186 
SURVEY OP THE INTERTROPICAL 
1 822 . sacrifice to the apparent long-protracted drought of 
Jan. 24. the season ; but it was impossible, amidst the sad 
languor of vegetation, not to admire the luxuriant 
and healthy habit of an undescribed species ofp^- 
tosporum, (pleifolium, Cunn. MS.), which formed 
a small robust tree, ten feet high, laden with 
ripe fruit. We could perceive no traces either of 
remains of fires, or otherwise of natives, in the 
whole length of our walk along the edge of the 
cliffs or the plains, but we saw two snakes of 
very distinct kinds, each exceeding five feet in 
length ; the one black with a yellow belly, the 
other green and black, but they quickly escaped 
into holes, leaving a serpentine impression of 
their bodies upon the sand. These marks were 
seen and remarked near the edge of all the holes, 
which were very numerous upon the surface of 
the island, before I discovered that they were 
the tracks of reptiles, from which it may be 
inferred that these animals are very abundant. 
The only bird seen was a solitary species of 
loxia, but upon a steep ledge of rocks I observed 
one of those nests of which frequent mention 
has been already made : I examined and found 
it built upon the pinnacle of some large rocks, 
very strongly constructed of long sticks; it 
was about five feet high, and exceeded four 
feet in diameter, with a very slight cavity 
