G i b b y .
V i s i t e d b y
t h e F r e n c h .
He had the double hazard o f falling into the hands of the Dutch,
or periihing by the fury of the wild natives; but the firft he
fortunately efcaped; and by his own prudent and conciliating
behavior (added to his having a crew entirely Indian, excepting
two), he failed not only unmolefted, but even befriended, by
thefe apparent barbarians.
T h e moft weftern of thefe iflands is Gibby, under the equator,
to the fouth-eaft o f Pat any Hook, and about fix leagues diftant.
Its length is four or five leagues, its breadth fmall, and its appearance
like two hills divided by a low ifthmus, and full o f inhabitants.
The French, aAuated by the laudable fpirit o f improving
their colonies by the introduAion o f nutmeg trees, made
more than one voyage for the procuring that valuable fpice.
The firft was in the year 1769, in which the celebrated natu-
ralift M. Sonnerat, and the more celebrated philofopher M. Le
Poivre, embarked and failed from the ille of France. They ftu-
dioufly concealed the names o f the iflands they vifited, and the
means they ufed to accomplilh the ends of their miffion. M. Son-
nerat went a fecond time, in 1771; has publifhed the account o f
. his voyage, but has given us only a defcription of the more curious
birds, and o f the Papuans, the natives of the ifles, and
o f New Guinea. The French touched at the ifland of Gibby,
which they call Gweby. During their flay there they were vifited
by the rajah or prince o f Patany, the fultan of Pi dor, and even
received an embafly from one whom they ftiled the emperor of
Salivatty. They were moft refpeAfully treated by thefe potentates
; and by the friendihip o f the prince of Patany, obtained
the objedt o f the voyage. They carried forty thoufand nutmeg
2 trees
trees to the ifland of Bourbon, and others were fent to the ifle
o f France ; another cargo was fent to the ifles of Sechelles. If I
recollect right, we found on the Grenades nutmeg trees, \Vhen we
took thofe iflands, which had been planted by the French.. Thofe
which had been tranfported to the ifle of France bore fruit, but,
I believe, not to that perfeAion as they do in their native foil.;
Gag is a fmall uninhabited ifland, in Lat. 0° 18' fouth, but G a o .
has the advantage of a fafe bay, of freih water, and of timber,
which induces people to touch there. Syang, another little ifle S y a n o ,
north of the line, in Lat. o° 30', has alfo both wood and water;
Captain Forreft procured the laft by obferving, that on cutting
a tree he calls the Arrow Plant, that water diftilled from
it ; he then dug, and found a fpring. On a little fandy ifle
called Pulo eye he met with thé eggs o f the turtle, direAed to
them by the marks o f the fins on the fand.
O t h e r fmall ifles, that lie a little to the north, and to the
fouth o f the line, in about Long. 1270 eaft from Greenwich, may
be mentioned, to fhew the indefatigable induftry o f our countrymen
: fuch are Ruib and Een, or fiih ifle, to the north ; and to R u i b .
the fouth is Waglol, a fmall flat ifle, the refidence o f a fynagee. W a g l o l .
or chieftain, o f the country, diftinguifhed by having half his
coat, and long drawers, clouded with red, white, and yellow ;
the other half with blue, white, arid green ; thé turband was
of white calico, pinked ; the clouded part o f the drefs was Hin-
doojlan calico, dyed by the natives of the Moluccas. Some of
thefe chieftains are men of moft polifhéd manners.
Pomoguy, and the two iflands of Patang and Pally, form T o m c g u y .
between them the fafe harbor o f Manafuin ; a ftreight four
miles