186 VOYAGE FEOM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 



clouds ; towards evening we had some lightning of a brilliant 

 red colour in the direction where we supposed the peninsula of 

 Malacca to be. After eight o'clock the anchors were cast in 

 twenty fathoms of water, and the very favourable wind was not 

 used for our journey. 



12. — We passed the morning in exploring the island from 

 our ship, and discovered several mountains. About seven o'clock 

 the anchors were weighed and soon after we passed the island 

 Bintang. There were two conical mountains on it, the one farth- 

 est inland being the highest, it has a divided summit, and could both 

 be seen from very far. The rest of the island seemed to be flat ; 

 on our right we had the Malay coast; its shores are high and 

 hilly, among these hills is the Barbuset, a mountain of medium 

 height, which the sailors take as a mark. We had the good luck 

 to pass the rock Pedro bianco with favourable wind about three 

 o'clock. This rock which rises from the sea on the Bintang coast 

 is remarkable, as its side declining towards the west is white, 

 while the steep sides were red, probably on account of the 

 breaking waves. The stones looked like a mixture of felspar and 

 quartz. This rock is very useful for those who pass the Strait of 

 Malacca, specially when coming from India, because it is said 

 that the depth of the water in front of it is about 30 fathoms. At 

 the back there were many small pieces of stones showing above 

 the water, being of black colour, 



We were here close to Bintang, and saw that this country 

 produced hardly enough rice to keep the inhabitants, but there 

 was much sago planted. The king of the island has his residence 

 in Rio, a place on this island ; he also possesses some land on the 

 coast of Malacca ; amongst these possessions Javar is the place 

 best known, because much tin is melted there. Now the 

 Europeans avoid this place, because the crew of some ships have 

 been murdered and the ships were taken away. It has become a 

 real retreat for robbers since the fall of the government 

 formerly established there. So the present possessor, the king 

 of Rio, orders all produce, as sago and tin, to be brought to his 

 residence, and the Europeans fetch it from there, exchanging 

 products from the coasts of Coromandel, Bengal, and Suratte, 

 etc., for them, at the same time enjoying pretty good security 

 for their lives. We left this coast and crossed over to the Malay 

 coast, to the point Romania, I do not know the origin of this 



