The next morning at five we weighed and stood alongshore to the eastward, making use of the sea and land-breezes.  We found the seabreezes here from the south-south-east to the south-south-west, the land-breezes from the north to the north-east.  We coasted along about 20 leagues and found it all a straight, bold, even shore, without points, creeks or inlets for a ship:  and there is no anchoring till within a mile or a mile and a half of the shore.  We saw scarce any opening fit for our boats; and the fast land was still barricaded with mangroves; so that here was no hope to get water; nor was it likely that there should be hereabouts any European settlement, since there was no sign of a harbour.

Fault of the charts.

The land appeared pleasant enough to the eye:  for the sides and tops of the mountains were clothed with woods mixed with savannahs; and there was a plantation of the Indian natives, where we saw the coconuts growing, and could have been glad to have come at some of them.  In the chart I had with me a shoal was laid down hereabouts; but I saw nothing of it, going, or coming; and so have taken no notice of it in my map.

Weary of running thus fruitlessly along the south side of the island to the eastward I resolved to return the way I came; and compassing the west end of the island, make a search along the north side of it.  The rather, because the north-north-west monsoon, which I had designed to be sheltered from by coming the way I did, did not seem to be near at hand, as the ordinary season of them required; but on the contrary I found the winds returning again to the south-eastward; and the weather was fair, and seemed likely to hold so; and consequently the north-north-west monsoon was not like to come in yet.  I considered therefore that by going to the north side of the island I should there have the smooth water, as being the lee side as the winds now were; and hoped to have better riding at anchor or landing on that side, than I could expect here, where the shore was so lined with mangroves.

Accordingly the 18th about noon I altered my course and steered back again towards the south-west end of the island.  This day we struck a dolphin; and the next day saw two more but struck none:  we also saw a whale.

The island roti.

In the evening we saw the island Roti, and another island to the south of it, not seen in my map; both lying near the south-west end of Timor.  On both these islands we saw smokes by day, and fires by night, as we had seen on Timor ever since we fell in with it.  I was told afterwards by the Portuguese that they had sugar-works on the island Roti; but I knew nothing of that now; and the coast appearing generally dry and barren, only here and there a spot of trees, I did not attempt anchoring there but stood over again to the Timor coast.

A passage between the islands Timor and Anabao.  Fault of the charts.