CHAP. 

 VII. 



Jan. 

 1826. 



204 VOYAGE TO THE 



Island is higher than any other island of the low 

 archipelago ; that it has two hills at its extremities, 

 and a third near its centre ; and on this account re- 

 commends it as a place of reconnoissance for ships 

 entering the archipelago. In this, however, he has 

 been misled by some navigator who mistook the 

 trees for hills, and over-estimated the height of them, 

 as the tallest does not exceed fifty feet. 



Some columns of smoke rising from the island 

 showed that it was inhabited, and on rounding the 

 N. W. extreme we perceived several men and wo- 

 men running along the beach, dragging after them 

 long poles or spears. The population altogether 

 cannot exceed a hundred. The men were entirely 

 naked, but the women had the usual covering. They 

 were of the same dark swarthy colour with the na- 

 tives of Clermont Tonnere, with the hair tied in a 

 similar knot on the top of the head, and like them they 

 were deficient in tattooing and ornaments. Their 

 weapons were poles about twenty feet in length, 

 similar to those of the Friendly Islanders, and heavy 

 clubs. We could not perceive any canoes. 



This island is seven miles and a half in length in 

 a N. W. direction, and two and a quarter miles in 

 width in its broadest part. It is of coral formation, 

 and very similar to that just described ; its windward 

 side is the most perfect: the southern side of the chain, 

 however, differs in being wider, and having a barren 

 flat full an eighth of a mile outside the trees. On 

 this account it is necessary for a ship to be cautious 

 in approaching it during the night, as it is so low 

 that the breakers would be the first warning of the 

 danger of her situation. The lagoon is very narrow, 

 and apparently shallow, with several islands in the 



