THEY FIND WATER AND AN ANCHORING-PLACE

We were driven 4 leagues back again, and took particular notice of a point of land that looked like Flamborough Head, when we were either to the east or west of it; and near the shore it appeared like an island.

Four or five leagues to the east of this point is another very remarkable bluff point which is on the west side of the bay that my boat was in. See two sights of this land, Table 6 Numbers 2 and 3. We could not stem the tide till about 3 o’clock in the afternoon; when, the tide running with us, we soon got abreast of the bay, and then saw a small island to the eastward of us. See a sight of it Table 6 Number 4. About 6 we anchored in the bottom of the bay in 25 fathom, soft oaze, half a mile from the shore.

I made many false fires in the night, and now and then fired a gun that my boat might find me; but to no purpose. In the morning I found myself driven again by the tide of ebb 3 or 4 leagues to the westward of the place where I left my boat. I had several men looking out for her; but could not get sight of her: besides I continued still driving to the westward; for we had but little wind, and that against us. But by 10 o’clock in the morning we had the comfort of seeing the boat; and at 11 she came aboard, bringing 2 barrecoes of very good water.

A DESCRIPTION OF A SMALL ISLAND, SEVEN LEAGUES EAST FROM THE WATERING BAY.

The mate told me there was good anchoring close by the watering-place; but that there ran a very strong tide, which near the shore made several races, so that they found much danger in getting ashore, and were afraid to come off again in the night because of the ripplings the tide made.

We had now the seabreeze, and steered away for this bay; but could hardly stem the tide till about 3 in the afternoon; when, the tide being turned with us, we went along briskly, and about 6 anchored in the bay, in 25 fathom, soft oaze, half a mile from the shore.

The next morning I went ashore to fill water, and before night sent aboard 8 tons. We filled it out of a large pond within 50 paces of the sea. It looked pale but was very good, and boiled peas well. I saw the track of an alligator here. Not far from the pond we found the rudder of a Malayan proa, 3 great jars in a small shed set up against a tree, and a barbecue whereon there had been fish and flesh of buffaloes dressed, the bones lying but a little from it.

In 3 days we filled about twenty-six tun of water, and then had on board about 30 tun in all. The 2 following days we spent in fishing with the seine, and the first morning caught as many as served all my ship’s company: but afterwards we had not so good success. The rest of my men which could be spared from the ship I sent out; some with the carpenter’s mate to cut timber for my boats, etc. These went always guarded with 3 or 4 armed men to secure them: I showed them what wood was fitting to cut for our use, especially the calabash and maho; I showed them always the manner of stripping the maho-bark, and of making therewith thread, twine, ropes, etc. Others were sent out a-fowling; who brought home pigeons, parrots, cockatoos, etc. I was always with one party or other myself; especially with the carpenters, to hasten them to get what they could, that we might be gone from hence.

Our water being full, I sailed from hence October the 6th about 4 in the afternoon, designing to coast alongshore to the eastward, till I came to the Portuguese settlements. By the next morning we were driven 3 or 4 leagues to the west of the bay; but in the afternoon, having a faint seabreeze, we got again abreast of it. It was the 11th day at noon before we got as far as the small island before mentioned, which lies about 7 leagues to the east of the watering-bay: for what we gained in the afternoon by the benefit of the seabreezes we lost again in the evenings and mornings, while it was calm, in the interval of the breezes. But this day, the seabreeze blowing fresher than ordinary, we passed by the island and run before night about 7 leagues to the east of it.

This island is not half a mile long, and not above 100 yards in breadth, and looked just like a barn when we were by it: it is pretty high, and may be seen from a ship’s topmast-head about 10 leagues. The top, and part of the sides, are covered with trees, and it is about 3 leagues from Timor; it is about midway between the watering-place and the Portuguese first and main settlement by the shore.

LAPHAO BAY. HOW THE AUTHOR WAS TREATED BY THE PORTUGUESE THERE.

