We now found that the banks of the stream were on both sides so rocky that we could get down to the water by only one passage, and there was no corresponding path on the other side. I was glad to see this, however, for I now knew that my wife and children were on a comparatively inaccessible spot, the other side of the tent being protected by the steep and precipitous cliffs. Fritz and I pursued our way up the stream until we reached a point where the waters fell from a considerable height in a cascade, and where several large rocks lay half covered by the water; by means of these we succeeded in crossing the stream. We thus had the sea on our left, and a long line of rocky heights, here and there adorned with clumps of trees, stretching away inland to the right. We had forced our way scarcely fifty yards through the long rank grass, which was here partly withered by the sun and much tangled, when we heard behind us a rustling, and looking around saw our trusty dog Turk, whom in our anxiety at parting we had forgotten, and who had been sent after us, doubtless by my thoughtful wife. From this little incident, however, we saw how dangerous was our position, and how difficult escape would be should any fierce beast steal upon us unawares; we therefore hastened to make our way to the open seashore. Here the scene which presented itself was indeed delightful. A background of hills, the green, waving grass, the pleasant groups of trees stretching here and there to the water's edge, formed a lovely prospect. On the smooth sand we searched carefully for any trace of our hapless companions, but not a mark of a footstep could we find. We pushed on until we came to a pleasant grove which stretched down to the water's edge; here we halted to rest, seating ourselves under a large tree, by a rivulet which murmured and splashed along its pebbly bed into the great ocean before us. Gayly plumaged birds flew twittering above us, and Fritz and I gazed up at them. My son suddenly started up. "A monkey," he exclaimed; "I am nearly sure I saw a monkey." As he spoke he sprang round to the other side of the tree, and in doing so stumbled over a round substance, which he handed to me, remarking, as he did so, that it was a round bird's nest, of which he had often heard. "You may have done so," said I, laughing, "but you need not necessarily conclude that every round hairy thing is a bird's nest; this, for instance, is not one, but a cocoanut." We split open the nut, but, to our disgust, found the kernel dry and uneatable. "Hullo," cried Fritz, "I always thought a cocoanut was full of delicious sweet liquid, like almond milk." "So it is," I replied, "when young and fresh; but as it ripens the milk becomes congealed, and in the course of time is solidified into a kernel." As cocoanuts must be overripe before they fall naturally from the tree, it was not without difficulty that we obtained one in which the kernel was not dried up.