The cloathing these people in general wore, was made of a coarse kind of callico, though some of them wore silk, and most of them had something resembling a turban round their heads; a few, indeed, wore a Chinese pointed hat.  There can be no doubt but the Dutch supply these people with cloathing and other necessaries, which, of course, must be for some production of the island.  I showed one of the natives some cloves, and he gave me to understand that they had the same.  I do not think the Dutch send very often to this island, from the extreme avidity the natives showed in purchasing our hatchets and cloathing:  they are mild, and apparently a quiet people, and the confidence they placed in us was sufficient to prove that strangers were not unwelcome guests among them.

From the 6th to the 10th, we had fresh gales of wind at west, with very heavy squalls and much rain, which often obliged us to clew all up.  During the last four days we only got eight leagues on our course, and there being every appearance of a continuation of westerly winds, (this being the south-west monsoon in the China seas) with heavy squalls, or rather tornados of wind and rain, which endangered the masts:  on the 10th, Lieutenant Ball relinquished the purpose of going through the streights of -Macasser_, and adopted that of making the passage between -Celebes_ and Gilolo, through the Moluccas and the streights of Salayer; accordingly, at six in the morning, we bore up for the south point of Lirog, which lay south-east by east twelve or fourteen leagues distant.  At day-light on the 12th, we saw the island of Morotia, which bore from south 31 deg. east, to south 4 deg. east.

At noon, we were in 2 deg. 36’ south latitude, and 127 deg. 51’ east longitude:  in a chart of Hamilton Moore’s, there is an island without a name laid down exactly in that situation; but, as the weather was very clear, and no such land could be seen, the existence of it is very doubtful.  The weather was now extremely pleasant, with light winds from south by west to south-east.  At noon on the 14th, Gilolo bore from south by west half west, to east by north:  there is a chain of small islands laying the whole length of these bearings about two leagues from Gilolo; between which and that island, there appears to be good shelter.  On the 16th, we were directly opposite three remarkable conical hills; they are very high; the southernmost lies in 1 deg. 30’ north latitude, and 127 deg. 5’ east longitude.  The land near this situation is high and well wooded, with some cultivated spots:  the shore appears bold to.  At midnight, we had a perfect deluge of rain, attended with loud thunder and very fierce lightning, which lasted two hours; after which, the weather became serene and pleasant.