Section 31. FORMATION OF A CORAL-ISLAND. II.
Reading edition
The[1] new bank is not long in being visited by sea-birds. Salt-plants[2] take root upon it (S. 4, N. 5, B), and[3] a soil is being formed. A cocoa-nut, or the[4] drupe of a pandanus is thrown on[5] shore. Land-birds visit it[6] and deposit the seeds of shrubs and trees. Every high tide, and still more[7] every gale, adds something to the bank. The[8] form of an island is gradually assumed, and last of all[9] comes man (S. 3, N. 2) to (S. 19, N. 7) take possession.—M. Flinders.
Notes in this chapter
Note 2 · Use the gen. of the def. art. The definite article is always required before nouns representing the whole of a given class, and before abstrNote 5 · A. To sneer at something, über etwas spotten; B. ‘at it’ = there at, darüber. The English pronouns ‘it’, ‘them’, ‘that’, and ‘those’, dependNote 7 · The Supine is used to express purpose, and must be employed whenever the English ‘to’ is used in the meaning of ‘in order to’, or ‘for the pNote 1 · The new coral-reef is (S. 2, N. 1) now soon visited by (von) sea-birds.Note 2 · Sea-plants; to take = to strike.Note 3 · und so bildet sich eine Erdschicht.Note 4 · die Frucht einer Panane. Die Panane (Pandanus) ist eine Art Palme und wird auch Pandang (m.) oder Palmnußbaum genannt.Note 5 · an, contracted with the def. art.Note 6 · it = the same, to agree with its antecedent ‘shore’; to deposit, zurück´lassen; seeds, Same, m., used in the sing.Note 7 · still more = especially; adds — bank, trägt etwas zur Vergrößerung des Riffs bei.Note 8 · The latter (dieses) gradually assumes (an´nehmen) the form of an island. The adv. ‘gradually’ may be made emphatic; see App. § 14.Note 9 · zuletzt; ‘to — possession’ = to take possession of the same.