220 
CRUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER . 
of passing a pleasant evening, especially when the 
band played. 
The Dutch Government have a large coal depot 
here. One day we proceeded farther np the har- 
bour for the purpose of taking in a supply, lying 
alongside a jetty during the operation ; it was, how- 
ever, a slow and tedious process, for no inducement 
could make the coolies get in anything like a reason- 
able quantity per day. It was a pretty place, and 
as we had the additional facilities of lying along- 
side a pier, many excursions were taken. All along 
the beach are small groves of cocoa-nut palms, 
winch furnish food and shade to the natives dwelling- 
in their huts beneath. Away at the back are the 
favourite burial-places of the Chinese, whose tombs 
are curious horseshoe-shaped inclosures, their white 
walls making very conspicuous objects on the hill- 
side ; while scattered far and near are numerous little 
plantations filled with small trees which have a 
bright green foliage. These are the gardens of clove- 
trees, which have made this island so famous through- 
out the world. On the completion of the coaling 
we returned to our first anchorage off the town. The 
passage down the harbour afforded one of the most 
astonishing and beautiful sights to behold. The 
bottom was absolutely hidden by a continuous series 
of coral, sponges, actiniae, and other marine produc- 
tions of varied forms and brilliant colours; the waters 
were clear as crystal, and the depth varying from 
