of Vung-chao, being open to our view, in the northeast, two miles distant; and the harbour, or roadstead, of Shundai, with Nest island, bearing east, about the same distance. It will be seen, by the distance per log, that we were currented along, in fifteen hours, fifty miles; nearly equal to three and a half miles per hour. To the southward of Cambir, lies a sand-beach, extending up a rising ground, which, together with a more extensive plot near the southern entrance, but to the southward of the island of Maignia, assist, as a leading mark, in running in. This is, truly, one of the finest harbours in the world, and free from all obstructions, save a rock, called the buoy rock, within one and a half miles of our anchorage, the top of which is above water. The country around is apparently well cultivated, being laid out in small patches, resembling gardens. It is beautifully picturesque and bold, frequently running into hills, from one to fifteen hundred feet high; the verdure of which extends, in many places, to the water’s edge. The hand of the workman has here been busy on every spot susceptible of cultivation. Villages were seen among the palm-trees, near the sandy beaches, and on the cultivated swells of land, for many miles around us. In the afternoon of the day on which we anchored, an old man came on board; though raggedly dressed and dirty, he appeared to be somewhat superior to the fishermen who brought him off. Not being offered a seat at first, he seemed rather disconcerted, and expressed a desire to leave; but, having learned that he was an official personage, he was invited down to the gun-deck, and there seated. Being interrogated more particularly, in relation to his rank in the village, he stated himself to be a Keep-tu (literally, assistant keeper) of Vung-lam and King-chow, and the principal person in the village; but that he had a superior, or commandant, at Shundai, under whom is also another officer of equal rank with himself.