SUNDAY ISLAND. 
179 
graceful swallow, Hirundo nigritay was frequently re- 
cognized in its varied flight, by the black general 
plumage, and the little band of white across the tail. 
During the day, the water and air were tested with 
carbonate of lead, nitrate of silver, muriate of gold, &c., 
but no trace of any of the looked-for sulphuretted 
hydrogen could be discovered. 
The reeds gave place more frequently to patches of 
cultivation, in the midst of which were small gra- 
naries, raised from the ground on poles, to secure the 
stored productions of the soil from the overflowing of the 
river, as well as other more cunning depredators, as 
the proprietor lives in a distant village. At 1 p.m. we 
had reached Sunday Island — twenty miles from the 
sea. This is also the highest point to which the 
sea-tide reaches in the dry season, clearly indicated 
by the gradual but rapid disappearance of the man- 
grove trees, with their sombre foliage and numerous 
arching roots, and the Pandanus ; though during 
the period of the floods the effect ceases very much 
lower down, accounting for the admission of a varied 
vegetation among trees which delight in the brackish 
water. It is indeed the transition state, and shews the 
onward march of the Delta by the reciprocation of 
cause and effect in the deposition of soil and vegetation. 
The first palm-trees cannot be exceeded in the grace 
of their immense arching leaves, springing as it were 
from a stool, having but a very short stem. The natives 
use the long and tough branches for the same purposes 
N 2 
