cond boat neared the two headlands which formed the
approach to the inner harbour they assumed a much more imposing
appearance than they had presented from the deck of the ship, rising
sheer out of the water to a height of nearly or quite two hundred feet,
in the form of precipitous cliffs of dark rock which sloped away on
either hand until, at a distance of about a mile to right and left, they
dwindled away to nothing and were lost in the verdant slope that rose
gently from the outside beach.

I started sounding as soon as the boat pushed off from the ship's side,
and, instead of heading directly for the inner harbour, pursued a zigzag
course athwart and toward the mouth of it, each arm of the zigzag
measuring about half a mile. I did this in the hope of discovering any
hidden dangers that might perchance lurk in the track of the ship on her
way into the inner harbour; but we found none, and the floor of the
lagoon seemed to be as smooth and almost as level as that of a ballroom,
sloping very gradually up from a deep five fathoms where the ship lay to
four and a half fathoms between the two headlands.

But when at length we got fairly in between those two headlands, what a
surprise was sprung upon us! I had expected--and indeed the utmost
extent of my hopes had been--that inside those two heads we might find a
snug little cove just large enough to allow the ship room to swing in;
but, to the astonishment of us all, when we got inside we found
ourselves in a splendid landlocked basin, measuring about two and a half
miles long by about one and three-quarter miles wide, by far the largest
part of the area lying to the south-westward of the entrance.

On the inner side the two heads presented very much the same appearance
as they did outside; that is to say, they sprang sheer out of the water
as practically vertical cliffs, gradually decreasing in height until, at
about a distance of a mile from the harbour entrance, they disappeared
altogether, merging into the general, gentle, upward slope of the land
from the water's edge. Where the cliffs ended a beautiful sandy beach
began, having a sweep of fully three miles round the back of the basin.
It was on this beach that the exploring party had landed; and when we
entered the basin there was the other boat, her stem hauled up on the
beach, and her painter made fast to an oar, the loom of which had been
driven deep into the sand, instead of lying off, afloat, with two hand