I continued busily employed with my official duties until the 3rd of June, when I left Serra, and commenced my return to the brig. Our journey was much delayed by unfavourable winds, and we were daily obliged to rest on the islands which lay in our course, the tender rowing very heavily, while it was impossible to use the sail. The native vessels that left with us were soon far a-head, as they rowed with great swiftness, and could pass over the banks with facility. Shortly after our departure we put into Maktia, where we found the village to be in a state of utter decay. The houses were all in ruins, everything bearing evidence to the village having been long abandoned, while not a man could be seen around. Every voyager in the eastern seas should be provided with plenty of fishing tackle, which will not only be of great service, but will also afford means of passing away time; for, I believe, that throughout the world no seas will be found that yield such innumerable quantities of all sorts of fish as these. With a single line sufficient fish may be caught in a few minutes to afford a dainty meal. The drag-net, which was used by the seamen whenever we landed on the islands, was also found very useful, this mode of fishing being as successful as the other. Turtle's eggs were so abundant, that the men with the assistance of the natives, often brought them on board by basket's full. These eggs are about the size of a billiard-ball, round, and covered with a white, chalky film in lieu of shell. The interior is similar to that of a hen's egg, to which they were preferred by many of our party. When boiled, the yolk becomes firm, but the white remains soft and watery, this being thrown aside when the egg is eaten. Six nests full of turtles' eggs were found by us upon a sandy island near Laboba. It is very difficult to discover the spots in which the eggs are deposited, and requires a practised eye: the natives are very skilful in this. When the turtle wishes to deposit her eggs, she goes on shore, on the sandy beach, and selects a spot amid the grass, where, with her hind feet, she makes a hole about a foot and a half deep, and having laid from eighty to a hundred eggs, covers them carefully up, and makes a fresh nest in some other spot. When the traces of the turtle are met with, they are followed up until a space is found where the traces are extinct, and here the nest will probably be met with. A stick is thrust into the ground to find the position of the eggs, which is often a matter of difficulty, as the ground is generally turned up within a circumference of ten to fifteen paces. The young are brought forth without the assistance of the parent, after the eggs have lain under ground about three months, when the young ones crawl out of the sand and make towards the water, which they are often prevented from reaching by the birds of prey that lie in wait for them. The turtle are