ng billows, collecting foam as they
advanced, seemed to spend their force against the reef of rocks, while
they lightly and gently swept on towards the little island, breaking so
softly on the sanded shore that they seemed to regard it as a favoured
child, whose solitary condition demanded protection and indulgence.
Slowly and heavily the laden ship advanced; suddenly we seemed, as it
were, to pass a corner of the island, and came upon a view so lovely in
its quiet beauty, so unexpected in its richness and colour, so
delightful in its homelike appearance, that one cry of admiration burst
from all. How exquisite! How lovely! What rocks! What trees! Look, look,
a gushing stream, a lovely waterfall! I see birds, bright birds, and
beauteous flowers, I am sure! What colours! What a lovely bay! What blue
water! What golden sands! Was ever such a scene beheld before by mortal
eyes! Such and many more were the exclamations heard on all sides. There
hung, in vast variety, gigantic trees, stretching their huge limbs in
every direction on the face of the cliff, as if clinging for support.
Every here and there verdant spots appeared, like mossy resting places
for the weary climber, from whence hung creeping plants, wonderful to us
for their size and beauty. In the right side of the bay, the cliffs
seemed suddenly rent asunder, and through the opening gleamed a silvery
thread, which, advancing to the edge, fell in a rich stream of water
from rock to rock, dispersing into a thousand sparkling dancing rills,
sometimes lost, then again bursting forth, now shadowed by a huge old
tree, then deepening into a quiet smiling pool, until at last tossed,
tumbled, and thrown from a descent of a hundred feet, it reunited its
troubled waters on the sand, and flowed in tranquil beauty to the sea.
The cliffs shelved up higher almost immediately beyond the waterfall,
and rounding abruptly on either side towards the sea, they formed a bay
or harbour, scarcely half a mile from point to point, though it must
have been some miles round it. High on the right hand, which in fact was
the sort of corner we had passed, rose abruptly from the sea a gigantic
rock separated from the mainland; it had an archway, apparently hollowed
by the sea, quite through it, and was curiously picturesque and strange
to view. On the left, the bay was also sheltered by rocks, filled with
caves and hollow places, but none separated from the mainland. Our
captain had been occupied