I bought some onions and other vegetables, and plenty of
eggs, and my men baked fresh sago cakes. I went daily
to my old hunting-ground in search of insects, but with
_ t
very poor success. It was now wet, squally weather, and
there appeared a stagnation of insect life. We stayed five
days, during which time twelve persons died in the village,
mostly from simple intermittent fever, of the treatment of
which the natives are quite ignorant. During the whole
of this voyage I had suffered greatly from sun-burnt lips,
owing to having exposed myself on deck all day to look
after our safety among the shoals and reefs near Waigiou.
The salt in the air so affected them that they would
not heal, but became excessively painful, and bled at
the slightest touch, and for a long time it was with
great difficulty I could eat at all, being obliged to open
my mouth very wide, and put in each mouthful with
the greatest caution. I kept them constantly covered
with ointment, which was itself very disagreeable, and
they caused me almost constant pain for more than a
month, as they did not get. well till I had returned to
Ternate, and was able to remain a week indoors.
A boat which left for Ternate the day after we arrived,
was obliged to return the next day, on account of bad
weather. On the 31st we went out to the anchorag©e
at the mouth of the harbour, so as to be ready to start
at the first favourable opportunity.
On the 1st of November I called up my men at one in
the morning, and we started with the tide in our favour.
Hitherto it had usually been calm at night, but on this
occasion we had a strong westerly squall with rain, which
turned our prau broadside, and obliged us to anchor.
When it had passed we went on rowing all night, but the
wind ahead counteracted the current in our favour, and we
advanced but little. Soon after sunrise the wind became
stronger and more adverse, and as we had a dangerous lee-
shore which we could not clear, we had to put about and
get an offing to the W.S.W. This series of contrary
winds and bad weather ever since we started, not having
had a single day of fair wind, was very remarkable. My
men firmly believed there was something unlucky in
the boat, and told me I ought to have had a certain
ceremony gone through before starting, consisting of
boring a hole in the bottom and pouring some kind of holy
oil through it. It must be remembered that this was the
season of the south-east monsoon, and yet we had not had
even half a day’s south-east wind since we left Waigiou.
Contrary winds, squalls, and currents drifted us about the
rest of the day at their pleasure. The night was equally
squally and changeable, and kept us hard at work taking
in and making sail, and rowing in the intervals.
Sunrise on the 2d found us in the middle of the ten-
mile channel between Kaioa and Makian. Squalls and