I have wandered in the forests of an island rarely seen by Europeans.

Before daybreak we left our anchorage, and in an hour reached the village of Har, where we were to stay three or four days.

The range of hills here receded so as to form a small bay, and they were broken up into peaks and hummocks with intervening flats and hollows.

A broad beach of the whitest sand lined the inner part of the bay, backed by a mass of cocoa-nut palms, among which the huts were concealed, and surmounted by a dense and varied growth of timber.

Canoes and boats of various sizes were drawn up on the beach and one or two idlers, with a few children and a dog, gazed at our prau as we came to an anchor.
When we went on shore the first thing that attracted us was a large and well-constructed shed, under which a long boat was being built, while others in various stages of completion were placed at intervals along the beach.