Chapter 7

The high-lying interior of Ceram ends here, without showing any opening or passage (through which we might run north according to our plan), and passes into low-lying half-submerged land, bearing E.S.E. and S.E. by E., extending in all likelihood as far as Nova Guinea, a point which with God's help we mean to make sure of at any cost; on coming from Aru to the island of Ceram, the latter is found to have a low-lying foreland dangerous to touch at, since at 6, 8 and 9 miles' distance from the same, the lofty mountains of the interior become visible, the low foreland remaining invisible until one has got within 3 or 4 miles from the land; the high mountains are seen to extend fully thirty miles to eastward, when you are north of Aru; as seen from afar, the land seems to have numerous pleasant valleys and running fresh-water rivers; here and there it is overgrown with brushwood and in other places covered with high trees; but we are unable to give any information as to what fruits, metals and animals it contains, and as to the manner of its cultivation since the natives whom {Page 27} we found to be savages and man-eaters, refused to hold parley with us, and fell upon our men who suffered grievous damage; after the report, however, of some of the men of the yacht Aernem, who being wounded on the 11th aforementioned, succeeded in making their escape, the natives are tall black men with curly heads of hair and two large holes through their noses, stark naked, not covering even their privities; their arms are arrows, bows, assagays, callaways and the like. They have no vessels either large or small, nor has the coast any capes or bights that might afford shelter from west- and south-winds, the whole shore being clear and unencumbered, with a clayey bottom, forming a good anchoring-ground, the sea being not above 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 fathom in depth at 1, 2 and more miles' distance from the land, the rise and fall of the water with the tides we found to be between 1Ω and 2 fathom.

* * *

In the morning of the 27th the wind was W.N.W. with dirty weather and a very high sea, so that the Aernem was unable so heave her anchor in order to get near us, on which account we both of us remained at anchor the whole day; towards the evening the weather became much worse with pouring rains, so that we dropped another anchor; in the day-watch the cable of our large anchor broke without our perceiving it, and the other anchor getting loose, we drifted slowly to eastward; the land here extended E.S.E. and W.S.W.

In the morning of the 28th the Aernem was no longer in sight, so that we resolved to set sail in order to seek her; holding our course S.W., we ran on for three miles, after which we saw on our lee land bearing S.W. which we would not sail clear of; we therefore dropped anchor in 9 fathom, the weather still continuing dirty with rain and wind, and a strong ebb from the E.S.E. running flat against the wind; the water rising and falling fully two fathom at every tide.

MARCH.

On the first the wind was W. by N. with rain: we find that in these latitudes the southern and northern moon makes high water; at noon we weighed anchor and drifted with the current, which set strongly to westward.

On the second the wind was west with fair weather, with which we found it impossible to weather the land; in the evening we were in Lat. 6° 45'.

In the morning of the third the wind was W., with a strong gale and rain; at noon we had fair weather so that myself and the council determined to set sail on a Northern course in order to seek the yacht Aernem; when we had run on the said course for the space of 5 glasses, we saw the said yacht N.W. of us, but since the current ran very strong in our teeth, we dropped anchor in 10 fathom.

In the morning of the 4th the wind was north, with which we set sail in order to get near the Aernem; but when we had sailed for an hour, the headwind and counter-current forced us to drop anchor.

The yacht aforesaid, which was lying above the wind and the current, now weighed her anchor and dropped the same near the Pera, after which the skipper of the Aernern came on board of us in the pinnace, and informed me that they had very nearly lost the yacht in the storm before mentioned, since all the seas they had shipped had found their way into the hold, which got so full of water that the greater part of their rice, powder and matches had become wet through; this same day I sent the skipper and the steersman of the Pera on board the yacht Aernem in order to inquire into her condition, and ascertain whether she was so weak and disabled as had been reported to me; since the persons committed reported that the yacht was very weak and disabled above the waterline, it has been resolved that the main-topmast, which they had already taken down by way of precaution, should not be put up again provisionally.

