Part 15

On the 31st the wind was N.N.E. with rain. In the afternoon I rowed with the two pinnaces to one of the reefs in order to examine the state of things between the yachts and the land, which space had fallen dry at low tide; in the afternoon the skipper of the Pera also got orders to row to the land with the boat duly manned and armed, in order to ascertain whether anything could be done for the service of our Masters, and to attempt to get a parley with the inhabitants and to get hold of one or two of them, if practicable; very late in the evening the boat returned on board, and we were informed by the skipper that, although it was high water, they could not come nearer than to a pistol-shot's distance from the land owing to the shallow water and the soft mud; they also reported the land to be low-lying and half-submerged, overgrown with brushwood and wild trees.

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NOTE.

(The Drooge Bocht, where we were compelled to leave the western extremity of Nova Guinea is in 9 degrees 20 minutes S. Lat.)

After hearing the aforesaid reports touching the little depths sounded to eastward, we are sufficiently assured that it will prove impossible any longer to follow the coastline which we have so long skirted in an eastward direction, and that we shall, to our great regret, be compelled to return the same way we have come, seeing that we have been caught in the shallows as in a trap; for this purpose we shall have to tack about and take advantage of the ebb, and as soon as we get into deeper water, to run south to the sixteenth degree or even farther, if it shall be found advisable; then turn the ships' heads to the north along the coast of Nova Guinea, according to our previous resolution taken on the 6th of March last; as mentioned before, we were here in 9° 6' S. Lat., about 125 miles east of Aru, and according to the chart we had with us and the estimation of the skippers and steersmen, no more than 2 miles from Nova Guinea, so that the space between us and Nova Guinea seems to be a bight to which on account of its shallows we have given the name of drooge bocht [*] [shallow bight] in the new chart; to the land which we had run along up to now, we have by resolution given the name of 't Westeinde van Nova Guinea (Western extremity of N. G.), seeing that we have in reality found the land to be an unbroken coast, which in the chart is marked as islands, such as Ceram and the Papues, owing to misunderstanding and untrustworthy information.

APRIL.

On the first the wind was W. by S. with good weather; we weighed anchor and drifted with the ebb running from the N.E. when we had run 1Ω mile with the tide to the S.W., we came to anchor again in 6 fathom.

On the second, the wind being W. by N., we tried to tack about to the W. with the ebb-tide in 4, 5 and 6 fathom; we had variable winds the whole day; towards the evening we cast anchor in 4 fathom three miles from the land, having this day progressed 4 miles to the W. and W. by N.

On the third we set sail again at daybreak, the wind being N., course kept W.N.W. in 7, 2, and 2Ω fathom, the water in these parts being of greatly varying depths, so that we had to keep sounding continually; in the afternoon we dropped anchor in 4 fathom, having drifted 2Ω, miles with the ebb-tide.

On the 4th, the wind being N.E. by N., we set sail again with good weather: in the afternoon we ran on with the tide and cast anchor in 7 fathom, having lost sight of the land, and sailed 8 miles W. and W. by N.

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NOTE.

Here we managed with extreme difficulty and great peril to get again out of the shallows aforesaid, into which we had sailed as into a trap, between them and the land, for which happy deliverance God be praised; the shallows extend South and North, from 4 to 9 miles from the mainland, and are 10 miles in length from East to West.

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On the fifth we set sail again at daybreak, the wind being E.N.E., on courses varying between S.W. and S., by which we got into deeper water, between 14 and 26 fathom, and sailed 18 miles in the last 24 hours.

On the sixth the wind was S.W. with rain, course held S.E.; at night we were in Lat. 9° 45', having sailed 11 miles to the E.S.E. in the last 24 hours.

On the 7th, the wind being S.S.E., we ran on an Eastern course in 15 or 16 fathom, and sailed 4 miles till the evening; at nightfall we went over to S.E., and cast anchor in 4 fathom, but as the yacht was veering round, we got into 2 fathom, having sailed three miles E.S.E. during the night.

