It was therefore with great interest that
I found Chamisso, the justly distinguished naturalist who
accompanied Kotzebue, stating that the inhabitants of the Radack
Archipelago, a group of lagoon islands in the midst of the Pacific,
obtained stones for sharpening their instruments by searching the
roots of trees which are cast upon the beach. It will be evident
that this must have happened several times, since laws have been
established that such stones belong to the chief, and a punishment
is inflicted on any one who attempts to steal them. When the
isolated position of these small islands in the midst of a vast
ocean--their great distance from any land excepting that of coral
formation, attested by the value which the inhabitants, who are
such bold navigators, attach to a stone of any kind--and the
slowness of the currents of the open sea, are all considered, the
occurrence of pebbles thus transported does appear wonderful.
(20/7. Some natives carried by Kotzebue to Kamtschatka collected
stones to take back to their country.) Stones may often be thus
carried; and if the island on which they are stranded is
constructed of any other substance besides coral, they would
scarcely attract attention, and their origin at least would never
be guessed.
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