British navy as to how many hands are sufficient for the navigation of a
trading-schooner does not accord with mine?--a difference of opinion
which may possibly result in his relieving me of a few of my best men
when I can ill afford to spare them. And, by the way," said Gascoyne,
pausing as they gained the brow of an eminence that commanded a view of
the rich woodland on one side and the sea on the other, "I had better
take precautions against such a mischance. Here, Dick" (taking the man
aside and whispering to him), "go back to the schooner, my lad, and tell
the mate to send ten of the best hands ashore with provisions and arms.
Let them squat where they choose on land, only let them see to it that
they keep well out of sight and hearing until I want them. And now,
Master Henry, lead the way; John Bumpus and I will follow at your heel
like a couple of faithful dogs."

The scene through which young Henry Stuart now led his seafaring
companions was of that rich, varied, and beautiful character which is
strikingly characteristic of those islands of the Pacific which owe
their origin to volcanic agency. Unlike the low coral islets, this
island presented every variety of the boldest mountain scenery, and yet,
like them, it displayed all the gorgeous beauty of a rich tropical
vegetation. In some places the ground had been cracked and riven into
great fissures and uncouth caverns of the wildest description, by
volcanoes apparently long since extinct. In others the landscape
presented the soft beauty of undulating, grove-like scenery, in which,
amid a profusion of bright green herbage, there rose conspicuous the
tall stems and waving plumes of the cocoanut palm; the superb and
umbrageous ko-a, with its laurel-green leaves and sweet blossoms; the
_kukui_, or candlenut tree; the fragrant sandal-wood, and a variety of
other trees and shrubs for which there are no English names.