st all comers. Having crossed
the point and reached the lagoon again, we found that the shore resumed
its former character. The forest again extended nearly to the beach,
but it was more open, and not so thickly wooded as before, and the trees
were of a finer growth, and in much greater variety; many of them being
of kinds unknown to any of us. We had not proceeded far, after
regaining the beach, when we espied just such a resting-place as we were
in search of.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

CASTLE-HILL.

THE NOONDAY HALT--A CHARMING RESTING-PLACE--HEATHEN SKILL VERSUS
CIVILISATION AND THE STORY-BOOKS.

"Beneath the tropic rays,
Where not a shadow breaks the boundless blaze,
Earth from her lap perennial verdure pours,
Ambrosial fruits, and amaranthine flowers."

A little way before us rose a smooth and gentle acclivity, crowned by a
clump of majestic trees, which promised to afford a deeper and more
grateful shade than any other spot in sight, and we accordingly made
towards it. On a nearer approach it proved to be more elevated than had
at first appeared, and in order to reach the top, we were obliged to
scale a long series of natural terraces, almost as regular as though
they had been the work of art. From this spot there was a fine view of
the shore, the lagoon, and the ocean, to the north and west. The trees
that covered the level space at the summit of the ascent, were varieties
of a much larger growth than those generally found on the low alluvial
strip of land bordering the lagoon. Conspicuous among them, were the
majestic candle-nut, with its white leaves and orange-coloured blossoms;
the inocarpus, a kind of tropical chestnut; and most magnificent and
imposing of all, a stately tree, resembling the magnolia in its foliage
and manner of growth, and thickly covered with large white flowers,
edged with a delicate pink. The ground was level as a parlour floor,
and free from brushwood or undergrowth of any kind, except a few
long-leaved, fragrant ferns, and in places a thick carpet of flowering
vines and creepers. The trees were stationed at such distances apart,
as to compose a fine open grove, and yet close enough to unite in one
rich mass of foliage overhead, impenetrable to the rays of the sun, and
creating a sombre and almost gloomy shade, even during the fiercest
glare of noonday. In one spot, a number of gigantic trees were grouped
nearly in a circle. Their dense tops formed a leafy dome, t