nning and suspicious, and no stratagems on our part availed
to draw them near enough to us to enable us to catch one or two with
nooses which we had prepared for the purpose; their canoes also contained
a number of human thigh-bones, which they repeatedly held up to us, but
we were unable to make out what they meant by this. Finally they asked
for a rope to tow the yacht to shore, but soon got tired of the work, and
paddled back to the land in a great hurry.

In the evening we cast anchor in three fathom about 3 miles from the
land, having sailed 13 miles this day.

In the morning of the 27th the wind was W.N.W. with a stiff breeze,
course held S.E. by S. and S.E., on which we sailed 7 miles, and
afterwards E.S.E. 5 miles, in 51/2, 5 and 3 fathom; in the evening we came
to anchor in 61/2 fathom, 31/2 miles from the land; a quarter of a mile
farther to landward we saw a sandbank, on which the Aernem struck but got
off again, for which God be praised.

On the 28th we set sail again, with a N.W. wind, on an eastern course
towards the land, in various depths, such as 7, 9, 12, 4 and 51/2 fathom;
at noon we were in 9 deg. 6' S. Lat., having sailed 5 miles; from noon till
the evening we ran on an E. by S. course a distance Of 4 miles in 18, 12,
9, 7, 5 and 2 fathom, after which we cast anchor, and sent out the
pinnace to take soundings; the water being found to become deeper nearer
the coast, we again weighed anchor and sailed to the land, casting anchor
finally in 4 fathom three miles from the coast.

In the morning of the 29th the wind was N.N.E. with fine weather; in the
forenoon it was deemed advisable to send off the boat of the Pera with
thirteen men and the steersman of the Aernem and victualled for four
days, in order to take soundings and skirt the land, which extended
E.N.E., for a distance of 7 or 8 miles.

On the 30th the wind was N. with good weather, so that we also sent out
the pinnace of the Aernem in order to take soundings in various
directions 2 or 3 miles from the yachts; at low water we saw various
sandbanks and reefs lying dry, to wit E.S.E., S.S.W. and W.; in the
afternoon the pinnace of the Aernem returned on board, having found
shallows everywhere at 2 miles' distance. Towards the evening the boat of
the Pera also returned, when we heard from the steersman that they had
been E. by S. and E.S.E. of the yachts, at about 8 miles' distance, where
they had found very shallow water, no more than 7, 8, 9