Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
XXXVII
Voyage from Waigiou to Ternate
(
SEPTEMBER
29
TO NOVEMBER
5, 1860)
I had left the old pilot at Waigiou to take care of my house and to get the prau into sailing or-
der—to caulk her bottom, and to look after the upper works, thatch, and rigging. When I re-
turned I found it nearly ready, and immediately began packing up and preparing for the voy-
age. Our mainsail had formed one side of our house, but the spanker and jib had been put
away in the roof, and on opening them to see if any repairs were wanted, to our horror we
found that some rats had made them their nest, and had gnawed through them in twenty
places. We had therefore to buy matting and make new sails, and this delayed us till the 29th
of September, when we at length left Waigiou.
It took us four days before we could get clear of the land, having to pass along narrow
straits beset with reefs and shoals, and full of strong currents, so that an unfavourable wind
stopped us altogether. One day, when nearly clear, a contrary tide and head wind drove us ten
miles back to our anchorage of the night before. This delay made us afraid of running short of
water if we should be becalmed at sea, and we therefore determined, if possible, to touch at
the island where our men had been lost, and which lay directly in our proper course. The
wind was, however, as usual, contrary, being S.S.W. instead of S.S.E., as it should have been
at this time of the year, and all we could do was to reach the island of Gagie, where we came
to an anchor by moonlight under bare volcanic hills. In the morning we tried to enter a deep
bay, at the head of which some Galela fishermen told us there was water, but a head-wind
prevented us. For the reward of a handkerchief, however, they took us to the place in their
boat, and we filled up our jars and bamboos. We then went round to their camping-place on
the north coast of the island to try and buy something to eat, but could only get smoked turtle
meat as black and as hard as lumps of coal. A little further on there was a plantation belong-
ing to Guebe people, but under the care of a Papuan slave, and the next morning we got some
plantains and a few vegetables in exchange for a handkerchief and some knives. On leaving
