156 SIGNS OF CULTIVATION. 



groves of cocoa-nut trees near a group of huts, with 

 a little thicket of bamboo ; and near the centre of 

 the island, following a little path through a matted 

 wood, rendered impervious by creepers, we came 

 one day on the first symptoms of cultivation of the 

 ground we had ever seen among the aborigines 

 of this part of the world. This was a little circular 

 plot of ground, not more than four or five yards 

 in diameter ; but it had evidently been dug, though 

 in a rude manner, and in it were set several young 

 plantain-trees, one or two other plants, and two 

 trailing plants, somewhat like French beans in ap- 

 pearance, which we afterwards found were a kind of 

 yam. The huts on this island had the appearance 

 of a first attempt at a house, having side walls about 

 two feet high, and a gable-shaped roof rising four 

 feet from the ground. They were about ten feet 

 long and six feet wide, made principally of bam- 

 boo, and thatched with grass and leaves. They 

 stood in a picturesque little spot, backed by some 

 huge blocks of sienite, on which some large shells 

 were arranged. About fifty yards from them, under 

 some widely-spreading, thick-leaved trees, with 

 gnarled trunks and twisted boughs, were some great 

 blocks of sienite, resting fantastically one upon the 

 other, that, with the dark shade of the grove, put us 

 in mind of the old traditions respecting the worship 

 of the Druids. 



In all the wood that spread over the island, there 

 did not appear to be a single gum-tree : the trees 



