On the 28th we set sail again, with a N.W. wind, on an eastern course towards the land, in various depths, such as 7, 9, 12, 4 and 51/2 fathom; at noon we were in 9 deg. 6’ S. Lat., having sailed 5 miles; from noon till the evening we ran on an E. by S. course a distance Of 4 miles in 18, 12, 9, 7, 5 and 2 fathom, after which we cast anchor, and sent out the pinnace to take soundings; the water being found to become deeper nearer the coast, we again weighed anchor and sailed to the land, casting anchor finally in 4 fathom three miles from the coast.

In the morning of the 29th the wind was N.N.E. with fine weather; in the forenoon it was deemed advisable to send off the boat of the Pera with thirteen men and the steersman of the Aernem and victualled for four days, in order to take soundings and skirt the land, which extended E.N.E., for a distance of 7 or 8 miles.

On the 30th the wind was N. with good weather, so that we also sent out the pinnace of the Aernem in order to take soundings in various directions 2 or 3 miles from the yachts; at low water we saw various sandbanks and reefs lying dry, to wit E.S.E., S.S.W. and W.; in the afternoon the pinnace of the Aernem returned on board, having found shallows everywhere at 2 miles’ distance.  Towards the evening the boat of the Pera also returned, when we heard from the steersman that they had been E. by S. and E.S.E. of the yachts, at about 8 miles’ distance, where they had found very shallow water, no more than 7, 8, 9 and 10 feet, which extended a mile or more, and was succeeded by depths Of 2, 21/2, 3, 5 and 7 fathom; they had found the land to extend E. and E. by N., and to be very low-lying and muddy, and overgrown with low brushwood and wild trees.

On the 31st the wind was N.N.E. with rain.  In the afternoon I rowed with the two pinnaces to one of the reefs in order to examine the state of things between the yachts and the land, which space had fallen dry at low tide; in the afternoon the skipper of the Pera also got orders to row to the land with the boat duly manned and armed, in order to ascertain whether anything could be done for the service of our Masters, and to attempt to get a parley with the inhabitants and to get hold of one or two of them, if practicable; very late in the evening the boat returned on board, and we were informed by the skipper that, although it was high water, they could not come nearer than to a pistol-shot’s distance from the land owing to the shallow water and the soft mud; they also reported the land to be low-lying and half-submerged, overgrown with brushwood and wild trees.

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NOTE.

(The Drooge Bocht, where we were compelled to leave the western extremity of Nova Guinea is in 9 degrees 20 minutes S. Lat.)