I then mounted the high land to scan the horizon, but no sign of the
ship could I see, so I knew myself to be again a castaway. The island
appeared to be one of considerable size, very fertile and well watered.
The verdure inland was unusually luxuriant, even for the tropics. From
the centre of the island rose a mountain, with a smoke-cloud banging
upon it, which proved it to be an active volcano.

The storm had passed, and the weather was pleasant, the beat not
excessive, being tempered with a land breeze. I descended after a while
into a valley, where I noticed a number of fresh-water ponds, at one of
which I knelt down to drink, when I perceived a prodigious quantity of
bivalve shells of one single species, which formed a kind of beach, in
breadth about fifteen feet. The water in the pond was clear, and
although it was deep, the sand and shells at the bottom of it were
easily seen.

Whilst I was admiring their beauties I was startled by the approach of
a party of natives, the leader of whom, a tall, muscular savage,
marched in front of the others, who followed him with some degree of
order. From the crown of his head to his waist he was plastered with a
red pigment, his frizzled-out hair being ornamented with the plumes of
the bird of Paradise. His dress, composed of tapa cloth, shells, and
feathers, was more elaborate than any I had seen in the islands. In his
hand he carried a spear tipped with white quartz. His followers were
decked in similar fashion. Raising his right arm in token of
friendship, an overture to which I responded, the chief then addressed
me in the same dialect to that used at Cortes' island, which I had
little difficulty in understanding, although some of the words puzzled
me.