At 1.30 p.m. land was sighted from the mast-head, and at two o’clock I saw from the deck what looked like plumes of dark ostrich feathers rising from the sea.  This was the island of Tatakotoroa—­also known as Narcissus, or Clarke Island—­to the eastward of the Paumotu or Low Archipelago of the South Seas.  The sailing directions describe the inhabitants as ‘hostile,’ and Sir Edward Belcher mentions that some of them tried to cut off the boats sent from a man-of-war for water.  We were therefore afraid to attempt a landing, but sailed as near as we could to the shore, which, surrounded by a rampart of snow-white coral, and clothed almost to the water’s edge with feathery palms, cocoa-nut trees, and luxuriant vegetation of various kinds, looked very tempting.  A few canoes were drawn up on the beach near a large hut, out of which three or four natives came, and, having looked at us for some time, ran off into the woods.  Blue smoke could be seen curling up from several points of the forest, no doubt indicating the presence of more natives, whose dwellings were concealed by the trees.

[Illustration:  Going up the Mast in a Chair.]

[Illustration:  Children looking up]

After lunch, Tom had me hoisted up to the foretopmast-head in a ‘boatswain’s chair,’ which is simply a small plank, suspended by ropes at the four corners, and used by the men to sit on when they scrape the masts.  I was very carefully secured with a rope tied round my petticoats, and, knocking against the various ropes on my way, was then gently hoisted up to what seemed at first a giddy height; but when once I got accustomed to the smallness of the seat, the airiness of my perch, and the increased roll of the vessel, I found my position by no means an unpleasant one.  Tom climbed up the rigging and joined me shortly afterwards.  From our elevated post we could see plainly the formation of the island, and the lagoon in the centre, encircled by a band of coral, in some places white, bare, and narrow, in others wide and covered with palm-trees and rich vegetation; it was moreover possible to understand better the theory of the formation of these coral islands.  I was so happy up aloft that I did not care to descend; and it was almost as interesting to observe what a strange and disproportioned appearance everything and everybody on board the yacht presented from my novel position, as it was to examine the island we were passing.  The two younger children and the dogs took the greatest interest in my aerial expedition, and never ceased calling to me and barking, until I was once more let down safely into their midst.  As soon as we had seen all we could of the island, fires were banked, and we proceeded under sail alone throughout the evening and night.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.