The natives brought beche de mer in the greatest abundance--quite as much as we could take care of--and the prospect was very good for speedily procuring the desired supply. But one day, while we were on board at dinner, our house was discovered to be afire. The captain ordered two boats to be manned and armed, supposing it had been set on fire by the natives. On reaching the shore, however, we learned that it had caught by accident on the inside, and those in charge were unable to extinguish it. It burned to the ground and also consumed a considerable quantity of our beche de mer. That afternoon David arrived from Ambow, bringing a letter from Mr. Driver, the second mate, which stated that he had built a house and found the beche de mer very plenty. He had got about forty piculs (a weight of 133 1/3 pounds) cured, most of it of a superior quality. He had spent all his articles for trade and wanted more sent. Upon receiving this intelligence the captain decided to go to Ambow with the ship and not attempt to rebuild here. So he collected what sandalwood he could, paid off the men he had employed, made the chief some presents and got under way. We beat up some five or six miles and came to anchor under the headland of Naviti, where we lay three days. We went on shore with the boat at the town of Naviti to trade for vegetables, etc., and loaded our boat with coconuts, bananas and sugar cane, for which we paid a few beads and trinkets. This island is one of the largest in the group and is laid down on the chart as "Thowcanrover". Myambooa is the largest and most convenient harbor to be found at these islands. The south side of the bay is formed by a low, narrow point of land. The north side is very high land and there are several villages located there but none near the shore. The village of Myambooa is the principal place in this part of the island. It is situated near the entrance of the bay, but some distance inland, and a river runs past the village. While lying here in the Clay I went up this river with Captain Vandaford and found the water very shallow at the mouth, with a very crooked channel, but after getting over the bar found plenty of water. On each side of the river are large groves of mangrove trees, with their trunks below the surface of the water covered with oysters, some of which we tried and found very good. Above these trees stood the village of Myambooa, which was a small place and the houses quite inferior. The natives depended upon their neighbors for mats and other domestic articles, for which they paid principally with powder and other articles which they got mostly from ships. Their location gave them much the advantage in ship trade, as it was the only place where sandalwood could be procured in any considerable amount. Captain Vandaford had made two or three voyages here before, found sandalwood plenty and bought it very cheap.