288 THE CRUISE OF THE ' GURAQOA: 



the plate was divided, as far as I can recollect, into quarters 

 by two lines crossing each other. There weie also a great 

 many shields of a sort of wicker-work, and some ornaments 

 made of shell-beads. 



We went ashore several times during oiu' stay, either to 

 cut ebony-wood, to shoot, or to examine the country. In 

 our search for ebony we had to row a good way before we 

 came to the place which the natives selected for us, because 

 there was a big tree near the water. We could not get the 

 boats within a hundred yards of the shore, as there is a long 

 straight line of reef running out below at some distance, 

 through which, by the colour of the water, we could see 

 there was no opening ; and where we were it was all coral 

 and no passage, so we had to jump out; the water was 

 sometimes up to my middle, and every now and then, when 

 the coral, &c., gave way vmder my feet, I sank up to my 

 watch-pocket, gun in hand, which was rather inconvenient. 

 The boy that carried my bag fell, and got it wet. There 

 was a great variety of zoophytes, corals, starfish, actinite, sea 

 eggs, corallines ; also the Holothuria, a species which seems 

 very similar to that called the ' Nigger ' or ' Cotton spinner ' 

 by the Cornish fishermen, from its throwing out what they 

 call cotton ; it was of a dark colour, and ejected a quantity 

 of very white-looking thread-like cotton, which was very 

 tenacious and strong. I had some difficulty in pulling it off 

 my trousers, over which, by the agitation of the water, it 

 had spread into numerous long threads. There Avere also 

 many Eadiata. When Ave reached the shore Ave Avent about 



