would be a most convenient central station whence to impart the blessings of Christianity to the pagans of the adjoining groups of islands.
MEMORANDUM
Relating to those points of the Nicobar Archipelago whose geographical position was ascertained by the Novara Expedition.
| PLACE OF OBSERVATION. | Latitude North. | Longitude East from Greenwich. | |||||
| Sáui Cove | 9° | 14′ | 8″ | 92° | 44′ | 46″ | |
| Komios | 9 | 7 | 32 | 92 | 43 | 42 | |
| Morrock Bay | 8 | 32 | 30 | 93 | 34 | 10 | |
| Kauláha | 8 | 2 | 10 | 93 | 29 | 40 | |
| Kondul | 7 | 12 | 17 | 93 | 39 | 57 | |
| Galatea Cove | 6 | 48 | 26 | 93 | 49 | 51 | |
A very careful measurement, made at the point of observation in Sáui, of the Moon's distance from Jupiter, gave 6 h. 11 min. 2 sec., or 92° 45′ 30″ East.
Our voyage from the south side of Great Nicobar to Singapore occupied twenty days. This time the fine weather seemed to have entirely abandoned us. Day and night, at almost all hours and from all parts of the sky, we encountered
severe thunder-storms, with water-spouts, lightning, thunder, and the most tremendous rain-squalls. We could thoroughly realize that we were in the tropics at the beginning of the rainy season. One day during the prevalence of one of those floods, five tons during the first half hour, and in the course of an hour and a half eight tons, or 32,000 pints of water, were collected by the sailors in buckets and other similar utensils. These storms came now from the coast of Sumatra, now from the Malay peninsula, or yet again from the Straits of Malacca, and gave our jolly tars not a moment of repose. These tempests alternated with calms accompanied by a most oppressive sweltering hot temperature, and if by chance a breeze sprang up, it was sure to come out of the straits dead against us, and, coupled with the strong contrary current, fairly arrested our progress. Thus tacking about for 14 days between the north shore of Sumatra and Junk-Ceylon, we made as much way in that time as a fast steamer would have done in as many hours, and it was but poor consolation to us that several ships close to us, perhaps six or eight, shared the same adverse destiny.
An incident of a very singular nature suddenly gave us all plenty of excitement. As our deeply respected chaplain was sitting reading one evening in his cabin, he became sensible of a peculiar pressure on his foot; the servant being called, made his appearance with a candle, and on examining the floor was horror-struck at perceiving a pretty large sea-snake (Chorsydrus fasciatus), coiled round the foot of