DURING a stay of two days in Makung Harbour in 1877, I collected a few notes on the geology of this small group, which has, from its recent occupation by the French, been brought before the notice of the public. These islands, which were briefly described in the last number of NATURE (p. 540), have a characteristic appearance, being flat-topped, 100 to 200 feet in height, and presenting a rather barren aspect from the scarcity of trees and shrubs. Dampier, who visited them in 1687, described them as “much like our Dorsetshire and Wiltshire Downs,” producing “thick, short grass and a few trees,” a description equally applicable at the present day.