
in
which
coral
islands
and
reefs
are
formed
,
there
are
various
opinions
on
this
point
.
I
will
give
you
what
seems
to
me
the
most
probable
theory
--
a
theory
,
I
may
add
,
which
is
held
by
some
of
the
good
and
scientific
missionaries
.
It
is
well
known
that
there
is
much
lime
in
salt
water
;
it
is
also
known
that
coral
is
composed
of
lime
.
It
is
supposed
that
the
polypes
,
or
coral
insects
,
have
the
power
of
attracting
this
lime
to
their
bodies
,
and
with
this
material
they
build
their
little
cells
or
habitations
.
They
choose
the
summit
of
a
volcano
,
or
the
top
of
a
submarine
mountain
,
as
a
foundation
on
which
to
build
,
for
it
is
found
that
they
never
work
at
any
great
depth
below
the
surface
.
On
this
they
work
.
The
polypes
on
the
mountain-top
,
of
course
,
reach
the
surface
first
;
then
those
at
the
outer
edges
reach
the
top
sooner
than
the
others
between
them
and
the
centre
,
thus
forming
the
coral
reef
surrounding
the
lagoon
of
water
and
the
central
island
.
After
that
,
the
insects
within
the
lagoon
cease
working
.
When
the
surface
of
the
water
is
reached
,
these
myriads
of
wonderful
creatures
die
.
Then
birds
visit
the
spot
,
and
seeds
are
thus
conveyed
thither
,
which
take
root
and
spring
up
and
flourish
.
Thus
are
commenced
those
coralline
islets
of
which
you
have
seen
so
many
in
these
seas
.
The
reefs
round
the
large
islands
are
formed
in
a
similar
manner
.
