aforesaid kept quiet, upon which the canoe
which had been near us, paddled towards this second group; from their
various gestures we saw and understood sufficiently that their intentions
had from the first been anything but peaceable, but God's Providence
prevented them from carrying their wicked plans into effect; in the
evening we set sail again with the current, the wind being west and our
course held N.N.W. in the first watch we turned our course S.W. and S.W.
by W., on which we sailed the whole night, until about daybreak we found
the water shallowing and dropped anchor in 21/2 fathom, having sailed 5
miles.

[* _Scil._ by the men of the ship Duifken (see the extract
below).--Princess Marianne Strait and Prince Frederik Hendrik island.
(There is no reference in the text for this footnote--Ed.)]

{Page 29}

In the morning of the 10th we set sail again, the wind being W.N.W., on a
S.W. course; at noon we were in Lat. 7 deg. 35'; in the evening we came to
anchor in 3 fathom muddy bottom, at about 11/2 mile's distance from the
land.

* * *

NOTE

That it is impossible to land here with boats or pinnaces, owing to the
clayey and muddy bottom into which a man will sink up to the waist, the
depth of the water being no more than 3 or 4 fathom at 3 or 4 miles'
distance from the land; the land is low-lying and half-submerged, being
quite under water at high tide; it is covered with wild trees, those on
the beach resembling the fir-trees of our country, and seemingly bearing
no fruit; the natives are coal-black like the Caffres; they go about
stark naked, carrying their privities in a small conch-shell, tied to the
body with a bit of string; they have two holes in the midst of the nose,
with fangs of hogs of swordfishes through them, protruding at least three
fingers' breadths on either side, so that in appearance they are more
like monsters than human beings; they seem to be evil-natured and
malignant; their canoes are small and will not hold above 3 of 4 of them
at most; they are made out of one piece of wood, and the natives stand up
in them, paddling them on by means of long oars; their arms are arrows,
bows, assagays and callaways, which they use with great dexterity and
skill; broken iron, parangs and knives are in special demand with them.
The lands which we have up to now skirted and touched at, not only are
barren and inhabited by savages, but also the sea in these parts yields
no other fish than sharks, swor