set about hoeing the ground about our previous plantings in every direction. I was fully repaid for all my toil, by seeing every thing pushing forward most luxuriantly. At noon, we lay down and took a nap under the tree; after which, being quite recruited, I did ample justice to the employment I had begun in the morning. When our tasks were finished, as my arms were more tired than my legs, we left the punt on the beach, and walked home through the woodland region; observing on our way the places in which I had planted the chocolatenuts, a few of which, I gladly saw, were up.

CHAP. VIII.

WE retired early, to avoid the sand-flies, and rested ourselves on the quarter-deck of the vessel, enjoying the refreshing coolness of the evening. "Dear Eliza," said I, "my agricultural labours are completed for the present, and you have done all the needle-work necessary; what do you say, then, to an excursion to-morrow to the other extremity of the isthmus? I wish to reconnoitre a little beyond the limits of our immediate residence.". "If you really wish it, my honoured husband," she replied, we will go; but we are so happy and comfortable now, that I do not like seeking any change; and we know not whether we may not fall into some accident by the way." Dearest," I rejoined, “it is incumbent on us to know as much as we can of the island on which we are placed; therefore have courage, and I will go early in the morning and fetch the punt."- -"No," said she, " we will

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go, if you please." "Well, then, dear Eliza, we will go: it always has been we, and I am content that it shall be always we, now and for ever, here and hereafter, my own best blessing!" I returned, embracing her tenderly.

Wednesday, 13th. We arose with the dawn, and landed; then walked at a good pace round by

the woodland region to the punt. The birds were all on the alert, and we heard the sweet notes of one not unlike to those of our own nightingale. The doves were numerous, feeding on the ground; and, having come to the head of the dell, we heard and saw the paroquets among the palm-trees on the opposite side. The sun had not risen when we got into our boat; and in half an hour after sunrise we had brought it back, and were again at the plank-house. Eliza then quickly put up some provisions, with some cocoa-nuts, in our baskets, for now she had two: and arming myself completely, with a musket and pistols, axe and bill-hook, my wife not forgetting her pike and faithful dog, we re-embarked; and, putting off from the creek, rowed along shore towards the northern extremity of the isthmus. There we landed in its little bay, beneath the same rock on a ledge of which we had sat to rest when we had formerly visited the spot on foot, and delighted ourselves with admiring the while the grandeur of the superb headland under which we had been placed by the kind providence of God. bay appeared to be nearly a mile long,

This little

and half a mile broad; the land on the opposite bank being elevated more or less, and from which we were now separated by the huge high rock close to us, while the whole of the side on which we were was formed by the sandy shore of the north-western extremity of the isthmus. After resting a short time here, I rowed round the rock towards the opposite bank. After advancing about a cable's length, nearly touching it with the oar all the way, I found it turn off suddenly to the north; forming, with the opposite

bank, a narrow creek, about twenty yards in breadth, and nearly two hundred yards in length. I continued to row up the creek; the great rock standing high and rugged on my right, having a beautiful and finely-wooded slope on my left. On arriving at the head of the creek, I found a small stream of fresh water running into it; near to which I put the punt ashore, where we observed a number of crayfish, nearly the size of a lobster, in every part of the shallow water. We disembarked at this spot, and placed ourselves and our baskets under the shade of a large tree about twelve or fourteen yards north of the punt: we here took up a delightful position on a little mound by the foot of which the streamlet ran down into the creek. The lake lay wide before us on the south; and the view to the eastward was thrown open by the sudden termination of the great rock, which appeared perpendicular on all sides. My dear wife spread out her cold collation on this shaded spot; while I took care that the musket and all our other weapons were at hand, that we might not be surprised by- we knew not what. However, caution is generally safety; and we eat our breakfast the more comfortably because we were provided with means of defence, and those means available in a moment.

After breakfast, we endeavoured to penetrate into the interior by walking along the side of the streamlet; but we soon found we could not advance far on account of the entangling underwood: we therefore retrod our steps, planting some shaddock, and orange, and lime-pips, here and there, by the way. On our return, we sat down under the same tree to

repose, where we had taken our collation, and sheltered ourselves from the noonday sun.

There was

no bird nor other creature stirring, save the busy sea-gull, which, in numbers, were pursuing shoals of small fishes in the bay before us; so that all things invited us to add to our repose sleep; but, being in a strange place, our eyelids were not disposed to take any rest. We said to each other, "Were we now under the shade of our own silk-cotton-tree, how sweetly we might sleep in safety during the heat of the day!"

Towards the afternoon, I fished up half a dozen of the crayfish, after much trouble and perplexity. I had expected they were of the same species with the creature we had taken on the western beach of the isthmus after the storm, so that there would be nothing to do but push the end of the boarding-pike between the fangs of their great claws, and drag them forth; but I soon discovered that these crayfish had no great claws, so that I was obliged to manœuvre, until I could get the end of the pike under them; which at last, after many fruitless efforts, I contrived to do, and succeeded in jerking a few of them out upon the beach. When caught, I placed my booty in the forward division of the punt. We then re-embarked; and, rowing out of the narrow creek, kept along the western shore of the bay for about a quarter of a mile, where we landed again, on the beach of a fine gravelly slope. The ground was nearly open before us, having only a few fine trees thinly scattered over it, as we sometimes see in an English park. We walked leisurely up the slope for about three hundred yards; and, resting