April, 1836. 



EBBING WELLS. 



545 



From the many nests and smell of the atmosphere, this 

 might be called a sea-rookery. The gannets, sitting on their 

 rude nests, look at an intruder with a stupid, yet angry air. 

 The noddies, as their name expresses, are silly little crea- 

 tures. But there is one charming bird ; it is a small and 

 snow-white tern, which smoothly hovers at the distance of 

 an arm^s length from your head ; its large black eye scanning 

 with quiet curiosity your expression. Little imagination is 

 required to fancy, that so hght and delicate a body must be 

 tenanted by some wandering fairy spirit. 



Sunday, April 3d. — After service I accompanied Captain 

 FitzRoy to the settlement, situated at the distance of some 

 miles, on a point thickly scattered over with tall cocoa-nut 

 trees. Captain Ross and Mr. Liesk live in a large barn- 

 like house open at both ends, and lined with mats made of 

 woven bark. The houses of the Malays are arranged along 

 the shore of the lagoon. The whole place had rather a 

 desolate aspect, because there were no gardens to show the 

 signs of care and cultivation. The natives belong to dif- 

 ferent islands in the East Indian Archipelago, but all speak 

 the same language : we saw inhabitants of Borneo, Celebes, 

 Java, and Sumatra. In the colour of their skin they re- 

 semble the Tahitians, nor do they widely differ from them 

 in form of features. Some of the women, however, showed 

 a good deal of the Chinese character. I liked both their 

 general expression and the sound of their voices. They 

 appeared poor, and their houses were destitute of furniture ; 

 but it was evident, from the plumpness of the little children, 

 that cocoa-nuts and turtle afford no bad sustenance. 



On this island the wells are situated from which ships 

 obtain water. At first sight it appears not a little remark- 

 able that the fresh water should regularly ebb and flow with 

 the usual tide.* We must beheve that the compressed sand 



* These ebbing and flowing wells are common in parts of the West 

 Indies. The simple fact, that in low islands of small extent, and com- 

 posed of porous materials, the rain-water can have no tendency to sink 

 lower than the level of the surrounding sea, and must therefore accumulate 



VOL. III. 2 N 



