which we stood, at one thousand. Between these lay a
rich, beautiful valley, as already said. This valley crossed the island
from one end to the other, being high in the middle and sloping on each
side towards the sea. The large mountain sloped, on the side farthest
from where we had been wrecked, gradually towards the sea; but although,
when viewed at a glance, it had thus a regular sloping appearance, a
more careful observation showed that it was broken up into a multitude
of very small vales--or, rather, dells and glens--intermingled with
little rugged spots and small but abrupt precipices here and there, with
rivulets tumbling over their edges and wandering down the slopes in
little white streams, sometimes glistening among the broad leaves of the
bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees, or hiding altogether beneath the rich
underwood. At the base of this mountain lay a narrow bright-green plain
or meadow, which terminated abruptly at the shore. On the other side of
the island, whence we had come, stood the smaller hill, at the foot of
which diverged three valleys--one being that which we had ascended, with
a smaller vale on each side of it, and separated from it by the two
ridges before mentioned. In these smaller valleys there were no
streams, but they were clothed with the same luxuriant vegetation.

The diameter of the island seemed to be about ten miles, and as it was
almost circular in form, its circumference must have been thirty miles--
perhaps a little more, if allowance be made for the numerous bays and
indentations of the shore. The entire island was belted by a beach of
pure white sand, on which laved the gentle ripples of the lagoon. We
now also observed that the coral reef completely encircled the island;
but it varied its distance from it here and there--in some places being
a mile from the beach, in others a few hundred yards, but the average
distance was half-a-mile. The reef lay very low, and the spray of the
surf broke quite over it in many places. This surf never ceased its
roar; for, however calm the weather might be, there is always a gentle
swaying motion in the great Pacific, which, although scarce noticeable
out at sea, reaches the shore at last in a huge billow. The water
within the lagoon, as before said, was perfectly still. There were
three narrow openings in the reef: one opposite each end of the valley
which I have described as crossing the island; the other opposite our
own valley