pyramidal roofs; some of these were tiled, others thatched.
I t is evident that, in what relates to the dead,, they follow,
in some respects, the Chinese customs.
The whole coast at this place is of coral cliffs, the base
of which appears to have been scooped out by the action of
the sea. As this excavation is a t some places higher than
the waves of the sea can be supposed to have ever reached,
there is difficulty in assigning the sea as the cause; yet
the roof of the excavation is horizontal for a great extent,
and its appearance, in every other respect, suggests tha t it
has been formed by the dashing of the waves. There is,
moreover, some difficulty in accounting for coral cliffs being
so much above the level of the sea, in which, according
to every supposition, they must have been formed.
The scenery here, as in most countries in these climates,
does not admit of a Satisfactory description. I t may be said,
however, that it is more pleasing to the eye than tha t of islands
near the equator; where the vegetation is so profusely luxuriant,
as to overload the picture with foliage to the exclusion
of every thing else. Here there is much variety; the numerous
groves of pine-trees give some parts of it an
English air, but the style of landscape is what is called
tropical. The general character of the scenery a t this spot
is faithfully preserved in the drawing of Napakiang.