Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/192

182 determined us to penetrate farther into the foret, with a reolution to pas the night there. We walked for the pace of an hour towards the outh-eat, over a very rugged path, before we arrived at a large plain that extended as far as the ea-hore. A beautiful pecies of the mimoa grew here, with long oval leaves, and generally about twenty-five or thirty feet in height.

Night compelled us to look out for a place of helter. We could not have recoure to the cavities burnt in large trees by the natives, as we were too far ditant from them: we therefore contructed a hut of branches, which we had lopped from the trees with a pole-axe that one of our company carried with him for his deence. The hardnes of the ground was meliorated with a bed of fern, of a pecies very nearly reembling the polypodium dichotomum.

Being cloe to the hore, we had a very extenive propect, but oberved no igns of the natives being near us. We kindled a fire as the weather was very harp.

We were not altogether eay with repect to our means of ubitence; for when we let the hip we had furnihed ourelves with but one day's proviions; but as ailors are ued always to take ome ea-bicuit with them when they go on a journey, thoe who accompanied us were till provided