{Page 28}

The same day we set sail again with the wind as before, course held S.W., and after running on for two miles, we cast anchor again in 11 fathom.

In the morning of the 5th we set sail again, with a W. wind; course held S.S.W. when we had run on for two miles we got change of weather with variable winds, in the evening we came to anchor in 13 fathom...

* * *

On the 6th we set sail again before daybreak, the wind being West; course held S.S.W., sailed three miles; about noon, the wind blowing straight for the coast, we cast anchor in 5Ω fathom at a mile's distance from the coast, and, in conformity with the resolution, fetched a light anchor from the yacht Aernem.

(Keerweer, formerly mistaken for island.)

In the morning of the 7th we set sail again, the wind being N.E., course held W., in order to get a little farther off the land; when we had run a mile, we dropped anchor in 5Ω fathom, and I went ashore myself with two well-manned and armed pinnaces, because on the 6th aforesaid we had seen 4 or 5 canoes making from the land for the yachts; when we got near the land we saw a small canoe with three blacks; when we rowed towards them, they went back to the land and put one of the three ashore, as we supposed, in order to give warning for the natives there to come in great numbers and seize and capture our pinnaces; for as soon as we made towards them, they tried to draw us on, slowly paddling on towards the land; at last the "jurebass"(?) swam to them, with some strings of beads, but they refused to admit him; so we made signs and called out to them, but they paid little or no attention, upon which we began to pull back to the yacht without having effected anything; the blacks or savages seeing this, slowly followed us, and when we showed them beads and iron objects, they cautiously came near one of our pinnaces; one of the sailors in the pinnace inadvertently touching the canoe with one of his oars, the blacks forthwith began to attack our men, and threw several callaways into the pinnace, without, however, doing any damage owing to the caution used by the men in her; in order to frighten them the corporal fired a musket, which hit them both, so that they died on the spot; we then rowed back to the yachts. To the place on the coast where the aforesaid incident took place, we have given the name of Keerweer (= Turn again) in the new chart, seeing that the land here trends to S.W. and West; its latitude being 7°.

On the 8th we had a strong gale from the S.S.W. the whole day, with rain and unsteady weather, so that we thought it best to remain at anchor.

In the morning of the 9th the weather was fair, and the wind west, so that we set sail on a N.N.W. course; when we had run one mile we saw two groups of canoes putting off from shore and making for us, one consisting of 7, and the other of 8 small canoes; as we were lying close to the wind and could not weather the land with it, we came to anchor in 3 fathom; one of the canoes aforesaid came so near us, that we could call out to her, but the second group aforesaid kept quiet, upon which the canoe which had been near us, paddled towards this second group; from their various gestures we saw and understood sufficiently that their intentions had from the first been anything but peaceable, but God's Providence prevented them from carrying their wicked plans into effect; in the evening we set sail again with the current, the wind being west and our course held N.N.W. in the first watch we turned our course S.W. and S.W. by W., on which we sailed the whole night, until about daybreak we found the water shallowing and dropped anchor in 2Ω fathom, having sailed 5 miles.

[* _Scil._ by the men of the ship Duifken (see the extract below).--Princess Marianne Strait and Prince Frederik Hendrik island. (There is no reference in the text for this footnote--Ed.)]

{Page 29}

In the morning of the 10th we set sail again, the wind being W.N.W., on a S.W. course; at noon we were in Lat. 7° 35'; in the evening we came to anchor in 3 fathom muddy bottom, at about 1Ω mile's distance from the land.

