C I IA P . hard rock nearly 150 yards in length, covered with abont a footof water,
U L - beyond which it descended rapidly, and at SOO yards distance no bottom ■
Jan.
18-26,
conld be fonnd with 1500 feet of line. On the inner side, from the
trees to the lake, was a gentle declivity of mnddy sand filled with shells
of the cardinm, linedo, tridacme, gigas, and a species of trochns. The
trees, which formed a tolerably thick wood ronnd the lagoon, were
similar to those at Clermont Tonnere, consisting principally ofpandanns
and cocoa-nnt, interwoven with the tonrnefortia, scoevola, and lepidium
piscidinm.
On the sonth side of the island there was a very narrow entrance to
the lagoon, too shallow for the passage of boats, even had the water been
smooth. It was of this opening, I presume, that Captain Wallis observes
that the snrf was too high npon the rocks for his boats to attempt the
passage.
The lagoon was comparatively shallow; the edges, for a considerable
distance, sloped gradually to-vvard the centre and then deepened suddenly
; the edge of the bank being nearly perpendicular. This bank,
as well as numerous islets in the lagoon, were formed of coral and dead
and live tridacnm shells.. The space between the islets was very rugged,
and full of deep holes.
In the lagoon there were several kinds of brilliantly coloured fish;
on the reef, some fistularia; and in the surf a brown and black chmtodon
with a black patch at the junction of the tail with the body. Upon
the land were seen a few rats and lizards, a white heron, a curlew,
some sandpipers, and a species of columba resembling the columba
australis.
In the evening we bore up for Queen Charlotte’s Island, another
coral formation also discovered by Captain Wallis, and so grown up that
we could not see any lagoon in its centre, as we had done in all the
others. Several huts and sheds similar to those at W"hitsunday Island
occur in a bay on its northern shore, but there w'cre no inhabitants.
It may be remembered that -when Captain Wallis visited this island,
the natives took to their canoes and fled to the next island to the westward
; whether they did so on the present occasion we could not
determine, but in all probability we should have seen them if they
had. Queen Charlotte’s Island afforded Captain W"allis a plenhfnl C H A P .
supply of cocoa-nuts, but at present not a tree of that description is to
be seen. The shore is more steep than either YVhitsunday or Clermont
J a n . 18-26.
Tonnere, and the huts more numerous.
At two o'clock in the afternoon we quitted Queen Charlotte’s
Island, and in two hours afterwards saw Lagoon Island, which was discovered
by Captain Cook; the former bearing S. 6" YY". true, the latter
due north, by which an excellent opportunity occurred of comparing the
longitudes of those celebrated navigators.
The next morning we coasted the north side of Lagoon Island very
closely, while the barge navigated the other. It is three miles in length
in a YY". by S. direction, and a mile and a quarter in width. Its general
figure has been accurately described by Captain Cook; the southern
side is still the low reef of breakers which he saw, and the three
shallow openings on the north shore still exist, though one of them has
almost disappeared. Two cocoa-nut trees in the centre of the island,
which Cook observes had the appearance of flags, are still waving; “ the
tower” at the western end is also there, but has increased to a large
clump of cocoa-nut trees : a similar clump has sprung up at the eastern
end. The lagoon is, in some parts, very shallow and contracted, and
has many dry islets upon it. The shore is steep, as at the other coral
islands, excepting on the sonth side, which should not be approached
within a quarter of a mile.
YY"e brought to off a small village at the N. YY". extremity of the
island, and sent two boats on shore. The natives seeing them approach
came down to the beach armed with poles from twenty to twenty-five
feet in length, with bone heads, and short clubs shaped like a bill-hook ;
but before they reached the surf they laid down their weapons, At
first they beckoned our people to land; but seeing the breakers too
high, they suffered themselves to be bribed by a few pieces of iron, and
swam oft" to us. A brisk traffic soon began, and all the disposable
articles of the natives were speedily purchased for a few nails, broken
pieces of iron, and beads; they then brought down cocoa-nuts, and
exchanged six of them for a nail or a bit of iron, which is knowm here,
as at Clermont Tonnere, by the name of “ toki.” '1 he strictest integrity
X