The strip of dry land is only a few hundred yards in width;
on the lagoon side there is a white calcareous beach, the radiation
from which under this sultry climate was very oppressive; and on
the outer coast a solid broad flat of coral-rock served to break
the violence of the open sea. Excepting near the lagoon, where
there is some sand, the land is entirely composed of rounded
fragments of coral. In such a loose, dry, stony soil, the climate
of the intertropical regions alone could produce a vigorous
vegetation. On some of the smaller islets nothing could be more
elegant than the manner in which the young and full-grown cocoa-nut
trees, without destroying each other's symmetry, were mingled into
one wood. A beach of glittering white sand formed a border to these
fairy spots.
I will now give a sketch of the natural history of these islands,
which, from its very paucity, possesses a peculiar interest. The
cocoa-nut tree, at first glance, seems to compose the whole wood;
there are however, five or six other trees. One of these grows to a
very large size, but, from the extreme softness of its wood, is
useless; another sort affords excellent timber for ship-building.
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