CHAP. VII.] THE SEA-SHORE. 151 



the approach of man. The boldest was a fly- 

 catcher l of an ashy colour, which hopped con- 

 tinually over the rotten trees, searching for insects. 

 It builds its nest on the lowest branches of small 

 trees, where they join the stem, and constructs it 

 neatly of moss, lining it inside with the soft and 

 villous cover of the young undeveloped leaves of the 

 Cyathea medullaris. 



The rain continued during the 10th and llth, 

 and all our provisions were gone. We could pro- 

 cure no dry wood to make a fire ; we had no tent 

 with us, and got but little shelter from the trees. 

 During these nights the forest assumed a beautiful 

 appearance : the fallen trees, and almost the whole 

 surface of the ground, sparkled in a thousand places 

 with the phosphorescence of the decayed matter ; 

 we seemed to have entered the illuminated domain 

 of fairy-land. 



When the weather cleared up we determined to 

 return, abandoning, for the present, the attempt to 

 reach the summit of the mountain. Taking a dif- 

 ferent track from that by which we had come, we 

 again stood on the sea-shore on the evening of the 

 15th of December. 



During our absence plenty had reigned at Nga 

 Motu : the natives had daily gone out fishing, and 

 the quantity of fish they took was so great, that 

 they were enabled to dry large numbers in the sun 

 for store. Pigs and potatoes had also been brought 

 1 Miro longipes, Less. 



