Part 23

On the 1lth do. in the morning the weather began somewhat to abate, the wind turning to west-south-west, upon which we held our course to northward, but the sea was still very rough.

On the 12th do. at noon we were in Lat. 27°; we ran close along the land with a south-east wind, but could find no means to get near the land with the pinnace, owing to the violent surf; we found the coast falling off very steeply, without any foreland or inlets, such as other lands are found to have: in short it seemed to us a barren, accursed earth without leafage or grass.

On the 13th do. at noon we were in Lat. 25° 40'; we found ourselves drifting very rapidly northward, having rounded the point where the land extends mainly N.N.E. and S.S.W. During the last 24 hours our course was chiefly north. The coast was steep, consisting of red rock, without foreland, of the same height almost everywhere, and impossible to touch at owing to the breakers.

On the 14th do. in the morning there was a faint breeze, but during the day it fell a dead calm. At noon we were in Lat. 24°; course held N., with a S.E. wind; during the whole of the day the current carried us northward against our will, for we {Page 57} were running along the land with small sail. In the afternoon we saw smoke rising up from the land; we accordingly rowed to shore in order to land if possible, with our spirits somewhat raised, for I concluded that if there were men, there must be water too. Coming near the shore, I found it to be a steeply rising coast, full of rocks and stones, with the surf running violently; nevertheless 6 of our men swam ashore, and we remained at anchor with the pinnace in 25 fathom outside the surf. The men now searched for water everywhere until nightfall, without, however, finding any; they also saw four men coming up to them, creeping on all fours, but when our men all of a sudden emerged from a depression of the ground, and approached them, they sprang to their feet, and ran off in full career, all which we could distinctly see from the pinnace. They were black men, stark naked, without the least covering. In the evening our men swam on board again, all of them grievously wounded by the rocks on which they been dashed by the breakers. We therefore weighed anchor again to seek a better place for landing, and ran on during the night with small sail close along the shore, but out of the reach of the surf.

On the 15th do. in the morning we were near a point of the coast off which a large reef extended about a mile in length, we ran in between the land and this reef, which we estimated to be in 23° Lat., and thus sailed along the coast, along which there was another reef, inside which the water seemed to be very smooth and still; we did our best to get inside this second reef, but did not find an opening before noon, when we saw a passage where there was no surf, we ran into it, but found it to be full of stones, and sometimes no more than one or two feet deep.

This coast had a foreshore covered with dunes about a mile in width, before you come to the higher part. We therefore began to dig in divers places, but the water proved to be salt; some of us went to the higher land, where by good luck we found in a rock a number of cavities, in which a quantity of rain-water had collected. It also seemed that a short time before there had been natives there, for we found some crab-shells lying about and here and there fire-ashes. Here we somewhat quenched our cruel thirst, which almost prevented us from dragging ourselves along, for since the loss of our ship we had had no more than one or two mutchkins daily, without any wine or other drink. Besides quenching our own thirst, we here gathered about 80 cans of water, and remained there for the night.

On the 16th do. in the morning we continued our exploration in order to find out whether there were more water-pits in the mountains, but our search was fruitless, for it seemed not to have rained there for a long time past, and we found no traces of running water, the higher ground being again very barren and unpromising, without any trees, shrubs or grass, but with plenty of high ant-hills in all directions. These ant~hills consisted of earth thrown up, and from afar somewhat resembled huts for the abode of men.

We also found such multitudes of flies here, which perched on our mouths and crept into our eyes, that we could not keep them off our persons. We likewise saw 8 blacks here, each of them carrying a stick in his hand; they came within a musketshot's distance of us, but when we went up to them, they ran off, and we could not get them to stop, that we might come near them. Towards noon, when we found there was no more water to be had, we set sail again, and passed through another opening of the reef a little more to northward. We were here in 22° 17' Lat. I intended to run on to Jacop Remessens river, but the wind went round to North-east, so that we could not keep near the land, and seeing that we were now more than {Page 58} 100 miles from those we had left behind on the island-rocks, and that up to now we had not found water enough to assist them all, but only so much as would afford two mutchkins daily to ourselves, we were compelled to resolve to do our best in order with God's help to continue our voyage to Batavia as expeditiously as possible, that the Hon. Lord Governor-general might order measures to be taken for the succour of those we had left behind...

On the 7 th do. [of July] we arrived in the road-stead of Batavia at nightfall.

God be thanked and praised.

Diurnal anotations on my [PELSAERT'S] second voyage to the South-land, by order of the Hon. Lord Governor-general Jan Pietersen Coen, with the Yacht Sardam, for the purpose of rescuing and bringing hither the men belonging to our lost ship Batavia, together with the ready money and the goods that it shall be found possible to salve.

This day the 15th Of July We set sail in the morning with the land-wind...

This day the 1st of September at noon we were in 29° 16' Southern Latitude [*], with a variable wind, so that we found it impossible to get to eastward.

On the 2nd do. the wind went round to the north with a top-gallant gale; at noon we were in 30° 16' S.L. and found we had drifted a long way to southward; in the evening the wind turned to the north-west; course held N.E. by north.

