always given them when they went on board ship; and the chief wanted some, for he was very sick. I accordingly ordered a bottle of water with a gill of whiskey in it to be given them, and the moment they smelt it their manner was changed; they became all animation, and left the ship in great good humour. Mr. Waldron presented them with two sheep, of which they appeared very proud. The brother was quite an intelligent native; he drew for me with a piece of chalk, on the deck, with considerable accuracy, all the islands he was acquainted with, giving their relative situations, and the native names; -that of the island we had seen the day before, as Tai-a-ra, and the one to which I had given the name of Vincennes Island, as Kawahe. He informed me of three small islands to the southward of Sacken, which were afterwards found by the Porpoise, during the cruise to this group on which I sent her in 1840; his knowledge of the western part of this group was quite surprising.

On the next day we landed early, and passed the whole of it on shore, making observations. We found this was taboo-day, or their Sabbath, although it was Saturday with us; and all the natives seemed to be enjoying its quiet and repose. Few of them were to be seen, and they exhibited but little curiosity. No persuasion could induce them to employ themselves in getting fish and shells for us on this day. We obtained a full set of observations to determine the position, and also those for magnetic results. I place the entrance to the lagoon of Raraka in longitude 144° 57′ 40′′ W., latitude 16° 06′ 25" S. The result of our day's observations gave the tides, at full and change of the moon, two o'clock, and three feet in height; the shore, however, showed that there were at times very high tides. The natives said, when it was a round moon they had very high water.

The entrance to the lagoon is on the north side of the island, about one-third of its length from the western end. It is a narrow passage, but will admit a small vessel. The current runs very strong out of the lagoon, so much so, that a boat cannot be pulled against it. The water in the entrance is from five to eight fathoms deep, but there is no advantage in entering, as the reef is quite as steep within. A small vessel may anchor on the outside, in ten fathoms, close to the shore. This island is nearly of the shape of an equilateral triangle, and its southern and eastern sides are formed by a submerged reef. It is fifteen miles on each side.

The chief, on our second visit, was at first not altogether free from alarm at the sight of so many persons on shore; but each one bringing himself, his wife, or people, some small present, soon reconciled him to their presence. Among the sailors he contrived to get some grog

which intoxicated him, and he became of a most joyous temperament and full of affection.

The way of catching fish practised here is quite amusing, and to it we owe the many specimens in that department of natural history which we obtained. The natives enjoy the sport amazingly, and both old and young are all in some way participators in it. Near the mouth of the lagoon are laid some coral stones, forming a rude and shallow pen, with a channel leading to it; several natives proceed about onethird of a mile up the beach of the lagoon, where they enter the water, ranging themselves in a row, the tallest in the deepest water. They then move along down towards the pen, quite noiselessly at first, driving the fish before them. As they approach, they begin to splash and make a noise; the clamour gradually increases, until it becomes one continued shout. They then contract themselves towards the pen, and the fish are seen jumping and dashing in all directions, as if very much alarmed, until they are forced to enter the pen, which is then closed with a few stones; afterwards the natives begin to spear them with great dexterity, and many were obtained. It was gratifying to witness the pleasure that both old and young appeared to take in this employment, and quite surprising that the fish do not escape over the low wall that surrounds them, only two or three inches above the water; but they appear bewildered. The natives regretted that their success was so small, and imputed it to the water being too high. Some fresh water may be obtained here. The spring or pond is on the west side of the entrance. What the natives had in their cocoa-nut shells was sweet. It is, however, in no great abundance.

This was one
We began at

Many specimens were here added to our collections. of the islands in which I attempted to sound the lagoon. the entrance, but found, within a very short distance, that the depth increased to thirty fathoms, the water being as blue as that of the ocean. So great a depth made it an undertaking far beyond what my time allowed. The sounding, in every case of any depth, was coral sand.

Towards sunset we all embarked, and my leave-taking with the old chief was amusing, He with all his household and retinue, began to cry and whine over me, so that I was glad to escape from the display of so much friendship and parental affection.

After reaching my ship, the Porpoise again joined us. She had been despatched early in the morning towards the eastern end of the island, to ascertain its extent, and fix its point in that direction; not being able to accomplish this, Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold returned for further orders. This night we lay-to under the lee of

Raraka; but as it proved dark and squally, we stood to the northward, and about one o'clock we were surprised by seeing a signal from the Peacock, of danger close aboard, under the lee. I immediately tacked, and we soon cleared it. It proved to be the reef of Kawahe, over which the surf was breaking violently. The Peacock was so close to it, that Captain Hudson felt himself obliged to stand on his course rather than run the risk of missing stays, and continued to run along it for several miles, until, by its trending to the westward, he was enabled to clear the danger.

