VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. t? 



some pieces of one or two drachms weight and they were wrapped 

 in leaves, among- them one kind very much resembHng Benzoin 

 but not having the same odour. As much as I could make out 

 from the interpreter this piece like all the other pieces had been 

 thrown on shore by the sea, it seemed to have been burnt at one 

 end. The payment for these articles was mostly made in tobacco 

 or blue linen. A bird was brought, one of the ordinary (missing 

 in M. S, ) which by the sailors is called (missing in M. S. ). My 

 curiosity and longing to see the country were very great, but 

 the time passed with necessary arrangements in reference to 

 to the ship and also in talking to the natives of Nacquebar. At last, 

 at 4 o'clock the captain ordered the boat to be put out and I set 

 out for the shore, feeling very glad and happy. But on nearing 

 the land we perceived a strong breaking of the waves against 

 the shore. We chose a little bay, which seemed to have sandy 

 banks, because it was guarded on both sides by high cliffs. A 

 big wave seized the boat and threw it with great violence against 

 the shore, a second bigger wave followed, which filled the boat, 

 broke one of the oars and some parts of the boat itself, besides 

 terrifying us greatly. I did not want to wait for the third wave 

 to come, but jumped down into the water, which reached up to 

 my waist, in order to escape a greater danger, and all I had 

 taken with me was soaked. 



The shore was rather steep in the beginning and there 

 were many little bays, covered with a whitish yellow sand. 

 The above mentioned stone cliffs consisted of grey coarse chalk- 

 stone. Here and there big pieces of different kinds of corals 

 had been thrown up by the sea, among them one kind which had 

 the appearance of many knife-blades grown together, I do not 

 remember having seen any of this kind before, Higher 

 up on the shore there were innumerable varieties of blue, black, 

 red, brown and white corals, among them also the so-called 

 "red organ." I also found a peculiar kind of very coarse 

 sponge, and many kinds of shells were thrown up very high, 

 many of them had been thrown into the woods for some little 

 distance. The whole shore was not of a man's height, and it 

 almost immediately sloped down again towards the wood. 



The first plant on shore, which I met pretty frequently was 

 Crinum Asiaticum, which was in blossom, and these blossoms were 

 perfect, as they had not been touched by any insect, an occurrence 