On the 3rd do. in the morning the wind was blowing from the west; we saw a good deal of rock-weed floating about and also a number of cuttle-bones. We therefore turned our course to eastward, and at noon we saw the mainland of the South-land, extending N.N.W. and S.S.E.; we were at about 3 miles' distance from it and saw the land extending southward for 4 miles by estimation, where it was bounded by the horizon. We sounded here in 25 fathom, fine sandy bottom. It is a treeless, barren coast with a few sandy dunes, the same as to northward; we were in 29° 16' Southern Latitude, turned our course to north-west, the wind being W.S.W., but the hollow seas threw us close to the land, so that in the evening we had to drop anchor at one mile's distance from it; at two glasses in the first watch our anchor was broken in two, so that we had to bring out another in great haste.

On the 4th do. in the morning the wind was S.W. by S., still with a very hollow swell. During the day the wind went round to S.S.W., upon which we weighed anchor and got under sail before noon. We stood out to sea on a W.N.W. course in order to get off the lee-shore. At noon we were in 28° 50' S.L., where the land began to fall off one point, to wit North by west and South by east. In the afternoon the wind went round to the south, and we shaped our course westward. Towards evening we became aware of a shoal straight ahead or west of us, at only a musket-shot's distance, we being in 25 fathom fine sandy bottom. We turned the rudder and ran off it half a mile to E.S.E., where we came to anchor in 27 fathom fine bottom; from noon till the evening we had been sailing on a W.N.W. course, and we were now at 5 miles' distance from the mainland. In the night it fell a dead calm with fine weather and a south-by-east wind.

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On the 5th do. in the morning the wind being S.S.E. with lovely weather, we weighed anchor and sailed S.S.W. for an hour, at the end of which we observed more breakers, shallows and islets ahead of us and alongside our course; the wind then turned more to eastward, so that we could run to the south and S.S.E. This reef or shoal extended S.S.W. and N.N.E.; along it we sounded in 27, 28 and 29 fathom sandy bottom; at 11 o'clock in the forenoon we had lost sight of the mainland; at noon we were in 28° 59' S. Lat., the extremity of the reef lying W.S.W. of us, and we being in 50 or 60 fathom, foul steep bottom. In the afternoon the wind began to abate, but the current carried us to the west, while the rocks here fell off far to westward, we being at about 87 miles' distance from the mainland by estimation. We had a dead calm the whole night and drifted along the rock, on which we heard the waves break the whole time.

On the 6th do. in the morning we had lost sight of the rocks; about 10 o'clock the wind began to blow from the W.N.W., so that we ran nearly in the direction of the rocks. At noon we were in 28° 44' S. Lat.; it began to blow hard from the N.W., so that in the afternoon we kept tacking off and on, and found ourselves carried northward by the current. In the evening we stood out to sea away from the rocks again, and sounded in 40 fathom foul rocky bottom; this shallow here extends seaward S.E. and N.W. In the evening it began to blow very hard, so that we had to run on with shortened mainsails, the wind being variable.

On the 7th do. in the morning the wind abated, so that we made sail again; at noon we found our latitude to be 29° 30'; we went over to northward to get sight of the mainland again, but the wind suddenly turned sharply to W.N.W., so that we had to stand out to sea again.

On the 8th do. at noon we were in 29° 7' S. Lat., course held N.E. In the evening we saw the breakers again. We therefore stood out to sea on a west-south-west course the whole night with a north-west-wind; and it began to blow so hard that we had again to take in the topsails.

On the 9th do. in the morning we shaped our course to the land again; at noon we were in Lat. 29° and for the rest of the day we kept tacking off and on; towards the evening there blew a storm from the N.W., so that we could hardly keep our main-sails set.

On the 10th do. we made sail again in the morning; at noon we were in 29° 30' S. Lat., with a westerly wind and a top-gallant gale.

On the 11th do. it was calm in the morning, but with a very hollow sea, while the wind blew from the W.N.W., so that we could not get to the north, if we did not wish to come upon or near the rocks. At noon we were in 28° 48' S. Lat. The wind continued variable, so that in the night we had to drift with our foresail set until daybreak.

On the 12th do. we made sail again at daybreak, shaping our course to the east. We ran on till noon, when we found ourselves to be in in 28° 13' S. Lat. We therefore ran somewhat more to the south again, in order to reach the latitude Of 28° 20' exactly; the wind was south-west with a heavy swell of the sea. In the afternoon, two hours before sunset we again sighted the rocks, which we estimated to be still two miles from us. We cast the lead in 100 fathom fine sandy bottom, but when we had come to half a mile's distance, we sounded 30 fathom foul rocky bottom. In the night we shaped our course two points more to seaward, and in the daywatch made for the land again.

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On the 13th do., three hours after sunrise we again sighted breakers ahead, and having made up our reckoning, we found we had lost a mile north, since the wind had been S.S.E. This proved to be the northernmost extremity of the Abrolhos. Therefore, since I found we always came too high or too low, and it was very dangerous to touch at them from the outside owing to the high swells and foul bottom, I resolved to keep tacking off the outermost shoal. After this we went over again nearly to weatherward with a S.S.E. wind, keeping an eastern course. When we had got inside a small distance, we directly had a fine sandy bottom in from 30 to 35 fathom; at noon we were in 28° S. Lat., shortly after we again saw the mainland of the Southland. In the evening, as it began to blow hard, we came to anchor at about 2 miles' distance from the land in 30 fathom, fine bottom.

On the 14th do. there was a stiff gale from the S.S.E., so that we could not get in our anchor, and remained here all day.