Chap.*X. scenes on shore. 161 
ceased, and beyond all was barren or in a state of 
nature. One of our pilots informed us that he 
was a native of this place, and it was sketched 
immediately and romantically called “ The Pilot’s 
Home.” 
Our passage during the morning of this day had 
been straight and broad, and of easy navigation, 
even for a sailing vessel ; but about 1 p.m. we 
entered a pass between some islands which was 
certainly not more than half a mile in width. 
Here the scenery was very remarkable, and perhaps 
the finest we had yet seen. Pretty villages, 
temples, and farm-houses were observed on every 
side of us. Now and then we passed a fertile 
valley, in a high state of cultivation, stretching 
far back amongst the hills. The houses, too, 
seemed to be nicely thatched ^md tiled, and had an 
air of comfort and cleanliness about them rarely 
seen in oriental countries. We appeared to be 
sailing down some smooth river, which every now 
and then widened or narrowed according to the 
formation of the land. Around us there were hills 
and mountains, of various heights and of every 
conceivable form. The lowest rose but a few feet 
above the water, while the highest seemed fully 
two thousand feet high. Here and there, in our 
progress, I observed a column of stone erected 
upon the top of a sunken rock to warn the 
mariner of the hidden danger. On one of the 
banks of this river-like sea a broad road was ob- 
served skirting the beach under an avenue of 
