expresses, are silly little creatures. But there is one charming bird:
it is a small, snow-white tern, which smoothly hovers at the distance
of a few feet above one's head, its large black eye scanning, with
quiet curiosity, your expression. Little imagination is required to
fancy that so light and delicate a body must be tenanted by some
wandering fairy spirit.
Sunday, April 3rd.--After service I accompanied Captain Fitz Roy to the
settlement, situated at the distance of some miles, on the point of an
islet thickly covered with tall cocoa-nut trees. Captain Ross and Mr.
Liesk live in a large barn-like house open at both ends, and lined with
mats made of woven bark. The houses of the Malays are arranged along
the shore of the lagoon. The whole place had rather a desolate aspect,
for there were no gardens to show the signs of care and cultivation.
The natives belong to different islands in the East Indian archipelago,
but all speak the same language: we saw the inhabitants of Borneo,
Celebes, Java, and Sumatra. In colour they resemble the Tahitians,
from whom they do not widely differ in features. Some of the women,
however, show a good deal of the Chinese character. I liked both their
general expressions and the sound of their voices. They appeared poor,
and their houses were destitute of furniture; but it was evident, from
the plumpness of the little children, that cocoa-nuts and turtle afford
no bad sustenance.
On this island the wells are situated, from which ships obtain water.
At first sight it appears not a little remarkable that the fresh water
should regularly ebb and flow with the tides; and it has even been
imagined, that sand has the power of filtering the salt from the
sea-water. These ebbing wells are common on some of the low islands in
the West Indies. The compressed sand, or porous coral rock, is
permeated like a sponge with the salt water, but the rain which falls
on the surface must sink to the level of the surrounding sea, and must
accumulate there, displacing an equal bulk of the salt water. As the
water in the lower part of the great sponge-like coral mass rises and
falls with the tides, so will the water near the surface; and this will
keep fresh, if the mass be sufficiently compact to prevent much
mechanical admixture; but where the land consists of great loose blocks
of coral with open interstices, if a well be dug, the water, as I have
seen, is brackish.
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