On Sunday the 15th do. at daybreak the wind blew hard from the E.S.E.; it
was mainsail weather; we convened the Plenary Council and resolved with
the same further to explore this land to the north-west and to use all
possible diligence to get knowledge touching the island of Timor, as will
be found more amply set forth in this day's Resolution.
As we were weighing our anchor, a lanyard and a pulley got broken; we
shaped our course to N.W. by N. and N.N.W. Having sailed the space of
about 2 miles, we came to a point, between which point and another point,
a distance of about 4 miles, the land extends W.N.W. and E.S.E. with
hardly any curve, and with rocks and reefs along the shore. Off this
point the surf and the breakers ran very strongly, as if there were a
shoal there, seeing that the wind and the current were opposed to each
other. We therefore sailed along the coast at less than a mile's distance
from the same in 12, 11 and 10 fathom good anchoring-ground. In many
places we saw great clouds of smoke landinward, but no fruit-trees,
houses, vessels or natives; the land seems to be quite wild. Towards the
evening we cast anchor in 9 fathom good anchoring-ground at about half a
cannonshot's distance from the land; the aforesaid point was E. by N. of
us at upwards of half a mile's distance; during the night we had violent
squalls from the E.S.E. with a thick, foggy sky; landinward we observed a
number of fires.
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