got under
the lea of this island, into quite smooth water--for I had been very
sick and uncomfortable, and had eaten scarcely anything since the
preceding morning. We were slowly nearing the shore, which the smooth
dark water told us we could safely approach; and were congratulating
ourselves on soon being at anchor, with the prospect of hot coffee, a
good supper, and a sound sleep, when the wind completely dropped, and we
had to get out the oars to row. We were not more than two hundred yards
from the shore, when I noticed that we seemed to get no nearer although
the men were rowing hard, but drifted to the westward, and the prau
would not obey the helm, but continually fell off, and gave us much
trouble to bring her up again. Soon a laud ripple of water told us we
were seized by one of those treacherous currents which so frequently
frustrate all the efforts of the voyager in these seas; the men threw
down the oars in despair, and in a few minutes we drifted to leeward
of the island fairly out to sea again, and lost our last chance of ever
reaching Mysol! Hoisting our jib, we lay to, and in the morning found
ourselves only a few miles from the island, but wit, such a steady wind
blowing from its direction as to render it impossible for us to get back
to it.

We now made sail to the northward, hoping soon to get a more southerly
wind. Towards noon the sea was much smoother, and with a S.S.E. wind we
were laying in the direction of Salwatty, which I hoped to reach, as
I could there easily get a boat to take provisions and stores to my
companion in Mysol. This wind did not, however, last long, but died away
into a calm; and a light west wind springing up, with a dark bank of
clouds, again gave us hopes of reaching Mysol. We were soon, however,
again disappointed. The E.S.E. wind began to blow again with violence,
and continued all night in irregular gusts, and with a short cross sea
tossed us about unmercifully, and so continually took our sails aback,
that we were at length forced to run before it with our jib only, to
escape being swamped by our heavy mainsail. After another miserable and
anxious night, we found that we had drifted westward of the island of
Poppa, and the wind being again a little southerly, we made all sail
in order to reach it. This we did not succeed in doing, passing to the
north-west, when the wind again blew hard from the E.S.E., and our last
hope of finding a refuge till better weather was frustr