A crowd of men, women, and
children, was collected on the memorable Point Venus, ready to
receive us with laughing, merry faces. They marshalled us towards
the house of Mr. Wilson, the missionary of the district, who met us
on the road, and gave us a very friendly reception. After sitting a
short time in his house, we separated to walk about, but returned
there in the evening.
The land capable of cultivation is scarcely in any part more than a
fringe of low alluvial soil, accumulated round the base of the
mountains, and protected from the waves of the sea by a coral reef,
which encircles the entire line of coast. Within the reef there is
an expanse of smooth water, like that of a lake, where the canoes
of the natives can ply with safety and where ships anchor. The low
land which comes down to the beach of coral-sand is covered by the
most beautiful productions of the intertropical regions. In the
midst of bananas, orange, cocoa-nut, and bread-fruit trees, spots
are cleared where yams, sweet potatoes, the sugar-cane, and
pine-apples are cultivated. Even the brushwood is an imported
fruit-tree, namely, the guava, which from its abundance has become
as noxious as a weed.
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