  The study of inelastic scattering and multi-nucleon transfer reactions was
performed by bombarding a $^{9}$Be target with a $^3$He beam at an incident
energy of 30 MeV. Angular distributions for $^9$Be($^3$He,$^3$He)$^{9}$Be,
$^9$Be($^3$He,$^4$He)$^{8}$Be, $^9$Be($^3$He,$^5$He)$^{7}$Be,
$^9$Be($^3$He,$^6$Li)$^6$Li and $^9$Be($^3$He,$^5$Li)$^7$Li reaction channels
were measured. Experimental angular distributions for the corresponding ground
states (g.s.) were analysed within the framework of the optical model, the
coupled-channel approach and the distorted-wave Born approximation. Cross
sections for channels leading to unbound $^5$He$_{g.s.}$, $^5$Li$_{g.s.}$ and
$^8$Be systems were obtained from singles measurements where the relationship
between the energy and the scattering angle of the observed stable ejectile is
constrained by two-body kinematics. Information on the cluster structure of
$^{9}$Be was obtained from the transfer channels. It was concluded that cluster
transfer is an important mechanism in the investigated nuclear reactions. In
the present work an attempt was made to estimate the relative strengths of the
interesting $^8$Be+$n$ and $^5$He+$\alpha$ cluster configurations in $^9$Be.
The branching ratios have been determined confirming that the $^5$He+$\alpha$
configuration plays an important role. The configuration of $^9$Be consisting
of two bound helium clusters $^3$He+$^6$He is significantly suppressed, whereas
the two-body configurations ${}^{8}$Be+$n$ and ${}^{5}$He+$\alpha$ including
unbound $^8$Be and $^5$He are found more probable.
