His majesty King Tocasaw, _alias_ King George, accompanied by his eldest son, the Canker, heir-apparent to the throne, and some of the most distinguished chiefs, came off to visit us and welcome us to their island. King George is a fine, intelligent-looking native of about fifty. His court dress, which is only worn on _great_ occasions like the present, consists of—a red woolen shirt! Canker has the appearance of a shrewd, unscrupulous fellow, with a most rascally expression of countenance. He is second in command to the king. Cæsar, the king’s brother, is also an intelligent-looking chief, and appears to be full and running over with fun. We were much surprised to find them speaking such good English. The next morning, on looking about us, we found ourselves in a most beautiful harbor, completely shut in from the sea, lying about fifty yards from the shore. The beach is entirely covered with cocoanut-trees, and the mountains, rising with a gradual slope, expose to view the brilliant foliage of the bread-fruit and mangrove trees. This island is entirely surrounded by a reef, varying from a few rods to half a mile from the shore. Through the reef Nature has left an opening of about fifty fathoms, or one hundred yards, which admits of the passage of ships of the largest size. The main island is some thirty miles in circumference, and on the north side the shore forms a deep lagoon. Immediately in front of this lagoon is the “small island,” which extends from one extreme point of the bay to the other, being separated on the westerly side from the large island by a few hundred feet of shallow water, of not sufficient depth to admit the passage of a craft of any size, and this is bordered by the reef. On the easterly side of the small island is the passage. The highest peak of the large island is about two thousand feet above the level of the sea. The king and most of the high chiefs reside on the small island, with many of their tribes, forming quite a settlement. We called at the palace to pay our respects to his majesty. He appeared very pleasant and kind to us, and, after presenting us to the queen and two princesses present, set before us such fruit as the island produces. The bananas that grow here are certainly the most delicious we ever tasted, being very small, and are called “sugar bananas.” The productions of this island are the cocoanut, bread-fruit, banana, mummy apples, dittoes, plantains, layees (a coarse species of banana), oranges, yams, and tarra. The bread-fruit serves as their principal food. It is rendered very palatable by being split open and baked, and tasted very good to us, after having lived on hard bread, “duff,” and “salt horse” for nine months. From the tree they manufacture all their culinary utensils and canoes. The island abounds in game, wild pigeons and wild hogs forming the principal part.