Some of the trees appeared to be of great dimensions, others were tall and straight, branching only near the top, and many, probably Melaleuca leucodendrum--were conspicuous from the whiteness of their trunks.

Large groves of cocoa-palms scattered about from the water's edge to halfway up the hills, formed a pleasing break in the sombre green of the forest scenery.

The shores are either bordered with mangroves with an occasional sandy beach, or clothed with the usual jungle of the island.
As we advanced to the westward the reef gradually extended out from the island with a short space inside, and this appearance continued for several miles, until, upon the land trending away to the south-west, the line of reef left it and ran out to the westward as far as the eye could reach, in an apparently unbroken line of surf.

This is Rossel Reef of the charts along which we ran for* 35 miles, sounding occasionally, but although within a mile of its edge, no bottom was got with upwards of 100 fathoms of line.

From the masthead we could see the surf of the southern border of this great reef, the space between being a lagoon of apparently navigable water.