eaches, great crowds of golden-winged plover and tiny snipe sprang
skyward, and swept in graceful gyrations over the broad expanse of
water, till they settled upon some sandy spit or spot of projecting
reef; and, indeed, the immense concourse or frigate birds, boobies,
terns, petrels and other aquatic denizens of the island filled us with
boundless astonishment.

'At night time there crept out from their lairs in the loose coral
shingle that lined the scrub at high-water mark, incredible numbers of
huge "land lobsters"--the "robber crab" of the Pacific Islands. They all
crawled to within a few feet of the placid waters of the lagoon, where
they remained motionless, as if awaiting some event--possibly to prey
upon the smaller species of _crustaceae_ and turtle eggs.'

Christmas Island, in its structure and elevation, much resembles
Palmerston Island, Arrecifos or Providence Island (the secret rendezvous
of Captain 'Bully' Hayes), Brown's Range, and other low-lying atolls
of the North and South Pacific. The greater part of the interior of the
island is, however, despite the vast number of coco-nuts planted upon it
during the past ten years, still sadly deficient in cheerful vegetation.

The waters of the lagoon vary greatly in depth, but generally are
shallow and much broken up by sandy spits, reefs and huge coral boulders
which protrude at low water, and the surface is much subject to the
action of the trade wind, which, when blowing strong, lashes them into
a wild surf; and the low shores of the encircling islets, that form
a continuous reef-connected chain, are rendered invisible from the
opposite side by the smoky haze and spume which ascends in clouds from
the breaking surf that rolls and thunders on the outer barrier reefs.

In the interior no fresh water is obtainable, although in the rainy
season some of a brackish quality can be had by sinking shallow wells.
This water rises and falls in the wells in unison with the tides. Here
and there are very extensive swamps of sea-water, evaporrated to a
strong brine; the margins of these are clothed with a fair growth of
the pandanus or screw-pine palm, the fruit of which, when ripe, forms a
nutritious and palatable food for the natives of the Equatorial Pacific
Islands.

The island where Captain Cook set up his observatory is but a small
strip of sandy soil, clothed with a few coco-palms, some screw-palms
(pandanus), and a thick-matted carpet of a vine called _At At_