them, for they had never had such a
visitation before Christianity had been introduced into the island. The
poor Missionary's influence was over; he was obliged to quit the island,
and went to Amboyna. A mile north of Wauriti we visited a smaller village
inhabited by the descendants of some Dutch families, who had lived upon
the island many years ago. They were quite different in appearance from
the natives, and some of the women were very goodlooking. In returning to
the ship, we examined an old Dutch fort built on the beach, but now in a
very dilapidated state. It consisted simply of a square building, with
bastions at the opposite angles. At sunset we made sail for Letti, off
which we anchored the next day, in 13 fathoms; half a mile north of the
Missionary establishment; where we found a resident minister and his
family, and two others from another part of the island staying with them.
A visit from Europeans was, to them, an event of rare occurrence, and
must have been an interesting break in their monotonous lives; they had
been very successful in their labours, and had converted many of the
natives. They had several establishments on the island; the one we
visited consisted of a church, schoolhouse, and house for the missionary;
the church had been built more than 100 years, and was a very substantial
edifice. The school appeared to be well attended by the native children.

The island of Letti, which is about 10 miles in extent, had also suffered
much from the want of rain, but was fast recovering its green appearance.
A high ridge of hills extends along the centre of the island from east to
west; the sides of which, sloping gradually towards the sea, are covered
with trees, and the whole island presents an appearance of great
fertility. The anchorage off Letti, which we surveyed, is very good
during the south-east monsoon, but affords no shelter when the wind blows
in an opposite direction. There may be an anchorage on the south side of
the island, which we did not visit, that would be available during the
North-West monsoon.

SERWATTY GROUP.

After completing our survey at Letti we worked to the eastward, against
the monsoon, keeping as close as possible under the lee of the Serwatty
group, which enabled us to make a rough survey of the islands composing
it. These proved to be very incorrectly laid down in the only chart we
had, and from what we saw they require a far more detailed examination
than we had tim