To procure it the natives go out on the reef, let the canoe drift, with their eyes fixed on the bottom, and when they see one, dive and secure it. When cured the prickles become hard and brittle as glass. Captain Vandaford took one of this kind on board and weighed it green. It weighed five pounds, but when cured it only weighed three quarters of a pound. There are five or six different kinds of beche de mer. One kind is about a foot long and three inches in diameter, smooth, and of a reddish black color. The mouth is very small and round and has four or five teeth. It is not as soft as the prickly kind but is generally found with it in deep water. The two kinds are scarce and hard to get, but are much more valuable than the kind we got at Myambooa, which were of the same form, but much smaller and black, being found in much greater abundance and more easily obtained, as it is found in shallow water. After being here some time we experienced a heavy gale of wind from the southward. We put out three anchors and sent down our light spars. We were surrounded with reefs, one not more than a cable's length astern, but having good holding ground we rode out the gale without material damage. Many of the houses at Ambow were blown down. The gale lasted about twelve hours, then moderated and shifted to the northward, blowing as hard as before, but did not last long. When it abated we sent a boat ashore after beche de mer. Mr. Driver had all he could do during the gale to prevent the house from blowing down but by the aid of guys and shores had kept it up. Most of the thatch had blown off, however, and the house was flooded with water. He had led the water off by means of a ditch and was now ready for business again. When we had procured six or seven hundred piculs the captain thought it best to start for Manila, so as to get there before the change of the N. E. monsoon, so we broke up the establishment, paid off the natives, made the king and chiefs suitable presents and got underway for Ovalau where we arrived the same afternoon. I then concluded to leave the ship. It was now the 17th of February, 1828. I wrote a few lines to the owner of the Oeno, informing him of her loss and the fate of the captain and crew, which I gave to Capt. Vandaford, informing him that I should remain at the islands till his return from Manila. David Whippey was on board, and we stopped for the night. The next day the ship got under way and stood clear of the land and backed her maintopsail.