“The basis of the island, as far as we know, is entirely a coral rock, which is the only sort that presents itself on the shore.  Nor did we see the least appearance of any other stone, except a few small blue pebbles strewed about the fiatookas; and the smooth, solid black stone, something like the lapis lydius, of which the natives make their hatchets.  But these may, probably, have been brought from other islands in the neighbourhood; for a piece of slaty, iron-coloured stone was bought at one of them, which was never seen here.  Though the coral projects in many places above the surface, the soil is, in general, of a considerable depth.  In all cultivated places, it is commonly of a loose, black colour, produced seemingly, in a great measure, from the rotten vegetables that are planted there.  Underneath which is, very probably, a clayey stratum; for a soil of that kind is often seen, both in the low and in the rising grounds, but especially in several places toward the shore, where it is of any height, and, when broken off, appears sometimes of a reddish, though oftener of a brownish yellow colour, and of a pretty stiff consistence.  Where the shore is low, the soil is commonly sandy, or rather composed of triturated coral, which, however, yields bushes growing with great luxuriance, and is sometimes planted, not unsuccessfully, by the natives.

“Of cultivated fruits, the principal are plantains, of which they have fifteen different sorts or varieties; breadfruit; two sorts of fruit found at Otaheite, and known there under the names of jambu and geevee; the latter a kind of plumb; and vast numbers of shaddocks, which, however, are found as often in a natural state, as planted.

“The roots are yams, of which are two sorts; one black, and so large, that it often weighs twenty or thirty pounds; the other white and long, seldom weighing a pound; a large root called kappe; one not unlike our white potatoes, called mawhaha; the talo, or coccos of other places; and another named jeejee.

“Besides vast numbers of cocoa-nut trees, they have three other sorts of palms, two of which are very scarce.  One of them is called beeoo, which grows almost as high as the cocoa-tree, has very large leaves plaited like a fan, and clusters or bunches of globular nuts, not larger than a small pistol ball, growing amongst the branches, with a very hard kernel, which is sometimes eat.  The other is a kind of cabbage-tree, not distinguishable from the cocoa, but by being rather thicker, and by having its leaves more ragged.  It has a cabbage three or four feet long; at the top of which are the leaves, and at the bottom the fruit, which is scarcely two inches long, resembling an oblong cocoa-nut, with an insipid tenacious kernel, called, by the natives, neeoogoola, or red cocoa-nut, as it assumes a reddish cast when ripe.  The third sort is called ongo ongo,