and devour its unhappy
occupant. We came upon several little parties of hermit crabs, whom,
breaking through their custom, we found assembled round some delicate
morsel; but as soon as they heard us, away they scrambled as fast as
they could crawl. The spiders were huge spotted monsters, with bodies
two inches long, and legs in proportion. They form thick glutinous
threads across the path, which are very unpleasant to meet, and really
cost a great deal of trouble to get rid of. Sometimes, indeed, we ran
our faces directly against one of the monsters, though in most cases the
creature was as glad to get off as we were to get rid of him. We met
also numerous lizards, of various shades of green, grey, and brown,
every rotten trunk being alive with them, as they ran about seeking for
insects. Our native hunters had arrows with heads as large as a small
tea-cup, for the purpose of shooting the birds of paradise.

Among the most beautiful vegetable productions are the tree-ferns. We
were never tired of admiring them, and Mr Hooker said they were
superior in size and beauty to any he had before seen. There were also
beautiful palms with slender smooth stems, perfectly straight, reaching
to the height of a hundred feet, and surmounted by a crown of gracefully
drooping leaves.

Our men carried sleeping mats for us to wrap ourselves in at night, with
a small kettle for boiling our tea, and a pot for cooking our meat or
soup. When resting at night we quickly formed an impromptu hut of
boughs. I could not help wishing that my sister and Grace had been with
us, to admire the beautiful forests and magnificent birds we saw.
Rising in the morning, we witnessed another dance of the birds of
paradise in some trees close to us, and our native hunters shot several
of them.

"It is strange," said Mr Hooker, "that the only inhabitants of this
region, where the most graceful of trees and the most beautiful of birds
in the universe exist, should be inhabited by races utterly incapable of
appreciating them."

"Perhaps, sir, it may be that God has thus arranged it, that civilised
man should be led to the spot to make His name known among those
savages. Had it not been for these birds of paradise, perhaps these
very islands might not have been heard of."

"Ah, Oliver, I like that idea. I think you are right," said Mr Hooker,
and he was silent for some minutes. I too was struck by it.

"Yes, sir," said Oliver, "God has a reason