PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 145 



gorgeously coloured ; others presented their sides and 

 sterns highly painted and gilt ; while, from among their 

 clumsy cordage aloft, and from a number of staffs 

 placed erect along the stern, were suspended variously 

 shaped flags, some indicating, by their colour, or the 

 armorial bearing upon them, the mandarin captain of 

 the junk ; some the tributary flag of the celestial 

 empire, and others the ensign of Japan. Many of 

 these were curiously arranged and stamped in gilt 

 characters on silken grounds. 



To the left of Napa is the public cemetery, where the 

 horse-shoe sepulchres rise in galleries, and on a sunny 

 day dazzle the eye with the brightness of their chu- 

 nammed surfaces, and beyond them again, to the 

 northward, is the humble village of Potsoong, with its 

 jos-house and bridge. 



The bay in every part is circumscribed by a broad 

 coral ledge, which to seaward is generally occupied by 

 fishermen raising and depressing nets extended upon 

 long bamboo poles, similar to those of the Chinese. 

 Beyond these reefs are the coral islands of Tzee, the 

 more distant islands of Kirrama, and far, in a northern 

 direction, the cone of Ee-goo-sacoo, said to be covered 

 with houses rising in a spiral direction up its sides. 

 The whole when viewed on a fine day, and when the 

 harbour is enlivened by boats passing to and fro, with 

 well-dressed people chanting their harmonious boat- 

 song, has a pleasing effect which it is diflScult to de- 

 scribe. 



Before our sails were furled the ship was surrounded 

 by boats of various descriptions, and the tops of the 

 houses on shore, the walls, and the forts at the en- 

 trance of the harbour, were crowded with spectators 

 watching our operations. Several persons came on 



VOL II. L 



