C H A P.
The Paffage from Mindanao to the I f and of Celebes,
with a particular Account ,of the £ freight of Macajfar>
in which many Errors .are. corriBed.
1767- A FTER leaving Mindanao,'I‘flood to the weftward for
November. f ^
v.___ 1 X A. the paflage between the iflands o f Borneo and Gele-
Saturday 14, called the Streight of MacafFar, and made it on Saturday
the fourteenth. I obfer-ved, that during-the whole o f
this run we had a ftrong north wefterly current; but that
while -we were nearer to Mindanao than CelethejS, i t ran rather
towards the north than the w e ft; and that when -,wc
came nearer to Celebes than we were ,to Mindanao, it ran
rat-her towards th e weft than the north. The land of Celebes
on the north end runs along to the entrance o f the
paflage, is very Iqfty, and feems to trend away about
W. by S. to a remarkable point in the paflage, which makes
in a hummock, and which at firft we took for an iflapd. I
believe it to be the fame which in the Erench charts-is^caUed
Stroomen Point, but I gave it the name of H u m m o c k P o i n t .
Its latitude according to my account is i° 20' N., longitude
12i 0 39'E.; and it is a good mark for thofe to know the
paflage that fall in with the land coming from the eaftward,
who, i f poflible, Ihould always make this fide of the paflage.
From Hummock Point the land trends more away to the
fouthward, about S.W. by W. and to the fouthward of it
there is a deep bay, full of iflands and rocks, which appeared
*■ to me to be very dangerous. Juft off the Point
2 there
there are two rocks, which, though they are above water, 1767.
cannot be feen from a Ihip till Ihe is clofe to the land. To N°vember-
the eaftward of this Point, clofe to the fhore, are two iflands Saturday
one of them very flat, long, and even, and the other fwelling
into a hill : both thefe iflands, as well as the adjacent country,
are well covered with trees: I flood clofe in a little to the
eaftward of them, and had no ground with an hundred fathom,
within half a mile o f the fhore, which feemed to be
rocky. A little to the weftward of thefe iflands, we faw no
lefs than fixty boats, which were fifhing on fome fhoals that
lie between them and Hummock Point. This part o f the
fhore appeared to be foul, and I think fhould not be approached
without great caution. In this place I found the
currents various and uncertain, fometimes fetting to the
fouthward, and fometimes to the northward, and fometimes
there was no current at a l l ; the weather alfo was very unfettled,
and fo was the Wind; it blew, however, chiefly to
the fouth and fouth weft quarter, but we had fometimes
fudden and violent gufts, and tornadoes from the N. W.
with thunder, lightning, and rain : thefe generally lafted
about an hour, when they were fucceeded by a dead calm
and the wind would afterwards fpring up frefh from the
S.W. or S. S.W. which was right againftus, and blow ftrong.
From thefe appearances I conjectured that the fhifting feafon
had commenced, and that the weft monfoon would foon fet
in. The fhip failed fo ill that we made very little way ; we
frequently founded in this paflage, but could get no ground.
On the 21ft of November, as we were Handing towards
Borneo, we made two fmall iflands, which I judged to be
the fame that in the French chart are called Taba Iflands:
they are very fmall, and covered with trees. By my account,
they lie in latitude i° 44' N., longitude 7° 3 2 'W. o f
the fouth end of Mindanao, and are diftant from Hummock
a F 2
Saturday 2i,
M
H I