234 VOYAGE TO THE 



a sort of tessellated pavement, composed of upright 

 angular columns, placed side by side, each about 

 an inch in diameter, and separated by horizontal 

 fissures. It was the lower part of the Giant's Cause- 

 way in miniature. Many of the rocks consisted of 

 tuffaceous basalt of a grayish or greenish hue, fre- 

 quently traversed by veins of petrosilex ; and con- 

 tained numerous nodules of chalcedony or of cornelian, 

 and plasma ? The zeolites are not wanting ; and the 

 stilbite, in the lamellar foliated form, is abundant. 

 Olivine and hornblende are also common. The 

 drusses were often found containing a watery sub- 

 stance, which had an astringent taste not unlike alum, 

 but I did not succeed in collecting any of it. 



The coral animals have raised ledges and reefs of 

 coral round almost all the bays, and have filled up the 

 northern part of the harbour, with the exception of 

 Ten Fathom Hole, which appears to be kept open by 

 streams of water running into it ; for it was observed 

 here, that the only accessible part of the beach was at 

 the mouths of these streams. 



I have before observed, that the hills about our an- 

 chorage were wooded from the water's edge nearly to 

 their summit. There were found among these trees, 

 besides the cabbage and fan-palms, the tamanu of 

 Otaheite, the pandanus odoratissimus, and a species of 

 purau ; also some species of laurus, of urtica, the ter- 

 minalia, dodoneea viscosa, eleocarpus serratis, &c. We 

 collected some of the wood for building boats, and 

 found it answer very well for knees, timbers, &c. 



We saw no wild animals of the mammalia class ex- 

 cept the vampire bat, which was very tame. Some mea- 

 sured three feet across the wings when fully extended, 

 and were eight or nine in length in the body. We 



