RADACK AND OTHER ISLANDS. 149 



The sight of all tliese groups, and their single 

 islands, has a tiresome uniformity. Looking from 

 the outer sea, where the cocoa-tree is not seen rising 

 above the rest of the wood, it would hardly be 

 supposed that there were any inhabitants. From 

 the inner sea you see the settlements and the 

 progress of cultivation. Only one island of the 

 group of Otdia is distinguished, and attracted our 

 attention already, on the outer sea, by the appear- 

 ance of higher land. It rose like a beautifully ver- 

 dant hill above the mirror of the waves. This 

 island occupies the projecting angle of the northern 

 reef. Differing in shape from the other islands, it 

 has less breadth and more depth, as it extends over 

 a point which the reef forms to the inner sea. The 

 currents of this sea produce on the beach, which it 

 washes, a violent surf. What appears to be a hill 

 is wood. A tree, which circumstances would not 

 allow us. to examine, attains there an astonishing 

 height and thickness, on a low ground of large 

 masses of Madrepores. On other islands, where it 

 is also found, it does not reach a considerable 

 height. Trees which have been thrown down have 

 frequently changed their roots into stems, their 

 branches taking root, a circumstance which is not 

 uncommon in Radack, and is an indication of 

 hurricanes. The low wood towards the edge of the 

 island appears to show its progressive enlargement. 

 The pandanus is a stranger : nothing attracts man 



L 3 