In the night we were again driven back toward the island, 3 leagues: but the 12th day, having a pretty brisk seabreeze, we coasted alongshore; and, seeing a great many houses by the sea, I stood in with my ship till I was within 2 miles of them, and then sent in my boat and lay by till it returned. I sent an officer to command the boat; and a Portuguese seaman, that I brought from Brazil, to speak with the men that we saw on the bay; there being a great many of them, both foot and horse. I could not tell what officer there might be amongst them; but I ordered my officer to tell the chief of them that we were English, and came hither for refreshment. As soon as the boat came ashore and the inhabitants were informed who we were they were very glad, and sent me word that I was welcome, and should have anything that the island afforded; and that I must run a little farther about a small point, where I should see more houses; and that the men would stand on the bay, right against the place where I must anchor. With this news the boat immediately returned; adding withal that the governor lived about 7 miles up in the country; and that the chief person here was a lieutenant, who desired me, as soon as the ship was at anchor, to send ashore one of my officers to go to the governor and certify him of our arrival. I presently made sail towards the anchoring-place, and at 5 o’clock anchored in Laphao Bay in 20 fathom, soft oaze, over against the town. A description of which, and of the Portuguese settlement there, shall be given in the following chapter.

As soon as I came to anchor I sent my boat ashore with my second mate, to go to the governor. The lieutenant that lived here had provided horses and guides for him, and sent 4 soldiers with him for his guard, and, while he was absent, treated my men with arack at his own house, where he and some others of the townsmen showed them many broad thin pieces of gold; telling them that they had plenty of that metal and would willingly traffic with them for any sort of European commodities. About 11 o’clock my mate returned on board and told me he had been in the country, and was kindly received by the gentleman he went to wait upon; who said we were welcome, and should have anything the island afforded; and that he was not himself the governor, but only a deputy. He asked why we did not salute their fort when we anchored; my mate answered that we saw no colours flying, and therefore did not know there was any fort till he came ashore and saw the guns; and if we had known that there was a fort yet that we could not have given any salute till we knew that they would answer it with the like number of guns. The deputy said it was very well; and that he had but little powder; and therefore would gladly buy some of us, if we had any to spare; which my mate told him we had not.

The 13th the deputy sent me aboard a present of 2 young buffaloes, 6 goats, 4 kids, 140 coconuts, 300 ripe mangoes, and 6 ripe jacks. This was all very acceptable; and all the time we lay here we had fresh provision, and plenty of fruits; so that those of my men that were sick of the scurvy soon recovered and grew lusty. I stayed here till the 22nd, went ashore several times, and once purposely to see the deputy, who came out of the country also on purpose to see and talk with me. And then indeed there were guns fired for salutes, both aboard my ship and at the fort. Our interview was in a small church which was filled with the better sort of people; her poorer sort thronging on the outside, and looking in upon us: for the church had no wall but at the east end; the sides and the west end being open, saving only that it had boards about 3 or 4 foot high from the ground. I saw but 2 white men among them all; one was a padre that came along with the lieutenant; the other was an inhabitant of the town. The rest were all copper-coloured, with black lank hair. I stayed there about 2 hours, and we spoke to each other by an interpreter. I asked particularly about the seasons of the year, and when they expected the north-north-west monsoon. The deputy told me that they expected the wind to shift every moment; and that some years the north-north-west monsoon set in in September, but never failed to come in October; and for that reason desired me to make what haste I could from hence; for it was impossible to ride here when those winds came.

DESIGNS OF MAKING FURTHER SEARCHES UPON AND ABOUT THE ISLAND. PORT SESIAL.

I asked him if there was no harbour hereabouts where I might be secured from the fury of these winds at their first coming. He told me that the best harbour in the island was at a place called Babao on the north side of Kupang Bay; that there were no inhabitants there, but plenty of buffaloes in the woods, and abundance of fish in the sea; that there was also fresh water: that there was another place, called port Sesial, about 20 leagues to the eastward of Laphao; that there was a river of fresh water there, and plenty of fish, but no inhabitants: yet that if I would go thither he would send people with hogs, goats and buffaloes, to truck with me for such commodities as I had to dispose of.

I was afterwards told that on the east end of the island Ende there was also a very good harbour, and a Portuguese town; that there was great plenty of refreshments for my men, and dammer for my ship; that the governor or chief of that place was called Captain More; that he was a very courteous gentleman, and would be very glad to entertain an English ship there; and if I designed to go thither, I might have pilots here that would be willing to carry me, if I could get the lieutenant’s consent. That it was dangerous going thither without a pilot, by reason of the violent tides that run between the islands Ende and Solor. I was told also that at the island Solor there were a great many Dutchmen banished from other places for certain crimes. I was willing enough to go thither, as well to secure my ship in a good harbour, where I might careen her (there being dammer also, which I could not get here, to make use of instead of pitch, which I now wanted) and where I might still be refreshing my men and supporting them in order to my further discoveries; as also to inform myself more particularly concerning these places as yet so little known to us. Accordingly I accepted the offer of a pilot and two gentlemen of the town, to go with me to Larentuca on the island Ende: and they were to come on board my ship the night before I sailed. But I was hindered of this design by some of my officers who had here also been very busy in doing me all the injury they could underhand.

