s yet we
had seen no signs of inhabitants; but we were curious to discover what
other traces they had left behind them besides the flag-staff, or to
view their remains should death have overtaken them here.

We wandered round the base of the rock, which seemed the cone of some
extinct volcano, before we could find the means of ascent, so steep and
rugged were its sides. At last we found a winding pathway, evidently
trodden by the foot of man, by which we could easily get to the top. We
followed each other in single file, Fairburn leading, having our arms in
our hands; for, though there was little chance of our requiring them on
this occasion, we made a point of always being prepared in case of a
surprise, so many having lost their lives among the treacherous natives
of those regions from neglecting this precaution. The summit of the
rock was broken into a number of separate peaks, there being very little
even ground. The largest space was that on which the flag-staff was
erected. To this spot the pathway led up, showing that it had been the
most frequently visited by the occupants of the island. There were
other less defined pathways leading in different directions about the
hill. Prior called our attention to the fact that they were all very
narrow; from which he argued that one person alone had formed them; and
from the principal one being so much trod, that he had for a long time
resided on the island.

A heap of stones had been raised up to a considerable height, into which
the flag-staff had been fixed; they were all small, such as one man
could lift, and were mostly broken off from the surrounding cliffs. The
flag-staff was formed of a boat's spreet and an oar lashed together.
From the splintered butt-end of a spar, we judged that the flag-staff
had been blown down, and broken off. By the way the piece of coloured
cotton had been fastened together, it showed that great care had been
taken to make it form as large a surface as possible. There was,
however, nothing to prove how long a time had passed since the person
who erected the flag-staff had gone away; and supposing that it might
have been many weeks before, somewhat disappointed, we proposed to
return on board the schooner. We were on the point of descending the
rock, when Fairburn, who had been hunting about, picked up the fragment
of a cocoa-nut.

"See!" he exclaimed, holding it up; "the fruit is perfectly fresh, and
the shell cannot have been