MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENT.

He then escorted us round the village, which contains a very good church and schoolhouse, constructed under the direction of a Dutch Missionary, who had been for some years a resident on the island, with his family, and who appeared to have been very successful in converting the natives; but the distress occasioned by the want of rain was too great a trial of their faith; they declared that their old gods had sent the drought upon them as a punishment for deserting them, for they had never had such a visitation before Christianity had been introduced into the island.  The poor Missionary’s influence was over; he was obliged to quit the island, and went to Amboyna.  A mile north of Wauriti we visited a smaller village inhabited by the descendants of some Dutch families, who had lived upon the island many years ago.  They were quite different in appearance from the natives, and some of the women were very goodlooking.  In returning to the ship, we examined an old Dutch fort built on the beach, but now in a very dilapidated state.  It consisted simply of a square building, with bastions at the opposite angles.  At sunset we made sail for Letti, off which we anchored the next day, in 13 fathoms; half a mile north of the Missionary establishment; where we found a resident minister and his family, and two others from another part of the island staying with them.  A visit from Europeans was, to them, an event of rare occurrence, and must have been an interesting break in their monotonous lives; they had been very successful in their labours, and had converted many of the natives.  They had several establishments on the island; the one we visited consisted of a church, schoolhouse, and house for the missionary; the church had been built more than 100 years, and was a very substantial edifice.  The school appeared to be well attended by the native children.

The island of Letti, which is about 10 miles in extent, had also suffered much from the want of rain, but was fast recovering its green appearance.  A high ridge of hills extends along the centre of the island from east to west; the sides of which, sloping gradually towards the sea, are covered with trees, and the whole island presents an appearance of great fertility.  The anchorage off Letti, which we surveyed, is very good during the south-east monsoon, but affords no shelter when the wind blows in an opposite direction.  There may be an anchorage on the south side of the island, which we did not visit, that would be available during the North-West monsoon.

SERWATTY GROUP.