I thanked him for the house, and offered to show him my collections, which he promised to come and look at.

He then asked me to teach him to take views-to make maps-to get him a small gun from England, and a milch-goat from Bengal; all of which requests I evaded as skilfully as I was able, and we parted very good friends.

He seemed a sensible old man, and lamented the small population of the island, which he assured me was rich in many valuable minerals, including gold; but there were not people enough to look after them and work them.

I described to him the great rush of population on the discovery of the Australian gold mines, and the huge nuggets found there, with which he was much interested, and exclaimed, "Oh?
if we had but people like that, my country would be quite as rich." The morning after I had got into my new house, I sent my boys out to shoot, and went myself to explore the road to the coal mines.

In less than half a mile it entered the virgin forest, at a place where some magnificent trees formed a kind of natural avenue.