IN. THE PACIFIC. 241 



At daylight the following morning a strong 



party were landed to cut wood, whilst E 



and myself shouldered our guns, and started to 

 explore the island. 



The settlement marked on our chart was 

 deserted, but the footprints of men and dogs in 

 the sand, and the remains of a deer, showed 

 that the place had been lately visited. The 

 jungle was so thick that we found it impossible 

 to penetrate any distance inland, so after 

 following the shore along for several miles, we 

 took to the boat, and ascended a river until we 

 could go no farther ; even then we were 

 unable to land, except in the middle of a man- 

 grove swamp. I am satisfied that there is 

 plenty of game on the island, but we had no 

 time to search for it. In the graphic account 

 of Lord Anson's visit to Coiba Island, we read 

 of large alligators swimming in the sea, of 

 flying snakes in the woods, and such like 

 curiosities ; but I am bound to say that 

 we saw nothing of the kind ; indeed the worthy 

 parson who wrote the account appears 



E 



