The water was quite deep close to the shore, and we
had no difficulty in landing, near a small waterfall. To penetrate far
inland, however, was not so easy, owing to the denseness of the
vegetation. Large trees had fallen, and, rotting where they lay, under
the influence of the humid atmosphere, had become the birthplace of
thousands of other trees, shrubs, plants, ferns, mosses, and lichens.
In fact, in some places we might almost be said to be walking on the
tops of the trees, and first one and then another of the party found
his feet suddenly slipping through into unknown depths below. Under
these circumstances we were contented with a very short ramble, and
having filled our baskets with a varied collection of mosses and
ferns, we returned to the shore, where we found many curious shells
and some excellent mussels. While we had been thus engaged, the
carpenter and some of the crew were employed in nailing up our board
on a tree we had selected for the purpose. It was in company with the
names of many good ships, a portion of which only were still legible,
many of the boards having fallen to the ground and become quite
rotten.
Near the beach we found the remains of a recent fire, and in the
course of the night the watch on deck, which was doubled and
well-armed, heard shouts and hoots proceeding from the neighbourhood
of the shore.
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