of many kinds
surrounded this fairy-like spot in the wildest profusion, making a
tangle of greenery that we had considerable trouble to clear away.
Having done so, we led a long canvas hose from the spot whence the water
flowed down to the shore where the casks floated. The chief officer,
with great ingenuity, rigged up an arrangement whereby the hose, which
had a square month about a foot wide, was held up to the rock, saving us
the labour of bailing and filling by hand. So we were able to rest and
admire at our ease the wonderful variety of beautiful plants which grew
here so lavishly, unseen by mortal eye from one year's end to another.
I have somewhere read that the Creator has delight in the beautiful work
of His will, wherever it may be; and that while our egotism wonders at
the waste of beauty, as we call it, there is no waste at all, since the
Infinite Intelligence can dwell with complacency upon the glories of His
handiwork, perfectly fulfilling their appointed ends.

All too soon the pleasant occupation came to an end. The long row of
casks, filled to the brim and tightly bunged, were towed off by us to
the ship, and ranged alongside. A tackle and pair of "can-hooks" was
overhauled to the water and hooked to a cask. "Hoist away!" And as the
cask rose, the beckets that had held it to the mother-rope were cut,
setting it quite free to come on board, but leaving all the others still
secure. In this way we took in several thousand gallons of water in a
few hours, with a small expenditure of labour, free of cost; whereas,
had we gone into Mayotte or Johanna, the water would have been bad, the
price high, the labour great, with the chances of a bad visitation of
fever in the bargain.

The woodmen had a much more arduous task. The only wood they could find,
without cutting down big trees, which would have involved far too much
labour in cutting up, was a kind of iron-wood, which, besides being very
heavy, was so hard as to take pieces clean out of their axe-edges,
when a blow was struck directly across the grain. As none of them were
experts, the condition of their tools soon made their work very hard.
But that they had taken several axes in reserve, it is doubtful whether
they would have been able to get sufficient fuel for our purpose.
When they pitched the wood off the rocks into the harbour, it sank
immediately, giving them a great deal of trouble to fish it up again.
Neither could they raft it as intended, but