Page:Colnett - Voyage to the South Pacific (IA cihm 33242).djvu/101

 buh, or tree, but uch as are quite familiar to my eye; they chiefly conited of the mangrove, the cocoa nut, and cotton tree.

Fih were in great abundance, but would not take the bait, which we attributed to the great number of harks off this iland. Some of them followed the boat until the water left them almot dry: thoe we caught, were full of quid and cray-fih, as were the porpoies which we truck. Thee were innumerable, and we took them, whenever we pleaed. Eels are plenty, and very large: we caught everal of them among the rocks, as well as ome toad fih. Shell-fih, were carce, though we collected very large limpets, of a new kind, and a few dead conches. The latter were een in great numbers on the beach, and motly inhabited by the Diogenes crab. Common land crabs were in great plenty, and ea-birds of every kind, common to tropical Latitudes, in the Atlantic, were in great abundance here; particularly the Saint Helena pigeon, and white-headed noddy. They all perched on trees, like land-birds; and, at a mall ditance, gave the tree on which they at, the appearance of being covered with white blooms. Of the land-birds, we aw