346 VOYAGE FROM CERAM [chap. xxxv. 



one or two Birds of Paradise, whose loud screams we had 

 heard on first approaching the coast. 



Leaving the village the next morning (July 1st) with a 

 light wind, it took us all day to reach the entrance to the 

 channel, which resembled a small river, and was concealed 

 by a projecting point, so that it was no wonder we did not 

 discover it amid the dense forest vegetation which every- 

 where covers these islands to the water's edge. A little 

 way inside it becomes bounded by precipitous rocks, after 

 winding among which for about two miles, we emerged 

 into what seemed a lake, but which was in fact a deep 

 gulf having a narrow entrance on the south coast. This 

 gulf was studded along its shores with numbers of rocky 

 islets, mostly mushroom shaped, from the water having 

 worn away the lower part of the soluble coralline lime- 

 stone, leaving them overhanging from ten to twenty feet. 

 Every islet was covered with strange-looking shrubs and 

 trees, and was generally crowned by lofty and elegant 

 palms, which also studded the ridges of the mountainous 

 shores, forming one of the most singular and picturesque 

 landscapes I have ever seen. The current which had 

 brought us through the narrow strait now ceased, and we 

 were obliged to row, which with our short and heavy prau 

 was slow work. I went on shore several times, but the 

 rocks were so precipitous, sharp, and honeycombed, that I 

 found it impossible to get through the tangled thickets 



