1836.J A USEFUL TREE. 445 



Mr. Liesk, an English resident, came off in his boat. The 

 history of the inhabitants of this place, in as few words as 

 possible, is as follows. About nine years ago, Mr. Hare, 

 a worthless character, brought from the East Indian 

 Archipelago a number of Malay slaves, which now, 

 including children, amount to more than a hundred. 

 Shortly afterwards. Captain Ross, who had before visited 

 these islands in his merchant-ship, arrived from England, 

 bringing with him his family and goods for settlement ; 

 along with him came Mr. Liesk, who had been a mate 

 in his vessel. The Malay slaves soon ran away from the 

 islet on which Mr. Hare was settled, and joined Captain 

 Ross's party. Mr. Hare upon this was ultimately obliged 

 to leave the place. 



The Malays are now nominally in a state of freedom, and 

 certainly are so, as far as regards their personal treatment ; 

 but in most other points they are considered as slaves. 

 From their discontented state, from the repeated removals 

 from islet to islet, and perhaps also from a little mis- 

 management, things are not very prosperous. The island 

 has no domestic quadruped, excepting the pig, and the 

 main vegetable production is the cocoa-nut. The whole 

 prosperity of the place depends on this tree : the only 

 exports being oil from the nut, and the nuts themselves, 

 which are taken to Singapore and Mauritius, where they 

 are chiefly used, when grated, in making curries. On 

 the cocoa-nut, also, the pigs, which are loaded with fat, 

 almost entirely subsist, as do the ducks and poultry. Even 

 a huge land-crab is furnished by nature with the means 

 to open and feed on this most useful production. 



The ring-formed reef of the lagoon-island is surmounted 

 in the greater part of its length by linear islets. On the 

 northern or leeward side, there is an opening through 

 wliich vessels can pass to the anchorage within. On 



lering, the scene was very curious and rather pretty; 

 .  beauty, however, entirely depended on the brilliancy 

 of the surrounding colours. The shallow, clear, and still 

 water of the lagoon, resting in its greater part on white 

 Mid, is, when illumined by a vertical sun, of the most 

 id green. This brilliant expanse, several miles in 

 \\ idth, is on all sides divided, either by a line of snovv- 

 v.hile breakers from the dark heaving waters of the 



'•an, or from the blue vault of heaven by the strips of 

 d, crowned by the level tops of the cocoa-nut trees. 



