We only spent two days on shore, so that I cannot pretend to know much of the country.  From its elevation, and being constantly exposed to the sea-breezes, it must be very healthy.  It is also very fertile.  All the agricultural instruments we saw were rude.  The plough was of the old Roman model, with an iron point.  One of the chief productions of the island is rice, and as for it a constant supply of water is required, there is a very extensive system of irrigation.  To prepare it for cultivation, the land is first overflowed, and the labourer hoes, and ploughs, and harrows, while he stands knee deep in mud and water.  It is first grown in plots and then transplanted.  The banyan-tree is very abundant, and so is the bamboo, which supplies them with food, lodging, and clothing, besides, from its stately growth, forming a delightful shade to their villages.  The sugar-cane is grown, and much sugar is made from it.  The islands are of coral formation, but, from some mighty convulsion of nature, the rock on which the coral was placed has been upheaved, and now in many places appears above it.  The sketch I introduce will afford a better notion of the country-scenery in Loo-Choo than any mere verbal account which I could give.