THE CORAL SEA

Fourth in the Oceans of the World series, this is quite different from the sailing yarns which constitute the greater part of Alan Villiers' work, but is nevertheless as well as written, colorful and adventuresome as his others have been. This is the story of the Coral Sea- its reefs, islands and the Melanesian natives who live on them; the industrious polyp and other forms of marine life; and its saga of exploration which lasted a hundred years as the Spanish were followed by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English, Carteret, James Cook, Bligh. These explorers uncovered the whole area and prepared the way for others- traders, sandalwooders, blackbirders, missionaries, colonizers.... A seagoing man with a flair for foreign scenes does a first rate job here.