NEW ROUTE FROM AUSTRALIA TO CHINA. 257 
the interior of the island is not well known, for 
the Spanish authority appears to be confined to a 
narrow strip of land along the coast; and as the 
Spaniards allow the wild Malay tribes to be governed 
by their own rajahs, very little is done towards 
civilising them, or opening up its resources, which 
(if report be true) include gold, silver, and quicksilver 
mines. One day we proceeded to the island of 
Basilan, some 20 miles distant, and took in a supply 
of coal from the government depot, and then re- 
turned to our late anchorage, swung ship for mag- 
netic and azimuth corrections, and finally left on 
the 5 th of February. 
The winds were light, and for the most part un- 
favourable for reaching Greenwich Island, which it 
was desirous to sight, so as to fix the correct position 
of this rock. Recently a new route from Australia 
to China and Japan has been advocated, including 
in its track a course somewhat near the position 
assigned to this island. A vessel leaving Sydney, 
after reaching 20° south latitude, would make for 
Teste Island, the weathermost of the Louisiade group, 
to the west of the enormous reefs stretching to the 
eastward for about 200 miles. The discoveries made 
by H.M.S. Basilisk have opened up this course ; for 
the surveys by that vessel show that, immediately to 
the east of Teste Island, the reefs sink from the sur- 
face to a depth of 10 or 12 fathoms. From there 
a run of 40 or 50 miles brings the vessel to Goshen 
19 
