446 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, the resorts of the Buccaneers, and the day following made the Island 
of Botel Tobago Xiraa. While off the Bashee Islands we noticed a great 
May, rippling in the Balingtang Channel, and during the night we experienced 
' so strong a current to the north-west that instead of passing the Cumbi’ian 
Reef ten miles to the eastward, as we expected, on the following morning 
we found, much to our surprise, that we had been set on the opposite 
side of it, and much closer than was consistent with security in a dark 
night. These currents render precaution very necessary ; that by which 
we were affected ran N. 56° W. twenty-six miles during the night, 
or about two miles and a half per hour. We continued to feel this 
effect until we were a full day’s sail from Botel Tobago Xima, and we 
were obliged in consequence to beat through the channel between that 
island and Formosa. In doing this we had an opportunity of examin- 
ing the shores of Botel Tobago Xima, and of constructing a tolerably 
good plan of its northern and western sides, besides determining its 
position more accurately than had been done when we passed it on 
the former occasion. 
The aspect of this part of the island is both agreeable and pic- 
turesque. The mountains are covered with wood and verdure to their 
summit, and are broken by valleys which open out upon plains sloping 
rather abruptly from the bases of the hills to the sea coast. Almost 
every part of this plain is cultivated in the Chinese manner, being 
walled up in steep places, like the sides of Dane’s Island in the Tigris. 
Groves and tufts of palm trees break the stiffness which this mode 
of cultivation would otherwise wear, and by their graceful foliage 
greatly improve its appearance. In a sandy bay on the north side of 
the island there is a large village consisting of low houses with pointed 
roofs. 
There are several rocky points on the north-west side, and some 
detached rocks lie off the northern extreme, which are remarkable for 
their spire-like form. The coast is rocky in almost every part, and pro- 
bably dangerous to land upon, as these needle rocks are seen in many 
parts of the island. With the exception, however, of those off the north 
extreme, they are attached to the island by very low land, but the shore 
