ur
search was fruitless, for it seemed not to have rained there for a long
time past, and we found no traces of running water, the higher ground
being again very barren and unpromising, without any trees, shrubs or
grass, but with plenty of high ant-hills in all directions. These
ant~hills consisted of earth thrown up, and from afar somewhat resembled
huts for the abode of men.

We also found such multitudes of flies here, which perched on our mouths
and crept into our eyes, that we could not keep them off our persons. We
likewise saw 8 blacks here, each of them carrying a stick in his hand;
they came within a musketshot's distance of us, but when we went up to
them, they ran off, and we could not get them to stop, that we might come
near them. Towards noon, when we found there was no more water to be had,
we set sail again, and passed through another opening of the reef a
little more to northward. We were here in 22 deg. 17' Lat. I intended to run
on to Jacop Remessens river, but the wind went round to North-east, so
that we could not keep near the land, and seeing that we were now more
than {Page 58} 100 miles from those we had left behind on the
island-rocks, and that up to now we had not found water enough to assist
them all, but only so much as would afford two mutchkins daily to
ourselves, we were compelled to resolve to do our best in order with
God's help to continue our voyage to Batavia as expeditiously as
possible, that the Hon. Lord Governor-general might order measures to be
taken for the succour of those we had left behind...

On the 7 th do. [of July] we arrived in the road-stead of Batavia at
nightfall.

God be thanked and praised.

B.

_Diurnal anotations on my [PELSAERT'S] second voyage to the South-land,
by order of the Hon. Lord Governor-general Jan Pietersen Coen, with the
Yacht Sardam, for the purpose of rescuing and bringing hither the men
belonging to our lost ship Batavia, together with the ready money and the
goods that it shall be found possible to salve._

This day the 15th Of July We set sail in the morning with the
land-wind...

This day the 1st of September at noon we were in 29 deg. 16' Southern
Latitude [*], with a variable wind, so that we found it impossible to get
to eastward.

[* The ship had already sailed farther south than Houtman's Abrolhos.]

On the 2nd do. the wind went round to the north with a top-gallant gale;
at noon we were in 30 deg. 16' S.L. and found we had