588 Voyage of the No vara. 



the frigate from entering the harbour of Roankidcli, and 

 there was no reason to hope for any speedy change, our 

 original intention of spending several days there was aban- 

 doned, and the same evening we resumed our course for 

 Australia. 



As our brief stay of barely five hours on the island of 

 Puynipet necessarily led to our observations and remarks 

 being of the most superficial nature, whereas the island has 

 of late years begun to acquire an unusual importance both 

 in a maritime and a commercial sense, we must content our- 

 selves with referring the reader for a more detailed account 

 to Captain Cheyne's admirable and comprehensive account 

 of the island. 



" The Ant Islands (called also Eraser's Islands) lie in a 

 S.W. direction from the harbour of Roankiddi, from which 

 they are about 12 nautical miles distant. 



" They consist of a group of low coral islets covered with 

 cocoa-palms and bread-fruit trees, and surrounded by a coral 

 reef, which makes a lagoon in the centre. Between the two 

 longer islands at the east end of the group there is a channel. 

 The entire group from N.W. to S.E. measures seven miles in 

 width, is only inhabited from May to September, during the 

 period when the cuttle-fish are caught, and is the property 

 of the chief of the Hoankiddi tribe. However the islands 

 are frequented at all seasons by the natives of Puynipet, who 

 procure here cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit. The most north- 

 easterly point lies in 6'' 42' N., 158° 3' E. 



