258 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



then had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lettsom, H.B.M. Con- 

 sul, a gentleman well known for his extensive acquaintance 

 with science, who showed me many interesting specimens 

 of minerals from various parts of Banda Oriental. On the 

 afternoon of the 3d we weighed, and steamed slowly out to 

 the outer roadstead, where H.M.S. "Narcissus" was lying, 

 anchoring there for the night, and early next morning 

 taking our departure for the Strait. The day was bright and 

 sunny, and the air fresh and cool ; and towards afternoon, as 

 there was a favourable breeze, and it was always our object to 

 save as much coal as might be, with which to carry on our 

 operations on the surveying ground, the screw was got up, 

 and we proceeded under sail. This comfortable state of 

 things was not, however, destined to last long, for heavy rain 

 came on in the evening, and the breeze thereafter died away 

 in great measure, so that we made comparatively little pro- 

 gress during the night, and by the morning of the 2d it was 

 dead calm. Soon after, a breeze set in right in our teeth, 

 causing the vessel to go through a series of pitching and 

 corkscrewing motions of a very unpleasant nature. It rapidly 

 freshened to a violent gale, and throughout the ensuing night 

 blew with increased fury. 



On the 4th, in the morning watch, a heavy sea, striking 

 the vessel, carried in fifty-six feet of the upper part of her 

 starboard bulwarks, causing her to present a rather forlorn 

 appearance to my gaze when I came on deck. It continued 

 to blow with great vehemence during the earlier part of the 

 day, when we went along, if indeed we could be truly said 

 to progress, under reefed fore-topsail and fore-trysail. Cape 

 pigeons and stormy- petrels flying around us in numbers, 

 while several albatrosses skimmed over the billows at a 

 little distance. Towards evening, however, the wind and sea 



