LANDING AT LAKEBA. 9 
proof of its being at home in a country and in situations 
continually agitated by the trade winds. Any other 
tree would become stunted and unsightly under such 
circumstances, whilst the iron-wood is rendered only 
more graceful by them. 
The next morning we endeavoured to effect a landing, 
no easy task, as the sea was running rather high, and we 
had to search amidst a heavy surf for a channel through 
the reef encircling Lakeba, and on which Colonel 
Smythe’s vessel, the ‘ Pegasus,’ struck, when paying a 
visit a few months afterwards. I have often admired the 
grandeur of the South Sea reef, when the water breaks 
with all its force on that mighty fabric of coral and 
volcanic rock ; and wondered why such a grand sight 
has not as yet been immortalized by some great painter 
in search of a fitting subject for his brush. It is cer- 
tainly overpowering to sit down before Niagara, and 
watch the mighty masses of water steadily pouring into 
a gigantic basin. Impossible, one thinks, that such tuns 
and tuns can be discharged without the supply becom- 
ing exhausted. Nevertheless there is no abatement. 
As the sun rises it shines upon the foaming mass, and 
its last rays kiss the same spectacle. Like eternity, it is 
endless; and our thoughts, taken captive as we gaze and 
gaze on the massive volumes, are wandering towards 
those realms whence no traveller has returned. The 
sight ofa great South Sea reef is something equally grand, 
but produces a rather different effect. Besides being 
influenced by wind and tides, the surf assumes almost 
every moment a different aspect. Now it is little more 
than a long line of silent ripples, now it is lashed into 
