72 Letter I. 
chemicals, strew it with poison, but still they swarm, so “ what 
can’t be cured must be endured.” 
Though the cockroaches did not diminish in numbers, 
there is no doubt but that the rest of the live stock did, as‘ we 
approached the end of our journey ; and the sheep-pens and 
the hen-coops began to present rather a deserted appearance be- 
fore the welcome cry of “ Land, ho!” resounded through the 
vessel. 
It was on Tuesday the 3oth that we caught the first glimpse 
of Aneityum looming faintly in the distance; and by next 
morning we lay safely anchored in Anelcauhat harbour, after a 
very fair passage of nineteen days. 
The view from this harbour is truly magnificent. It would 
require the pen of a Ruskin and the pencil of a Turner to do 
justice to it, and unfortunately neither the one nor the other 
is in my possession. I did indeed open my sketch-book and 
try to transfer the fair scene to my paper, but it was useless. 
The outlines perhaps were caught with some degree of ac- 
curacy, but where the rich colouring of earth and sky and sea? 
where the delicate shades and brilliant lights? and where the 
enchanted atmosphere of the tropics through which the whole 
was viewed? No! to get a true idea of the appearance of a 
tropical land one must see it for oneself. ; 
You dwellers upon the flat plains of Victoria, picture to 
yourselves, if you can, a scene like this. 
A magnificent mass of mountains rise from the sea with 
a graceful curve. With the exception of a belt comparatively 
bare of trees, these mountains are clothed from their base to 
their summits with a mantle of rich green foliage. Looking 
from the sea, this covering appears upon the distant hilltops 
like soft green moss; but as the eye follows the descending 
sweep of the landscape towards the shore, the surface becomes 
