We left these islands with a fresh breeze at E. steering S.W. and continually met with weeds and grass on our way, which made us believe we were not far from land, yet we had no ground with 100 fathoms.  Early in the morning of the 9th May, we descried the coast of New Guinea, more than eighteen or nineteen leagues distant.  We now saw the necessity of constructing a boat, with a few old boards and such other materials as we had, though not quite suitable for the purpose; and though neither strong nor handsome, it proved exceeding useful in the sequel.  On the 9th we had very bad weather, the wind shifting to every point of the compass.  This part of New Guinea appeared very mountainous, black, and rocky, without harbour, bay, or road, in which we might anchor in safety.  The mountains seemed so bleak and barren, and the vallies so deep and narrow, that at first we conceived the country to be uninhabited; neither did we afterwards see any inhabitants or signs of any.  That same day we passed two small islands, each about a league in length, which were very low, and well clothed with small green trees.  At the same time we saw part of the great island of Gilolo, at the distance of eight leagues, and held our course W.S.W.[212] intending to pass through between that island and New Guinea, into the East Indian Sea.

[Footnote 212:  The only way of explaining this part of the text, is by supposing Funnel may have mistaken the island of Waygoo for a part of New Guinea, and even the N.W. point of that island is at least sixty leagues from the S.W. leg or peninsula of Gilolo, to which the direction of his course certainly points.—­E.]

We had very bad weather till the 11th of May, and the night being very dark, we missed the common passage, and found ourselves among many small islands; and as the wind was at E. we resolved to look out for some passage among these islands to the south.  After infinite difficulty and much danger, we at length made our way through a strait, which we named St John’s Straits, after the name of our bark.  At this time we were boarded by a large Indian proa, on board of which was a freeman of Amboina, whom we acquainted with our great want of victuals, having had nothing for a great while to support us except a scanty allowance of spoilt flour and water, and so very little of that as hardly sufficed to keep us alive.  He told us, if we would go to the island of Manissa, which was then in sight, he would be our pilot, where he had no doubt we might have enough of rice for our money to carry us to Batavia.  We accordingly proceeded for Manissa, passing by the island of Keylan, which is small and high, but well inhabited, and clothed with many kinds of trees.  Its chief produce is rice, and a few cloves; and on this island there is a Dutch corporal with six soldiers, whose only business is to see all the clove trees cut down and destroyed.  From thence we proceeded to Manissa, where we arrived about midnight, and came to anchor in a small bay at the N.W. end of the island, when our Dutch pilot sent two men ashore with a letter to the governor, acquainting him of our urgent wants.