1774'. ROUND THE WOULD. 13J 



the former, nor so light and close-grained as the lat- 

 ter. It is a good deal like the Quebec pine. For 

 about two hundred yards from the shore the ground 

 is covered so thick with shrubs and plants, as hardly 

 to be penetrated farther inland. The woods were 

 perfectly clear and iree from underwood, and the soil 

 seemed rich and deep. 



We found the same kind of pigeons, parrots, and 

 paroquets as in New Zealand, rails, and some small 

 birds. The sea fowl are, white boobies, gulls, tern, 

 &c. which breed undisturbed on the shores, and in 

 the cliffs of the rocks. 



On the isle is fresh water ; and cabbage-palm, 

 wood-sorrel, sow thistle, and samphire abounding in 

 some places on the shores ; we brought on board as 

 much of each sort as the time we had to gather them 

 would admit. These cabbage-trees, or palms, were not 

 thicker than a man's leg, and from ten to twenty feet 

 high. They are of the same genus with the cocoa- 

 nut tree ; like it, they have large pinnated leaves, and 

 are the same as the second sort found in the northern 

 parts of New South Wales. * The cabbage is, pro- 

 perly speaking, the bud of the tree ; each tree pro- 

 ducing but one cabbage, which is at the crown, where 

 the leaves spring out, and is inclosed in the stem. The 

 cutting off the cabbage effectually destroys the tree ; 

 so that no more than one can be had from the same 

 stem. The cocoa-nut tree, and some others of the 

 palm kind, produce cabbage as well as these. This 

 vegetable is not only wholesome, but exceedingly 

 palatable, and proved the most agreeable repast we 

 had for some time. 



The coast does not want fish. While we were on 

 shore, the people in the boats caught some which 

 were excellent. I judged that it was high water at 

 the full and change, about one o'clock, and that the 



* Vide HawkesworUYs Voyages, vol. iii. 