* * *

NOTE

That it is impossible to land here with boats or pinnaces, owing to the clayey and muddy bottom into which a man will sink up to the waist, the depth of the water being no more than 3 or 4 fathom at 3 or 4 miles' distance from the land; the land is low-lying and half-submerged, being quite under water at high tide; it is covered with wild trees, those on the beach resembling the fir-trees of our country, and seemingly bearing no fruit; the natives are coal-black like the Caffres; they go about stark naked, carrying their privities in a small conch-shell, tied to the body with a bit of string; they have two holes in the midst of the nose, with fangs of hogs of swordfishes through them, protruding at least three fingers' breadths on either side, so that in appearance they are more like monsters than human beings; they seem to be evil-natured and malignant; their canoes are small and will not hold above 3 of 4 of them at most; they are made out of one piece of wood, and the natives stand up in them, paddling them on by means of long oars; their arms are arrows, bows, assagays and callaways, which they use with great dexterity and skill; broken iron, parangs and knives are in special demand with them. The lands which we have up to now skirted and touched at, not only are barren and inhabited by savages, but also the sea in these parts yields no other fish than sharks, sword-fishes and the like unnatural monsters, while the birds too are as as wild and shy as the men.

* * *

In the morning of the 11th, the wind being W.N.W. and the weather fair, we set sail on a S.S.W. course along the coast in 4, 3Ω and 2Ω fathom muddy bottom; towards the evening we saw no more land ahead of us, the farthest extremity falling off quite to eastward, and extending east by south; we accordingly ran S.S.E., but it was not long before we got into 2 fathom water and even less. We therefore went over to the north, and in the evening dropped anchor in' fathom, having this day sailed eight miles to S.S.W.

In the morning of the 12th the wind blew from the N.W.; in the forenoon I rowed to the land myself with the two pinnaces well-manned and armed, in order to see if there was anything worth note there; but when we had got within a musket-shot of the land, the water became so shallow that we could not get any farther, whereupon we all of us went through the mud up to our waists, and with extreme difficulty reached the beach, where we saw a number of fresh human foot-prints; on going a short distance into the wood, we also saw twenty or more small huts made of dry grass, the said huts being so small and cramped that a man could hardly get into them on all fours, from which we could sufficiently conclude that the natives here must be of small stature, poor and wretched; we afterwards tried to penetrate somewhat {Page 30} farther into the wood, in order to ascertain the nature and situation of the country, when on our coming upon a piece of brushwood, a number of blacks sprang out of it, and began to let fly their arrows at us with great fury and loud shouts, by which a carpenter was wounded in the belly and an assistant in the leg: we were all of us hard pressed, upon which we fired three or four muskets at them killing one of the blacks stone-dead, which utterly took away their courage; they dragged the dead man into the wood, and we, being so far from the pinnaces and having a very difficult path to go in order to get back to them, resolved to return and row back to the yachts.

(The Valsch Caep is 8 degrees 15 minutes south of the equator and 70 miles S.E. of Aru.)

The The same day at low tide we saw a large sandbank, S.E., S., and S.W. of us, where we had been with the yacht on the 11th last, the said sandbank extending fully 4 miles W., S.W. and W. by S. of the land or foreland; on which account we have in the new chart given to the same the name of de Valsch Caep [*]; it is in Lat. 8° 15' South, and about 70 miles east of Aru.

[* The South-west point of Prince Frederik Hendrik island.]

* * *

NOTE

That the land which we have touched at as above mentioned, is low-lying and half-submerged to northward, so that a large part of it is under water at high tide; to the south it is somewhat higher and inhabited by certain natives who have built huts there; so far as we could ascertain the land is barren, covered with tall wild trees; the natives quite black and naked without any covering to hide their privy parts; their hair curly in the manner of the Papues: they wear certain fish-bones through the nose, and through their ears pieces of tree-bark, a span in length, so that they look more like monsters than like human beings: their weapons are arrows and bows which they use with great skill.

* * *

On the 13th the wind was N., the weather fair, and the current stronger to west than to northward; we set sail in the forenoon, holding our course W.N.W. in order to get into deeper water; when we had run some distance, we got into eight feet of water; upon which we turned back and towards evening came to anchor in 2 fathom.

On the 14th the weather was fair, the wind N. by W., the current running strongly to S.W., as before; at noon we sent out the two pinnaces to take soundings; they rowed as far as 2 miles W.N.W. of the yachts, and nowhere found more than 1Ω and 2 fathom of water; the same day, seeing that the weather is now getting more constant every day, it was resolved to put up again the main-topmast in the yacht Aernem, which had been taken down before on account of bad weather.

