t running out, and we had a full
half-hour to spare, we could not effect a landing in good time. On
reaching what had seemed the shore, no footing could be found
anywhere. Even the little boat which we carried with us in tow of the
barge, though she threaded the mangrove stems and roots, and went in
much further than the barge, could not reach anything like dry land.
As the main bank refused to afford us a resting-place, we put off, and
rowed as briskly as we could to a small island about half-a-mile from
this treacherous shore; but this, too, proved a cheat, for what we
took to be solid ground consisted merely of a mass of green shrubs,
growing on the ridge of a soft slippery mass of mud just peeping above
the water.

As the sailors, by this time, were pretty well exhausted with rowing
so long in the hot sun, they hailed with great joy the sea-breeze
which just then set in. They soon stepped the masts, hoisted the
sails, and laid the oars in.

"Now go to dinner, men," said the considerate chief, "this rattling
breeze will not carry us up far, and you will pull all the better for
a good bellyful."

Just as this judicious order was given, and while we were still
laughing at the recent adventure, which reminded us of Sinbad's
mistaking a whale for a solid rock, our eyes were attracted by the
sight of another island, much smaller than the first. It seemed,
indeed, like a little grove or tuft of palm-like foliage, rising out
of the water somewhat in the fashion of our Prince of Wales' feather.
None of the party had ever seen such a tree before, and every one
tried to guess what it might be; but all were puzzled. At length, a
diminutive moving black speck showed itself at the root, or centre,
from which these fairy-like branches radiated.

"It is a rock with a tree on it," cried one.

"Nonsense!" said Sir Samuel, "there are no rocks hereabouts; the soil
for many a league is alluvial."

"It skims along like a witch," exclaimed a third; "it is surely
alive!"

"Let us sail to it whatever it be," said the Admiral, waving his hand
to the coxswain to sheer the barge further from the side of the river.

As we drew near, we discovered our phenomenon to consist of a
fishing-canoe, gliding along merrily before the sea-breeze, with no
other sails than half-a-dozen branches of the cocoa-nut tree placed in
the bow, and spread out like the feathers of a peacock's tail. These
were held together by a slender bar of bamboo, and su