On the 1st of September, at daylight, we found ourselves between the two islands, and the Peacock was out of sight; but two hours afterwards, she was again seen. I made signal to the Porpoise, and despatched her to examine the southeast side of Raraka, and thence to follow on to the westward as far as Krusenstern's Island, passing along the south side of Nairsa or Dean's Island. I then despatched the Peacock to the north end, and the tender to the south end of Kawahe, to secure meridian observations, whilst the Vincennes was employed in surveying its eastern shores. The wind was well adapted to our object, and at sunset we met off the north end, having completed our work. The current was tried, but we found none. The wind was fresh from the eastward, with occasional squalls. On the morning of the 2d, I determined to land the naturalists on the newly-found island, and for this purpose made signal to the tender to come within hail. My ship was lying with her main-topsail to the mast, and forging ahead about a knot an hour. The tender came up on our lee quarter, and luffed quite unexpectedly directly across our bow. Her mast just escaped coming in contact with our jib-boom. I at once ordered all the sails of the Vincennes to be thrown aback, which stopping her way, prevented the dreadful accident of running the tender down. It was a most miraculous escape.

We landed on Vincennes Island, and obtained the usual observations. Its south point is in latitudes 15° 59′ 48′′ S., longitude 145° 09′ 30′′ W. It was found to be sixteen miles long by ten wide; its greatest diameter lying north and south. It is a narrow annular ridge, consisting of many blocks and slabs of coral, which give a clinky sound when struck. The coral shelf seemed to dip in one place at an angle of 15°, forming a ridge, which was so low that the tide was beginning to flow over it before high water. There is an opening into the lagoon on the southwest side; on its southeastern part is a high clump of trees, looking like a knoll at a distance. The rest of the island is covered with a growth of bushes, ten or twelve feet high. slabs above spoken of were very much water-worn, and were strewn

The blocks and

about on the coral shelf.

This, where I measured it, was five hundred feet wide, but it is not of equal width in all parts. Among the coral bocks was some sand, and in many of them were found large specimens of the chama and other shells. I was informed at Raraka, that there were a few inhabitants on Vincennes Island, but none were seen by us. They were said to live on the southern end of it.

After finishing our observations, we returned on board, and made sail for Aratica, or Carlshoff Island. We arrived off it in time to secure its connexion with Vincennes Island: the distance was found, by patent log, and astronomical observations, to be twenty miles to the westward. We then stood on and off its eastern point for the night. The next morning at daylight we began its survey. The tender was despatched round its northern shore, whilst the Peacock and Vincennes took its southern side, running close along the reef, which continued submerged until near its southwestern end, which is twelve feet high and thickly wooded. On rounding the point, we saw a white flag waved by several natives on the beach. I immediately despatched a boat, with an officer, who brought off two of the principal natives, one of whom spoke a little English, and proved quite intelligent. One of these natives was tattooed only on one side, from the pubis to the sternum, bounded by broad blue bands, which divided and terminated under each ear.

He reported that there were about twenty natives on the island, and that they had frequent intercourse with vessels that had visited them. They informed me that water was to be had on the island. Finding ourselves short of this necessary article, I despatched several boats to procure it. Aratica is eight miles in length by five in breadth.

All the naturalists were sent on shore, with as many of the officers as could be spared from duty. We landed near what the natives. called their village. This consisted of one or two huts, built in a grove of large trees, consisting principally of Pisonias, fifty or sixty feet in height. Some of these had been felled (with a small hatchet, of which they possessed only one,) to build canoes. It is principally used for out-riggers, being light and durable, and well adapted for that purpose. We found two canoes partly dug out. The woods were quite thick and forest-like. The inhabitants of the village consisted of four men, two women, a dog, and a cat; the remainder of the inhabitants live on the northeast side. The lagoon abounds with fish, and has several small coral knolls in it, though none with much vegetation on them. This is the most elevated of the low coral islands we had yet met with.

It has a deep entrance into its lagoon, on the west side.

The same formation presents itself here, of three distinct shelves: the one submerged, narrow, and shelving rapidly, the other broad, level, and covered at high water, but quite bare at low, and having the same longitudinal cracks in it. On the upper one is the usual accumulation of coral debris and sand, on which the vegetation. grows.

On the lagoon side the beach slopes gradually, and there is seldom found any decided break, from which to judge of the thickness of the coral shelf. On the upper shelf, some large compact coral blocks are found. One of these, which I measured, was ten by twenty feet. It rested upon two small fragments, the remainder having been gradually worn away by the washing of the sea; it seemed, in fact, to be a part of that forming the second or upper shelf of coral. The following wood-cut comprises several that were seen on the coral islands, and will give an idea of their shapes. The highest point of the island was twelve feet above low-water mark.

CORAL BLOCKS.

The fresh water is procured from a large pool, about fifty feet in