PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 141 



height is two feet above the water. Upon this strip 

 several small islands, covered with trees, have their 

 foundation. The soil, where highest, reaches just 

 six feet above the sea ; and the tops of the trees are 

 twenty feet higher. We saw about forty naked 

 inhabitants upon this small spot ; but from the mast- 

 head of the boat, which overlooked the land, could 

 perceive no cultivation ; and there were no fruit- 

 trees upon the island but the pandanus, which has 

 not been mentioned in any voyage that I am ac- 

 quainted with as constituting a food for the natives 

 of these seas : indeed, from the fibrous nature of the 

 nut it bears, it did not appear to us possible that 

 it could be serviceable as food. We were, conse- 

 quently, curious to know upon what the natives 

 subsisted, independently of the shell-fish which the 

 reefs supplied ; but nothing occurred to satisfy us 

 on that head. The surf was too high for the boats 

 to land, and our only communication was by signs 

 and an exchange of sentences unintelligible on both 

 sides. 



Upon the angles of the island there were three 

 square stone huts, about six feet high, with a door 

 only to each ; they did not appear to be dwelling- 

 houses, and were probably places of interment or 

 of worship. Several sheds thatched with the boughs 

 of trees, some open on one side only and others on 

 both, which were seen on different parts of the 

 island, were more appropriate residences in such a 

 climate. 



The natives were tall and well made, with thick 

 black hair and beards, and were very much tattooed. 

 Their signs intimated a disposition to be friendly, 

 and an invitation to land, which we could not do ; 



