264? VOYAGE TO THE 



C vin P " n islied. with a smooth sandy beach, many obstacles 

 v -"-n^~ / will be found to the confirmation of such an opinion ; 

 !826.' ana * it appears to me more reasonable to attribute it 

 to the nature of the element. The depth of these 

 channels rarely exceeds twenty-five feet, the great- 

 est limit probably to which the influence of fresh 

 water w r ould be felt. 



Henderson Island, one of the exceptions men- 

 tioned in the early part of this discussion, is among 

 the rare instances of its kind in these seas. It is an 

 island composed of dead coral, about eighty feet 

 above the sea, with perpendicular cliffs nearly all the 

 way round it, as if after being formed in the ocean 

 it had been pushed up by a subterraneous convul- 

 sion. These cliffs are undermined at the base, as 

 though the sea had beaten against them a consider- 

 able time in their present position. There are no 

 marks upon them indicative of the island having 

 risen by degrees ; but, on the contrary, a plain sur- 

 face indicating its ascent by one great effort of nature. 

 On examining the volcanic islands near Henderson 

 Island, no traces appeared of the sea having retired ; 

 and we may, therefore, presume it to have risen as 

 described. Its length is five miles, and breadth one 

 mile ; it is nearly encompassed by a reef of living 

 coral, so wide that the cliffs, which were at first sub- 

 jected to the whole force of the waves, are now 

 beyond the reach even of their spray. 



The navigation of this archipelago was made at a 

 period of the year when the westerly monsoon was 

 about to commence, and toward the end of which it 

 had actually begun, and materially retarded our ope- 

 rations ; but previous to that time, or about the be- 

 ginning of March, the trade was fresh and steady, 