On the 15th the wind was N.N.E. with good weather and the current as strong as before; we set sail at noon with the tide running from the N.W., hoping to get into deeper water, but having been tacking about till the evening, we were by counter-currents forced to come to anchor in three fathom.

On the 16th the weather was good, the wind being N.E. by N.; we set sail in the forenoon; in the course of the day we had a calm; towards the evening the wind went round to W.S.W., course held N.N.W. along the shallows in 2Ω and 2 fathom; in the evening we came to anchor in 3 fathom; we find that in these parts the currents set very strongly to south-west, as before mentioned, and that the water rises and falls fully 1Ω and 2 fathom at each tide.

{Page 31}

On the 17th the wind was East; we set sail, holding a W.N.W. and W. by N. course, and thus got into deeper water upwards of 5 fathom; at noon we were in Lat. 8° 4'; in the evening we cast anchor in 6 fathom, having sailed 4 miles W.S.W.

In the morning of the 18th the weather was good with a W. wind; in the afternoon we set sail with the rising tide running from the west; course held S.W. by S. in 6 fathom. when we got into deeper water than 7 and 8 fathom, we altered our course to S.E. by E. and E.S.E. in 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 26 and 28 fathom; towards evening we went on an Eastward course, having sailed 5Ω miles on the aforesaid course from the morning to the evening, and 9 miles to eastward from the evening till the morning.

On the 19th the wind was W., course held E., with the Valsch Caep N.N.E. of us at 5 miles' distance, the land extending N. by W.; the water being 24 fathom here, we went over to E.N.E. and sailed 4 miles, when we got into 6 fathom, where we cast anchor about 4 miles from the land.

On the 20th the wind was N.N.E., with good weather; we set sail, holding our course as before in 6 fathom. at night we dropped anchor in 5Ω fathom, having sailed 7Ω miles this day.

On the 21st we set sail again in the morning with a N.N.W. wind, keeping a N.E. course for 4 miles in 4 fathom; in the afternoon we went over to eastward sailing 8 miles; in the evening we came to anchor in 7 fathom, near an island situated a mile or upwards South and North of the mainland; a quarter of a mile N. by E. and S. by W. of the island there is a rock with two dry trees on it.

On the 22nd, the council having been convened, it has finally been resolved to land with two pinnaces properly manned and armed, seeing that the coast is covered with cocoa-inut trees here, and the land seems to be higher, better and more fertile than any we have seen before; and since we could not get ashore on account of the shallowness of the water, the muddy bottom and other inconveniencies, we rowed to the small island aforementioned; while we were making inspection of it, the yacht Aernem got adrift owing to the violent current and the strong gale, and ran foul of the bows of the Pera, causing grievous damage to both the ships; this accident detained our yachts for some days, and without God's special providence they would both them have run aground.

On the 23rd, the weather being good, and the council having once more been convened, I proposed to try every possible means to get the Aernem into sailing trim again, in the first place by constructing another rudder. This we found impossible since there were no new square rudders in either of the yachts; we were accordingly compelled to try some makeshift, and in order to be able to continue our voyage and avoid abandoning the yacht, it was finally resolved that with the available materials there should be constructed a rudder after the manner of the Chinese and Javanese; for this purpose the Pera will have to give up her main-top mast, the rest of the required wood to be cut on the land, and we shall tarry here until the rudder has been replaced.

On the 24th while our men were engaged on the rudder, the subcargo rowed to the small island aforesaid with the two pinnaces, in order to get fresh water for the Aernem, which was very poorly supplied with the same, and in the evening he returned on board again with four casks of water, which he had got filled with extreme difficulty.

{Page 32}

On the 25th, the yacht Aernem being in sailing trim again, for which God be thanked, we set sail again with good weather and a favourable wind, holding our course along the land in 5Ω, 6, and 6Ω fathom; in the evening we cast anchor in 2Ω fathom about 2 miles from the land, having sailed 10 miles this day.

