THE YOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
516 
natives for cultivation. The ship steamed close in to the island, opposite a spot where 
a valley terminated towards the sea with a widened mouth, evidently containing a 
river. There was a stretch of flat land at the bottom of the valley on which were 
conspicuous amongst the other foliage some cocoanut trees and another species of palm. 
As the vessel came near natives appeared on the shore, some hiding in the bushes, 
others running along at full speed, whilst some shouted a loud “hoa.” One man stood 
on the shore and waved a green branch with untiring perseverance. These natives were 
said to be hostile and dangerous, a character which they have fully proved themselves 
worthy of since the visit of the Expedition, and therefore Captain Nares’ boat, the first 
which landed, was armed. The returned labourers, however, acted as an introduction and 
Fig. 180. — Landing of natives at Api, New Hebrides. 
made matters smooth ; still, as all the natives were armed, either with bows and poisoned 
arrows, clubs, or trade muskets, and as the inhabitants of these islands are noted for 
treachery, no one was allowed to leave the beach. Thus very little was seen of this 
island, which had certainly never been landed on before by any scientific man or 
naval officer. 
The shore is formed of a banked-up beach, composed of small fragments of volcanic 
rock and volcanic sand, mingled with a large proportion of coral fragments, and is fringed 
by a narrow shore platform of coral, which, near the place of landing, was not much 
more than 100 yards wide. This shore reef is remarkable for its extreme flatness. 
Almost everywhere the living corals embedded in it are growing only laterally, the upper 
surfaces being dead from want of sufficient depth of water. In some small specimens of 