But to proceed. While I stayed here I went ashore every day and my men took there turns to go ashore and traffic for what they had occasion for; and were now all very well again: and to keep themselves in heart every man bought some rice, more or less, to recruit them after our former fatigues. Besides, I ordered the purser to buy some for them, to serve them instead of peas which were now almost spent. I filled up my water-casks again here, and cut more wood; and sent a present to the lieutenant, Alexis Mendosa, designing to be gone; for while I lay here we had some tornadoes and rain, and the sky in the north-west looked very black mornings and evenings, with lightning all night from that quarter, which made me very uneasy and desirous to depart hence; because this road lay exposed to the north-north-west and north winds, which were now daily expected and which are commonly so violent that it is impossible for any ship to ride them out: yet on the other hand it was absolutely necessary for me to spend about 2 months time longer in some place hereabouts before I could prosecute my voyage farther to the eastward; for reasons which I shall give hereafter in its proper place in the ensuing discourse. When therefore I sent the present to the governor I desired to have a pilot to Larentuca on the island Ende; where I desired to spend the time I had to spare. He now sent me word that he could not well do it, but would send me a letter to Port Sesial for the natives, who would come to me there and supply me with what provision they had.

I stayed 3 days in hopes yet to get a pilot for Larentuca, or at least the letter from the governor to Port Sesial. But seeing neither I sailed from hence the 22nd of October, coasting to the eastward, designing for Sesial; and before night was about 10 leagues to the east of Laphao. I kept about 3 leagues offshore and my boat ranged along close by the shore, looking into every bay and cove; and at night returned on board. The next morning, being 3 or 4 leagues farther to the eastward, I sent my boat ashore again to find Sesial. At noon they returned and told me they had been at Sesial, as they guessed; that there were two Portuguese barks in the port who threatened to fire at them but did not; telling them this was Porto del Roy de Portugal. They saw also another bark which ran and anchored close by the shore, and the men ran all away for fear: but our men calling to them in Portuguese, they at last came to them, and told them that Sesial was the place which they came from, where the 2 barks lay: had not these men told them they could not have known it to be a port, it being only a little bad cove, lying open to the north; having 2 ledges of rocks at its entrance, one on each side; and a channel between, which was so narrow that it would not be safe for us to go in. However I stood in with the ship, to be better satisfied; and when I came near it found it answer my men’s description. I lay by a while to consider what I had best do; for my design was to lie in a place where I might get fresh provisions if I could: for, though my men were again pretty well recruited, and those that had been sick of the scurvy were well again, yet I designed if possible to refresh them as much and as long as I could before I went farther. Besides my ship wanted cleaning; and I was resolved to clean her if possible.

RETURN TO BABAO IN KUPANG BAY.

At last after much consideration I thought it safer to go away again for Babao; and accordingly stood to the westward. We were now about 60 leagues to the east of Babao. The coast is bold all the way, having no shoals, and but one island which I saw and described coming to the eastward. The land in the country is very mountainous; but there are some large valleys towards the east end. Both the mountains and valleys on this side are barren; some wholly so; and none of them appear so pleasant as the place where I watered. It was the 23rd day in the evening when I stood back again for Babao. We had but small sea and land-breezes. On the 27th we came into Kupang Bay; and the next day, having sounded Babao road, I ran in and came to an anchor there, in 20 fathom, soft oaze, 3 mile from the shore. One reason, as I said before, of my coming hither, was to ride secure and to clean my ship’s bottom; as also to endeavour by fishing and hunting of buffaloes to refresh my men and save my salt provision. It was like to be some time before I could clean my ship because I wanted a great many necessaries, especially a vessel to careen by. I had a long-boat in a frame that I brought out of England, by which I might have made a shift to do it; but my carpenter was uncapable to set her up. Besides, by the time the ship’s sides were caulked, my pitch was almost spent; which was all owing to the carpenter’s wilful waste and ignorance; so that I had nothing to lay on upon the ship’s bottom. But instead of this I intended to make lime here, which with oil would have made a good coat for her. Indeed had it been advisable I would have gone in between Cross Island and Timor, and have hauled my ship ashore; for there was a very convenient place to do it in; but, my ship being sharp, I did not dare to do it: besides, I must have taken everything out of her; and I had neither boats to get my things ashore nor hands to look after them when they were there; for my men would have been all employed; and, though here are no Indians living near, yet they come hither in companies when ships are here, on purpose to do any mischief they can to them; and it was not above 2 years since a Portuguese ship riding here, and sending her boat for water to one of the galleys, the men were all killed by the Indians. But to secure my men I never suffered them to go ashore unarmed; and while some were at work others stood to guard them.

