Matabello. 871 



rather rough sea, and my men were very unwilling to make 

 the attemj3t ; but as we could scarcely hope for a better chance, 

 I insisted upon trying. The pitching and jerking of our little 

 boat soon reduced me to a state of miserable helplessness, and 

 I lay down, resigned to whatever might happen. After three 

 or four hours, I was told we were nearly over ; but when I 

 got up, two hours later, just as the sun was setting, I found 

 we were still a good distance from the point, owing to a strong 

 current which had been for some time against us. Night 

 closed in, and the wind drew more ahead, so we had to take in 

 sail. Then came a calm, and we rowed and sailed as occasion 

 offered ; and it was four in the morning when we reached the 

 village of Kissiwoi, not having made more than three miles in 

 the last twelve hours. 



MATABELLO ISLANDS. 



At daylight I found we were in a beautiful little harbor, 

 formed by a coral reef about two hundred yards from shore, 

 and perfectly secure in every wind. Having eaten nothing 

 since the previous morning, we cooked our breakfast comforta- 

 bly on shore, and left about noon, coasting along the two isl- 

 ands of this group, which lie in the same line, and are separa- 

 ted by a narrow channel. Both seem entirely formed of 

 raised coral rock ; but there has been a subsequent subsidence, 

 as shown by the barrier reef which extends all along them at 

 varying distances from the shore. This reef is sometimes 

 only marked by a line of breakers when there is a little swell 

 on the sea ; in other places there is a ridge of dead coral 

 above the water, which is here and there high enough to sup- 

 port a few low bushes. This was the first example I had met 

 with of a true barrier reef due to subsidence, as has been so 

 clearly shown by Mr. Darwin. In a sheltered archipelago they 

 wUl seldom be distinguishable, from the absence of those huge 

 rolling waves and breakers which in the wide ocean throw up 

 a barrier of broken coral far above the usual high-water mark, 

 while here they rarely rise to the surface. 



On reaching the end of the southern island, called Uta, 

 we were kept waiting two days for a wind that would enable 

 us to pass over to the next island, Teor, and I began to des- 

 pair of ever reaching Ke, and determined on returning. We 



