THE TONGA ISLANDS. 289 gination can well conceive, and constituting a- species of scenery, which, in proportion as it is more rare, is more admired by the natives. To this retired spot you proceed along a road which runs through the whole length of the plantation, till you arrive at a thick wood of tamanoo and toa trees, situated on a very steep descent, down which the road becomes a nar- row path, winding from side to side, and beset on either hand with the my tie and jidle, and other shrubs, planted by the liberal hand of na- ture, whose variegated flowers perfume the air with the most delightful aromatic fragrance,; whilst, from the lofty branches of the trees, the ear is soothed with the soft and plaintive voice of the wood-pigeon calling to his mate. Hav- ing proceeded with slow and lingering step .along this winding path, for abeut five hundred yards, a flat plantation of cocoa-nut trees pre- sents itself, through which, at a little distance, a beautiful prospect of the sea suddenly bursts upon the view. On each side a steep and lofty ridge of rocks, in the form of a crescent, ex- tends into the water, forming a sort of bay. The ridge of rocks on the left hand are, for the most part, the highest, but, at the ter- mination of th^t on the right, one, loftier than the rest, extends upwards to a great height, like the turret of some ancient battlement. VOL. I. TT
