ere almost black in colour; but above them there
were glimpses of most inviting grassy slopes peeping coyly out from
between great masses of umbrageous trees, among which I felt it would be
strange if we did not find fruit trees of some sort. Indeed, I detected
certain palms that I was morally certain were coconut palms, while,
unless my eyes deceived me, I believed I could also descry foliage that
strongly suggested the idea of plantain or banana trees. About a
hundred yards from the southern extremity of the island, and quite
detached from it, there towered out of the sea a great vertical column
of black rock, like a rugged pillar with a rounded top, which looked
quite inaccessible.

Naturally I headed the boat, in the first instance, for the only bit of
beach in sight. But when we had arrived within about a mile of the
shore I detected a break in the cliffs which seemed to hint at the
existence of a small harbour near the southern part of the island,
between the two knolls recently mentioned, and I at once headed the boat
for this spot, finding the wind just free enough to permit us to reach
it.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

THE ISLAND.

Some twenty minutes later the boat slid in between two cliffs, about
seventy feet high, and we found ourselves in a channel a quarter of a
mile wide, trending south-east for nearly half a mile. Then, on our
left hand, the cliff towered up boldly in the form of a headland to
about a hundred feet in height, while the shore on the right fell away,
forming a sort of cove a mile wide, at the widest point of which the
grass-covered soil sloped steeply down to the water's edge, rising again
in the form of a cliff as the cove took a bend away toward the
north-east. The rocky cliffs seemed to be composed of basalt, with a
thick covering of rich deep-red soil, upon which vegetation flourished
luxuriantly. The breeze, following the trend of the channel--the water
in which seemed deep enough to float a battleship--wafted us gently
forward, and I headed the boat for the point where the grass sloped down
to the water's edge, this being the only visible spot where landing was
possible. When we had nearly reached it the inner end of the cove
became revealed, and I saw, about a mile and a quarter farther on, a
small strip of sandy beach that offered an ideal landing-place, and,
sweeping the boat's head round, I steered for it. At that point, which
was now on our left hand, the miniature estua