Tinian to Pulo Timoan and thence Batavia
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colours. In the night, we had violent rain, with hard squalls, during one of which we parted the stream cable, and therefore let go the small bower. At eight in the morning, the wind became moderate and variable, from N.N.W. to W.S.W. We got out our longboat and weighed the stream anchor, and at nine made sail. We found the current still very strong to the eastward; and at two, we anchored again in fourteen fathom, Pulo Taya bearing N.W. ½ N. distant between seven and eight leagues. The vessel which we had seen the day before under Dutch colours, still lying at anchor in the same place, I sent a boat with an officer to speak with her: the officer was received on board with great civility; but was extremely surprised to find that he could not make himself understood, for the people on board were Malays, without a single white man among them: they made tea for our men immediately, and behaved with great chearfulness and hospitality. The vessel was of a very singular construction; her deck was of slit bamboo, and she was steered, not by a rudder, but by two large pieces of timber, one upon each quarter.
The next morning, at six o’clock, we weighed and made sail: at two, Monopin Hill bore S. by E. distant about ten or eleven leagues, and had the appearance of a small island. It bears S. by W. from the seven islands, and is distant from them about twelve leagues: its latitude is 2° South. From the seven islands we steered S.W. by S. and had regular soundings from twelve to seven fathom, and soon after saw the coast of Sumatra, bearing from W.S.W. to W. by N. at the distance of about seven leagues. In the evening, we anchored in seven fathom; and the next morning at four, we made sail again, and continued our course S. by E. till the peak of Monopin Hill bore east, and Batacarang
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 128, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/164.html