PIEON ISLAND. 185 



be long' and low, resting- on the ground, with an 

 opening at each end, and an arched roof thatched 

 with palm-leaves. The most picturesque situations 

 were chosen for these hamlets in the shade of the 

 cocoa-nut trees, and about them we could see 

 numbers of children, but no women were made out, 

 and most of the men were fishing on the reef. At 

 one place we observed what appeared to be a portion 

 of cultivated ground ; a cleared sloping bank above 

 the shore exhibited a succession of small terraces, 

 with a bush-hke plant growing in regular rows. 



June 14:th. — In the morning we found ourselves 

 so far to leeward of the opening seen last night, 

 with a strong breeze and a considerable head sea, 

 that the attempt to work up for it was abandoned, 

 and we kept away to the westward to look for an 

 anchorage. We then ran along the northern side 

 of Piron* Island, which is five mUes in length, and 

 one and a half in breadth, of moderate elevation, 

 and sloping gently towards each extreme. It 

 exhibits a range of low grassy bills, with smooth 

 rounded outline, a straggling* belt of wood — often 

 mangroves — along the shore, patches of brush 

 here and there in the hollows, and on the hiU 

 tops, scattered along the ridge, a few solitary tall 

 bushy trees with silvery-looking fohage. The 

 bright green of the tall grass gave a pleasing 

 aspect to the whole island, large tracts of which 



* Piron was draughtsman to D'Entrecasteaux's Expedition. 



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