540 



a gust of wiud. They were of great length, from north to 

 souih, but tbteir breadlh not exceeding 2UU yartls, ami tliey 

 diuve a great pace. For though wu had little wind to 

 muve us, yet these would sood pass away, and lea\-e the 

 water very smooth, and just before we encountered tlieni 

 we met a great swell, but it did not break." Some tiiue 

 ulterwardfs, 1 learnt that an eurthtjuake had luien felt on 

 the coast of Gilolo the very day we had encountered 

 these curious waves. 



When daylight came, wo saw the knd of Gilolo a few 

 miles off, but the point was unfortunately a little to wind- 

 want of u3. We tried to l>nice up ail we could to round 

 it, y>ut as %ve approached tlie shore we got into a strong 

 current setting northward, w hich carried u.s so rapidly with 

 it that we found it necessary to stand olf again, in ortler 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 occujtied in llie morning, so we 

 hung down our anchor with about fifteen fathoms of cable 

 to prevent drifting. On the moriiing 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 

 miglit be a return current, and wc could theu row. The 

 prau was heavy, and my men very poor creatures for work, 

 so that it took us sbt hours to get to the edge of the reef 

 that fringed the shoi-e; aiui as the wind nnght at auy 

 moment Idow on to it, our situation was a very dangerous 

 one, Luckdy, a short distance otf 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 Galcla 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, wliile about 

 a mile out it was always one way, and against us ; and 

 this gave us some hopes of getting back to the point, from 

 uhich we were now distant twenty miles. Next morinng 

 wc found that the Galela men luid left before dayliglit, 

 having perhaps some V£^e fear of our intentions, and very 

 likely taking me for a pirate. Uuring the morning a boat 



