Thelongstripsofland，formingthelinearislets，havebeenraisedonlytothatheighttowhichthesurfcanthrowfragmentsofcoral，andthewindheapupcalcareoussand。Thesolidflatofcoralrockontheoutside，byitsbreadth，breaksthefirstviolenceofthewaves，whichotherwise，inaday，wouldsweepawaytheseisletsandalltheirproductions。Theoceanandthelandseemherestrugglingformastery：althoughterrafirmahasobtainedafooting，thedenizensofthewaterthinktheirclaimatleastequallygood。Ineverypartonemeetshermitcrabsofmorethanonespecies，[6]carryingontheirbackstheshellswhichtheyhavestolenfromtheneighbouringbeach。Overhead，numerousgannets，frigate-birds，andterns，restonthetrees；andthewood，fromthemanynestsandfromthesmelloftheatmosphere，mightbecalledasea-rookery。
Thegannets，sittingontheirrudenests，gazeatonewithastupidyetangryair。Thenoddies，astheirnameexpresses，aresillylittlecreatures。
Butthereisonecharmingbird：itisasmall，snow-whitetern，whichsmoothlyhoversatthedistanceofafewfeetaboveone’shead，itslargeblackeyescanning，withquietcuriosity，yourexpression。Littleimaginationisrequiredtofancythatsolightanddelicateabodymustbetenantedbysomewanderingfairyspirit。
Sunday，April3rd——AfterserviceIaccompaniedCaptainFitzRoytothesettlement，situatedatthedistanceofsomemiles，onthepointofanisletthicklycoveredwithtallcocoa-nuttrees。CaptainRossandMr。
Lieskliveinalargebarn-likehouseopenatbothends，andlinedwithmatsmadeofwovenbark。ThehousesoftheMalaysarearrangedalongtheshoreofthelagoon。Thewholeplacehadratheradesolateaspect，fortherewerenogardenstoshowthesignsofcareandcultivation。ThenativesbelongtodifferentislandsintheEastIndianarchipelago，butallspeakthesamelanguage：wesawtheinhabitantsofBorneo，Celebes，Java，andSumatra。IncolourtheyresembletheTahitians，fromwhomtheydonotwidelydifferinfeatures。Someofthewomen，however，showagooddealoftheChinesecharacter。Ilikedboththeirgeneralexpressionsandthesoundoftheirvoices。Theyappearedpoor，andtheirhousesweredestituteoffurniture；butitwasevident，fromtheplumpnessofthelittlechildren，thatcocoa-nutsandturtleaffordnobadsustenance。