We lay in this place from October the 28th till December the 12th. In which time we made very good lime with shells, of which here are plenty. We cut palmetto leaves to burn the ship’s sides; and, giving her as good a heel as we could, we burned her sides and paid them with lime and water for want of oil to mix with it. This stuck on about 2 months where it was well burned. We did not want fresh provisions all the time we lay here, either of fish or flesh. For there were fair sandy bays on the point of Babao, where in 2 or 3 hours in a morning we used with our seine to drag ashore as much fish as we could eat all the day; and for a change of diet when we were weary of fish I sent 10 or 11 men a-hunting for buffaloes; who never came empty home. They went ashore in the evening or early in the morning, and before noon always returned with their burdens of buffalo, enough to suffice us 2 days; by which time we began to long for fish again.

THE AUTHOR’S ENTERTAINMENT AT THE FORT OF CONCORDIA.

On the 11th of November the governor of Concordia sent one of his officers to us to know who we were. For I had not sent thither since I came to anchor last here. When the officer came aboard he asked me why we fired so many guns the 4th and 5th days (which we had done in honour of King William and in memory of the deliverance from the powder plot) I told him the occasion of it; and he replied that they were in some fear at the fort that we had been Portuguese, and that we were coming with soldiers to take their fort; he asked me also why I did not stay and fill my water at their fort before I went away from thence? I told him the reason of it and withal offered him money; bidding him take what he thought reasonable: he took none and said he was sorry there had been such a misunderstanding between us; and knew that the governor would be much concerned at it.

After a short stay he went ashore; and the next morning came aboard again, and told me the governor desired me to come ashore to the fort and dine with him; and if I doubted anything he would stay aboard till I returned. I told him I had no reason to mistrust anything against me, and would go ashore with him; so I took my clerk and my gunner and went ashore in my pinnace: the gunner spoke very good French, and therefore I took him to be my interpreter because the governor speaks French: he was an honest man, and I found him always diligent and obedient. It was pretty late in the afternoon before we came ashore; so that we had but little time with the governor.

He seemed to be much dissatisfied at the report my officer had made to me (of which I have before given an account) and said it was false, neither would he now take any money of me; but told me I was welcome; as indeed I found by what he provided. For there was plenty of very good victuals, and well dressed; and the linen was white and clean; and all the dishes and plates of silver or fine china. I did not meet anywhere with a better entertainment while I was abroad; nor with so much decency and order. Our liquor was wine, beer, toddy, or water, which we liked best after dinner. He showed me some drawers full of shells which were the strangest and most curious that I had ever seen. He told me before I went away that he could not supply me with any naval stores, but if I wanted any fresh provision he would supply me with what I had occasion for. I thanked him and told him I would send my boat for some goats and hogs, though afterwards on second thoughts I did not do it: for it was a great way from the place where we lay to the fort; and I could not tell what mischief might befall any of my men when there from the natives; especially if encouraged by the Dutch, who are enemies to all Europeans but such as are under their own government. Therefore I chose rather to fish and hunt for provisions than to be beholden to the Dutch and pay dearly for it too.

HIS STAY SEVEN WEEKS AT BABAO.

We found here plenty of game that, while here for 7 weeks, we spent very little of our salt provisions.

We have fish or fresh buffalo every day.

The north-north-west monsoon was every day expected when I was at Laphao, yet it was not come, so that if I had prosecuted my voyage to the eastward without staying here it had been but to little advantage.

For if I had gone out and beaten against the wind a whole month I should not have got far; it may be 40, 50 or 60 leagues; which was but 24 hours run for us with a large wind; besides the trouble and discontent which might have arisen among my men in beating to windward to so little purpose, there being nothing to be got at sea; but here we lived and did eat plentifully every day without trouble. The greatest inconveniency of this place was want of water; this being the latter part of the dry season, because the monsoon was very late this year.

About 4 days before we came away we had tornadoes with thunder, lightning and rain, and much wind; but of no long continuance; at which time we filled some water. We saw very black clouds, and heard it thunder every day for near a month before in the mountains; and saw it rain, but none came near us: and even where we hunted we saw great trees torn up by the roots, and great havoc made among the woods by the wind; yet none touched us.