548 Voyage from Waigiou 



ed a stagnation of insect life. We staid five days, during 

 which time twelve persons died in the village, mostly from 

 simple intermittent fever, of the treatment of which the na- 

 tives are quite ignorant. During the whole of this voyage I 

 liad suiFered greatly from sunburnt lips, owing to having ex- 

 posed myself on deck all day to look after our safety among 

 the shoals and reefs near Waigiou. The salt in the air so af- 

 fected 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 in-doors. 



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 anchorage at the mouth of 

 the harbor, so as to be ready to start at the first favorable 

 opportunity. 



On the 1 St of November I called up my men at one in the 

 morning, and we started with the tide in our favor. Hith- 

 erto 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 favor, 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, con- 

 sisting 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. 



