appeared to be formed of two vessels lashed together. This
appearance we believe to be caused by their having an outrigger
on one side, on which their oars, sails, and masts are
piled, in order probably to keep the boat clear when they
are a t anchor fishing. Their mast is lowered down and
hoisted up by means of a strong tackle from the mast-head
to the stern, as in the barges on the Thames.
We threaded our way for upwards of a hundred miles
amongst islands which. lie in immense clusters in every
direction. At first we thought of counting them, and even
attempted to note their places on the charts which we were
making of this coast, but their great number completely
baffled these endeavours. They vary in size, from a few hundred
yards in length to five or six miles, and are of all shapes.
From the mast-head other groups were perceived lying
one behind the other to the east and south as far as the eye
could reach. Frequently above a hundred islands were in
sight from deck a t one moment. The sea being quite smooth,
the weather fine, and m any of the islands wooded and
cultivated in the valleys, the scene was a t all times lively,
and was rendered still more interesting by our rapid passage
along the coast, by which the appearances about us were
perpetually changing. Of this coast we had no charts
possessing the slightest pretensions to accuracy, none of
the places at which we touched being laid down within
sixty miles of their proper places. Only a few islands
are noticed in any m a p ; whereas the coast, for near two
hundred miles, is completely studded with them, to the
distance of fifteen or twenty leagues from the main land.
These inaccuracies in the charts naturally gave a very high
degree of interest to this part of the voyage; yet the navigation
being a t all times uncertain, and often dangerous, considerable
anxiety necessarily mingled itself with the satisfaction
produced by so new and splendid a scene. We always
anchored during the night, or when the tides, which were
very rapid, prevented our proceeding in the deliberate
manner absolutely required by the nature of the circumstances.
An instance of the necessity of these precautions
occurred on the 7th of September, at four o’clock in the
afternoon, when, it being quite calm, we were drifting along
with the tide, which suddenly shifted and carried us rapidly
towards a reef of rocks, which was invisible till the strong
rippling of the water shewed us pur danger: we let go the
anchor immediately, but the jerk was so great, as to break
the Lyra’s cable. A second anchor, however, brought her
up at a sufficient distance from the reef.
As soon as the tide slacked, a boat was dispatched to
examine the anchorage on the other side of an island near us.