In the morning of the 8th we clearly saw several stones lying on the sea-bottom, without perceiving any change in the water in which we had sounded 26 fathom; so that the land here, which we did not see, is highly dangerous to touch at, but through God's providence the yachts did not get aground here; at noon we set sail, being in 10° 15' S. Lat., the wind being W. by S. and afterwards variable; we sailed S.S.W. till the next morning, in 10 and 10Ω fathom, and covered 6 miles.

On the 9th the wind was N. with rain, course held S.E.; at night the wind went round to S.E.; we therefore came to anchor in 11 fathom, having sailed 5 miles this day.

In the morning of the 10th the wind was E.N.E., course held S.E. in 9, 10, and 11 fathom; at night the wind blew from the S.E., upon which we cast anchor, having sailed 5 miles this day.

On the 11th the wind was E. by N. with a fair breeze, course kept S.S.E.; at noon we were in 11° 30'; the whole of this day and night we tried to get south with variable winds and on different courses, and sailed 22 miles in the last 24 hours; course kept S.E.

In the morning of the 12th the wind was S.E. with good weather; at sunrise we saw the land of Nova Guinea [*], showing itself as a low-lying coast without hills or mountains; we were then in 13Ω fathom, clayey bottom; course held S.S.W.; at noon we were in Lat. 11° 45' South, having sailed 10 miles on a S.E. course in the last 24 hours.

In the morning of the 13th the wind was S.E. by E. and we were in 24 fathom; we still saw the land aforementioned and found it to be of the same shape as before; course held S.W.; at noon we were in 12° 53'; for the rest of day and night we tried to get south with the winds aforesaid and on varying courses, having sailed 22 miles in the last 24 hours; course kept S.W.

On the 14th the wind was E. by S., course held S. by E. along the land in 11, 12, 13, and 14 fathom; at noon we were in Lat. 13° 47', the land being no longer in sight. The rest of the day and the whole night we tried to get the land alongside with divers winds and on varying courses in 7, 6, 6, 4, 3, and 2Ω fathom; towards daybreak we were so near the land that one might have recognised persons on shore.

In the morning of the 15th the wind blew hard from the East; course held S. by E. in 3 and 2Ω fathom along a sandbank, situated about one mile from the mainland; at noon we were in 14° 36. The land which we have hitherto seen and followed, extends S. and N.; it is low-lying and without variety, having a fine sandy beach in various places. In the afternoon we dropped anchor owing to the calm, having sailed {Page 36} 11 miles South. Great volumes of smoke becoming visible on the land, the subcargo [*] got orders to land with the two pinnaces, duly manned and armed, and was specially enjoined to use his utmost endeavours for the advantage of Our Masters; when the pinnaces returned at nightfall, the subcargo reported that the pinnaces could get no farther than a stone's throw from the land, owing to the muddy bottom into which the men sunk to their waists, but that they had in various places seen blacks emerging from the wood, while others lay hid in the coppice; they therefore sent a man ashore with some pieces of iron and strings of beads tied to a stick, in order to attract the blacks; but as nothing could be effected and the night was coming on, they had been forced to return to the yachts.

In the morning of the 16th, being Easter-day, the wind was East; we set sail, holding our course S. by E.; at noon we were in 14° 56'; in the evening we came to anchor in 5 Ωfathom, having sailed 10Ω miles, course kept South.

In the morning of the 17th the wind was S. by W., with rain and the tide setting to the south; at noon the wind went round to East, so that we made sail, course held S. by W., along the land in 4Ω fathom; towards the evening, it fell a calm, so that we dropped anchor with the ebb, after which I went ashore myself with the two pinnaces duly provided with men and arms; we went a considerable distance into the interior, which we found to be a flat, fine country with few trees, and a good soil for planting and sowing, but so far as we could observe utterly destitute of fresh water. Nor did we see any human beings or even signs of them; near the strand the coast was sandy with a fine beach and plenty of excellent fish.