sounded often when in the midst of them, hut found no
ground, neither could we perceive that they drove us any
way. We had in one night several of these tides, that
came mostly from the west, and the wind being from that
quarter we commonly heard them a long time before they
came, and sometimes lowered our topsails, thinking it was
a gust of wind. They were of great length, from north to
south, but their breadth not exceeding 200 yards, and they
drove a great pace. For though wfe had little wind to
move us, yet these would soon ¿>ass away, and leave the
water very smooth, and just before we encountered them
we met a great swell, but it did not break.” Some time
afterwards, I learnt that an earthquake had been felt on
the coast of Gilolo the very day we had encountered
these curious waves. -
When daylight came, we saw the land of Gilolo a few
miles off, but the point was unfortunately a little to windward
of us. We tried to brace up all we could to round
it, but as we approached the shore we got into a strong
current setting northward, which carried us so rapidly with
it that we found it necessary to stand off again, in order to
get out of its influence. Sometimes we approached the
point a little, and our hopes revived; then the wind fell,
and we drifted slowly away. Night found us in nearly the
same position as we had occupied in the morning, so we
hung down our anchor with about fifteen fathoms of cable
to prevent drifting. On the morning of the 7th we were
however, a good way up the coast, and we now thought
our only chance would be to get close in-shore, where there
might be a return current, and we could then row. The
prau was heavy, and my men very poor creatures for work,
so that it took us six hours to get to the edge of the reef
that fringed the shore; and as the wind might at any
moment blow on to it, our situation was a very dangerous
one. Luckily, a short distance off there was a sandy bay,
where a small stream stopped the growth of the coral; and
by evening we reached this and anchored for the night.
Here we found some Galela men shooting deer and pigs;
but they could not or would not^ speak Malay, and we
could get little information from them. We found out that
along shore the current changed with the tide, while about
a mile out it was always one way, and against u s ; and
this gave us some hopes of getting back to the point, from
which we were now distant twenty miles. Next morning
we found that the Galela men had left before daylight,
having perhaps some vague fear of our intentions, and very
likely taking me for a pirate. During the morning a boat
passed, and the people informed us that, at a short distance
further towards the point, there was a much better harbour,
where there were plenty of Galela men, from whom we
might probably get some assistance.
At three in the afternoon, when the current turned, we