THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 289 
and her daughter-in-law, dressed in the English 
fashion, received us in their neat little cottage. 
“The sound of industry was music to my ears. 
Hammers, saws, and adzes, were heard in every 
direction. Houses in frame met the eye in all parts, 
in different stages of forwardness. Many boats, after 
our manner, were building, and lime burning for 
cement and whitewashing. 
“T walked out to the point forming the division 
between the two bays. When I had reached it, I 
sat down to enjoy the sensations created by the 
lovely scene before me. I cannot describe it; but 
it possessed charms independent of the beautiful 
scenery and rich vegetation. The blessings of Chris- 
tianity were diffused among the fine people who 
inhabited it; a taste for industrious employment had 
taken deep root; a praiseworthy emulation to excel 
in the arts which -contribute to their welfare and 
comfort had seized upon all, and in consequence 
civilization was advancing with rapid strides.” 
The volcanic islands, like the first-described class, 
are protected from the fury of the tempestuous 
Ocean by the natural rampart of a coral reef. 
The reef is often a mile and a half, or two miles 
from the beach, though sometimes it approaches 
so close as to be connected with it, interrupting 
in that part the continuity of the lagoon. The 
usual width of the coral rock is from five to twenty 
or thirty yards; yet over this the waves usually 
break, and when rolling in upon an unbroken line 
of reef, perhaps two miles in length, the spectacle 
is one of surpassing grandeur and beauty. The 
19 2B 
