The hills became less wooded as we advanced to the eastward, and lost much of their tropical character. This peculiar feature of the country was, however, occasionally resumed—a sandy beach, upon which large trees were scattered, with a few thatched habitations of the natives, peeping from the dense foliage of the trees which grew about, with the cocoa-nut palms waving their feathered branches above them—this again gave the tropical character to our view; but the receding hills terminating in mountainous country, now but thinly covered with vegetation, varied the landscape, and it possessed little to remind the stranger of inter-tropical scenery. It was soon after noonday, when we passed the bluff point, named in the charts, the “Lover’s Leap,” and the coast beyond maintained, for some distance, similar features to that we had passed, excepting some portions which had an increase of picturesque beauty: the receding hills were not so elevated; white cliffs, bare of shrubs or any kind of vegetation, rose almost perpendicularly from the beach about the “Lover’s Leap;” but still further eastward, the coast again abounded in trees. Hills rose above hills, having, in part, a cleared appearance; but, in general, vegetation was most abundant. Lofty mountains formed the distant prospect; above the whole of which, the “Golden Mountain” reared its peaked summit, terminating the rich and varied landscape in an extremely beautiful manner. From the few houses and canoes seen about this part of the coast, there seems to be a paucity of inhabitants, and no cultivation of the land was visible. The natives, however, may live in the fertile valleys, a short distance from the sea-coast, and concealed from our view. The wind and current being adverse, it was impossible for the ship to make any progress, and we therefore anchored about seven P.M. in twelve fathoms, a few miles to the eastward of the “Lover’s Leap.” The next day we proceeded along the coast, the features of which were similar to that before described; but beyond “Pedir Point,” the country assumed a more populous and cultivated appearance: cocoa-palms abounded on the beach; thatched houses of the natives were numerous, and canoes and larger boats were busily fishing; the whole aspect of the coast was animated and picturesque. From light winds and calms, and strong adverse currents, we were often obliged to anchor, and did not reach the anchorage off the village of Pedir until the afternoon of the subsequent day (the 1st of July).