Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At three in the afternoon, when the current turned, we started; but having a head-wind,
made slow progress. At dusk we reached the entrance of the harbour, but an eddy and a gust
of wind carried us away and out to sea. After sunset there was a land breeze, and we sailed a
little to the south-east. It then became calm, and we hung down our anchor forty fathoms, to
endeavour to counteract the current; but it was of little avail, and in the morning we found
ourselves a good way from shore, and just opposite our anchorage of the day before, which
we again reached by hard rowing. I gave the men this day to rest and sleep; and the next day
(Oct. 10th) we again started at two in the morning with a land breeze. After I had set them to
their oars, and given instructions to keep close in-shore, and on no account to get out to sea,
I went below, being rather unwell. At daybreak I found, to my great astonishment, that we
were again far off-shore, and was told that the wind had gradually turned more ahead, and
had carried us out—none of them having the sense to take down the sail and row in-shore,
or to call me. As soon as it was daylight, we saw that we had drifted back, and were again
opposite our former anchorage, and, for the third time, had to row hard to get to it. As we
approached the shore, I saw that the current was favourable to us, and we continued down
the coast till we were close to the entrance to the lower harbour. Just as we were congratu-
lating ourselves on having at last reached it, a strong south-east squall came on, blowing us
back, and rendering it impossible for us to enter. Not liking the idea of again returning, I de-
termined on trying to anchor, and succeeded in doing so, in very deep water and close to the
reefs; but the prevailing winds were such that, should we not hold, we should have no diffi-
culty in getting out to sea. By the time the squall had passed, the current had turned against
us, and we expected to have to wait till four in the afternoon, when we intended to enter the
harbour.
Now, however, came the climax of our troubles. The swell produced by the squall made
us jerk our cable a good deal, and it suddenly snapped low down in the water. We drifted out
to sea, and immediately set our mainsail, but we were now without any anchor, and in a ves-
sel so poorly manned that it could not be rowed against the most feeble current or the slight-
est wind, it would be madness to approach these dangerous shores except in the most perfect
calm. We had also only three days' food left. It was therefore out of the question making
any further attempts to get round the point without assistance, and I at once determined to
run to the village of Gani-diluar, about ten miles further north, where we understood there
was a good harbour, and where we might get provisions and a few more rowers. Hitherto
winds and currents had invariably opposed our passage southward, and we might have ex-
pected them to be favourable to us now we had turned our bowsprit in an opposite direction.
But it immediately fell calm, and then after a time a westerly land breeze set in, which
