it with mussel-shells, and then
split the fruit up long ways into two portions, which they roast
between two heated stones. The taste is delicious; it is finer than
that of potatoes, and so like bread that the latter may be dispensed
with without any inconvenience. The South Sea Islands are the real
home of the fruit. It is true that it grows in other parts of the
tropics, but it is very different from that produced here. In
Brazil, for instance, where the people call it monkeys' bread, it
weighs from five to thirty pounds, and is full inside of kernels,
which are taken out and eaten when the fruit is roasted. These
kernels taste like chestnuts.

The mango is a fruit resembling an apple, and of the size of a man's
fist; both the rind and the fruit itself are yellow. It tastes a
little like turpentine, but loses this taste more and more the riper
it gets. This fruit is of the best description; it is full and
juicy, and has a long, broad kernel in the middle. The bread and
mango trees grow to a great height and circumference. The leaves of
the former are about three feet long, a foot and a-half broad, and
deeply serrated; while those of the latter are not much larger than
the leaves of our own apple-trees.

Before reaching Paya, we passed several interesting places, among
which may be mentioned Foar, a small French fort, situated upon a
hill. Near Taipari it is necessary to pass between two rows of
dangerous breakers, called the "Devil's Entrance." The foaming
waves rose in such volume and to so great a height, that they might
almost be mistaken for walls. In the plain near Punavia is a large
fort supported by several towers, built upon the neighbouring hills.
At this point the scenery is beautiful. The mountain range breaks
here, so that the eye can follow for a long distance the windings of
a picturesque valley, with the black and lofty mountain Olofena in
the background.

Delighted as I was, however, with the beauty of the objects around
me, I was no less pleased with those beneath. Our boat glided along
over countless shallows, where the water was as clear as crystal, so
that the smallest pebble at the bottom was distinctly visible. I
could observe groups and clusters of coloured coral and madrepore-
stone, whose magnificence challenges all description. It might be
said that there was a quantity of fairy flower and kitchen gardens
in the sea, full of gigantic flowers, blossoms, and leaves, varied