* * *

NOTE

(The Vleermuys-Eylandt is in 8 degrees 8 minutes Lat., 40 miles east of the Valsch Caep.)

That the island aforesaid is in 8° 8' Southern Latitude, about a mile south and north of the mainland as before mentioned; it is pretty high, having a great number of wild trees on the east-side, and being quite bare on the west-side. It is about a quarter of a mile in circumference, and is surrounded by numerous cliffs and rocks, overgrown with oysters and mussels, the soil is excellent and fit to be planted and sown with everything; by estimation it bears a hundred full-grown cocoanut-trees and a great many younger ones; we also observed some banana- and oubi-trees; we besides found fresh water here, which comes trickling through the clay in small rills, and has to be gathered in pits dug for the purpose; the island also contains large numbers of bats living in the trees, on which account we have given to it the name of Vleermuys-Eylant [Bats' Island] in the new chart. We have seen no huts or human beings in it, but found unmistakable signs that there had been men here at some previous time.

* * *

(Clappes Cust [Cocoanut Coast].)

On the 26th the weather was good, the wind N.N.W., course held S.E. by E. along the land in 5 fathom. In the forenoon 4 small canoes put off from the land and followed us; we waited for them to come alongside, and found they were manned with 25 blacks, who had nothing with them except their arms; they called out and made signs for us to come ashore; we then threw out to them some small pieces of iron and strings of beads, at which they showed great satisfaction; they paid little or no attention to the gold, silver, copper, nutmegs and cloves which we showed them, though they were quite ready to accept these articles as presents. Their canoes are very skilfully made out of one piece of wood, some of them being so large that they will hold 20 and even more blacks. Their paddles are long, and they use them standing or sitting; the men are black, tall and well-built, with coarse and strong limbs, and curly hair, like the Caffres, some of them wearing it tied to the neck in a knot, and others letting it fall loose down to the waist. They have hardly any beards; some of them have two, others three holes through the nose, in which they wear fangs or teeth of hogs or sword-fishes. They are stark-naked and have their privities enclosed in a conch shell, fastened to the waist with a bit of string; they wear no rings of gold, silver, copper, tin, or iron on their persons, but adorn themselves with rings made of tortoise shell or terturago (_Spanish_ tortuga?), from which it may be inferred that their land yields no metals or wood of any value, but is all low-lying and half-submerged, as we have actually found it to be; there were also among them some not provided with paddles, but wearing two strings of human teeth round their necks, and excelling all the others in ugliness; these men carried on the left arm a hammer with a wooden handle and at one end a black conch-shell, the size of a man's fist, the other end by which they hold it, being fitted with a three-sided bone, not unlike a piece of stag's horn; in exchange for one of these hammers they were offered a rug, some strings of {Page 33} beads and bits of iron, which they refused, though they were willing to barter the same for one of the boys, whom they seemed to have a great mind to. Those who carry the hammers aforesaid would seem to be noblemen or valiant soldiers among them. The people are cunning and suspicious, and no stratagems on our part availed to draw them near enough to us to enable us to catch one or two with nooses which we had prepared for the purpose; their canoes also contained a number of human thigh-bones, which they repeatedly held up to us, but we were unable to make out what they meant by this. Finally they asked for a rope to tow the yacht to shore, but soon got tired of the work, and paddled back to the land in a great hurry.

In the evening we cast anchor in three fathom about 3 miles from the land, having sailed 13 miles this day.

In the morning of the 27th the wind was W.N.W. with a stiff breeze, course held S.E. by S. and S.E., on which we sailed 7 miles, and afterwards E.S.E. 5 miles, in 5Ω, 5 and 3 fathom; in the evening we came to anchor in 6Ω fathom, 3Ω miles from the land; a quarter of a mile farther to landward we saw a sandbank, on which the Aernem struck but got off again, for which God be praised.