eet apart, and seeming to
have once been connected by something like roofing. On Swallow's Island,
some twelve degrees eastward of Tapituea, is a pyramid similar in
construction; and on the west side of this island is "a vast
quadrangular inclosure of stone, containing several mounds, or probably
edifices of some kind, of which the form and contents are not known by
reason of their being buried under drift-sand and guano."

On Strong's Island, and others connected with it, are ruins similar to
those at Metallanine. On Lele, which is separated from Strong's Island
at the harbor by a very narrow channel, there is a "conical mountain
surrounded by a wall some twenty feet high, and of enormous thickness."
The whole island appears to present "a series of Cyclopean inclosures
and lines of great walls every where overgrown with forest." Some of the
inclosures are parallelograms 200 by 100 feet in extent; one is much
larger. The walls are generally twelve feet thick, and within are
vaults, artificial caverns, and secret passages. No white man is allowed
to live on Lele, and strangers are forbidden to examine the ruins, in
which, it is supposed, is concealed the plunder taken by the natives
from captured or stranded ships. On the southwest side of the harbor, at
Strong's Island, "are many canals lined with stone. They cross each
other at right angles, and the islands between their intersections were
artificially raised, and had tall buildings erected on them, some of
which are still entire. One quadrangular tower, about forty feet high,
is very remarkable. The forest around them is dense and gloomy; the
canals are broken and choked with mangroves." Not more than 500 people
now inhabit these islands; their tradition is, that an ancient city
formerly stood around this harbor, mostly on Lele, occupied by a
powerful people whom they call "Anut," and who had large vessels, in
which they made long voyages east and west, "many moons" being required
for one of these voyages.

Great stone structures on some of Navigator's Islands, of which the
natives can give no account, are mentioned without being particularly
described. Some account is given of one remarkable structure. On a
mountain ridge 1500 feet above the sea, and near the edge of a precipice
500 feet high, is a circular platform built of huge blocks of volcanic
stone. It is 150 feet in diameter, and about 20 feet high. On one side
was the precipice, and on the other a ditch that