Little did he think at that time, however, when standing on the summit of the peak, that he was about as it were to thread the eye of a needle, by passing through another break, in a manner which can only be designated as providential. This gap in the great reef is now known as Providence Channel, a name which must ever remind us of Him, who in moments when our lives hang as by a thread, is ever watchful, and spares us in the exercise of his inscrutable will. Carried back to times past, we stood upon the summit of the height, dwelling in thought upon the adventurous career of the great navigator, when suddenly, as if by magic, the whole scene below and around was obscured, and we found ourselves wrapped in a dense cloud of vapour, which came sweeping across the island, drenching us to the skin, with a rapidity which spoke volumes for the penetrating character of an Australian fog. Cold and shivering we hailed the temporary re-appearance of the sun with delight, and our clothes were dried almost as speedily as they had been wetted. Our satisfaction was however but of short duration, as the same agreeable operation, of alternate drenching and drying, occurred several times during our stay on the Peak. BARRIER REEF. The opening through which Captain Cook passed out to sea, bore about North by East 9 miles, the outer line of the Barrier Reef, curving from thence to the North-West, and following the trend of the land. When this singular wall of coral, the most extensive perhaps in the world, is surveyed, it will I think be found to follow the direction of the coast it fronts with such exactness, as to leave little doubt that the vast base on which rests the work of the reef-building Polypifers, was, contrary to the opinion which I am aware prevails, upheaved at the same time with the neighbouring coast of the Australian continent, which it follows for a space of upwards of a hundred miles. CORAL REEFS. From the elevation on which I stood, I had an excellent view of some reefs within the Barrier; whether they encircled an islet, or were wholly beneath the water, their form was circular, although from the ship, and indeed anywhere, viewed from a less height, they appeared oval-shaped. This detection of my own previously erroneous impressions, seemed to account for the recurrence in charts of elongated-shaped reefs, others having doubtless fallen into the same error. It is very remarkable that on the South-East or windward side of these coral reefs, the circle is of a compact and perfect form, as if to resist the action of the waves, while on the opposite side they were jagged and broken.* (*Footnote. In the Pacific the islets are generally on the weather side of the lagoon reefs.)