After having been employed the entire day, according to my instructions, in attending to the affairs of the natives, the squally appearance of the sky in the evening, made me determine to return to the brig, leaving my clerk and the interpreters to obtain further information. I had scarcely got on board when a heavy squall from the land brought our bower-anchor home. The brig swung off, and hung by the kedge; but this also broke before the bower-anchor had been hove up, and, as we drifted off the bank immediately, it became necessary to get the brig under sail. I therefore made a signal for those on shore, who returned immediately; and as this was evidently an unfit place for the brig to remain in, while it was still more unadvisable to stand off and on, from the probability that existed of our being set on the reefs, I stood at once towards Vordate, which we had previously passed by owing to the assertions of our pilot, hoping we might find good shelter there. Early on the following morning we found ourselves close under the shore of that island, when the boats were sent away to find anchorage; and I was soon rejoiced by seeing the signal made which had been determined on, in the event of their search being successful. I now chose our anchorage close to the reef, and carried a cable on shore, which was made fast to the trees on the middle of the bank. The bower-anchor lay in thirty fathoms sand, while the brig was not more than three quarters of a cable's length from the reef; rather too little room, perhaps, but the situation did not appear to me as being dangerous, as the wind always blows steadily off shore, and there was not sufficient current to swing the brig on to the reef. A considerable period elapsed, however, before we could bring the brig up, as the sand proved to be bad holding-ground. The anchor dragged twice, and it was not until the third attempt, when a warp had been carried on shore, that we succeeded in making all fast. Several vessels, containing some of the principal inhabitants, came rowing round the ship, on which I invited them on board, and, receiving them with all possible friendship, cursorily acquainted them with the object of my visit. When seen from this side, the island appears hilly. The frontage is covered with vegetation, and bears the appearance of possessing uncommon fertility. Even the sides of the high hills were laid out in beautiful gardens, the groves of cocoa-nut, and other large trees that separated them, between which might often be perceived the dwellings of the cultivators, presenting an agreeable variety to the prospect. The splendid landscape that opened before us, the majesty of the forest-crowned hills, the picturesque beauty of the entire tract of country, and the luxuriant growth of the vegetation, altogether offered too striking a view for my feeble pen to describe.