26 VOYAGE TO BATCHIAK. [chap, xxiri. 



the village of Tidore, owing to a strong wind right in our 

 teeth. The country was all cidtivated, and I in vain 

 searched for any insects worth capturing. One of my men 

 went out to shoot, but returned home without a sino-le bird. 

 At sunset, the wind having dropped, we quitted Tidore, 

 and reached the next island, Mareh, where we stayed 

 till morning. The comet was again visible, but not nearly 

 so brilliant, being partly obscured by clouds, and dimmed 

 by the light of the new moon. We then rowed across to the 

 island of Motir, which is so siu-rounded with coral-reefs 

 that it is dangerous to approach. These are perfectly flat, 

 and are only covered at high water, ending in craggj- 

 vertical walls of coral in very^ deep water. When there is a 

 little wind, it is dangerous to came near these rocks ; but 

 luckily it was quite smooth, so we moored to their edge, 

 while the men crawled over the reef to the land, to make 

 a fire and cook our dinner — the boat having no accommo- 

 dation for more than heating water for my morning and 

 evening coffee. We then rowed along the edge of the reef 

 to the end of the island, and were glad to get a nice 

 westerly breeze, which carried us over the strait to the 

 island of Makian, where we arrived about 8 P.M. The 

 sky was quite clear, and though the moon shone brightly, 

 the comet appeared with quite as much splendour as 

 when we first saw it. 



The coasts of these small islands are verv different 



