CHAP. XXXII.] TEE RETURN VOYAGE. 283 



Archipelago are divided. West of this line from June to 

 December is generally fine, and often very drj^, the rest of 

 the year being the wet season. East of it the weather is 

 exceedingly vmcertain, each island, and each side of an 

 island, having its own peculiarities. The difference seems 

 to consist not so much in the distribution of the rainfall 

 as in that of the clouds and the moistness of the atmo- 

 sphere. In Aru, for example, when we left, the little 

 streams were all dried up, although the weather was 

 gloomy; while in January, February,- and March, when we 

 had the hottest sunshine and the finest days, they were 

 always flowing. The driest time of all the year in Aru 

 occurs in September and October, just as it does in Java 

 and Celebes. The rainy seasons agree, therefore, with 

 those of the western islands, although the weather is very 

 different. The Molucca sea is of a very deep blue colour, 

 quite distinct from the clear light blue of the Atlantic. In 

 cloudy and dull weather it looks absolutely black, and 

 when crested with foam has a stern and angry aspect. 

 The wind continued fair and strong during our whole 

 voyage, and we reached Macassar in perfect safety on the 

 evening of the 11th of July, having made the passage 

 from Aru (more than a thousand miles) in nine and a half 

 days. 



My expedition to the Aru Islands had been eminently 

 successful. Although I had been for months confined to 



