Finding On My Map A Group Of Three Small Islands, Twenty-Five
Miles North Of Poppa, I Resolved, If Possible, To Rest There A
Day Or Two.
We could lay our boat's head N.E. by N.; but a heavy
sea from the eastward so continually beat us off our course, and
we made so much leeway, that I found it would be as much as we
could do to reach them.
It was a delicate point to keep our head
in the best direction, neither so close to the wind as to stop
our way, or so free as to carry us too far to leeward. I
continually directed the steersman myself, and by incessant
vigilance succeeded, just at sunset, in bringing our boat to an
anchor under the lee of the southern point of one of the islands.
The anchorage was, however, by no means good, there being a
fringing coral reef, dry at low water, beyond which, on a bottom
strewn with masses of coral, we were obliged to anchor. We had
now been incessantly tossing about for four days in our small
undecked boat, with constant disappointments and anxiety, and it
was a great comfort to have a night of quiet and comparative
safety. My old pilot had never left the helm for more than an
hour at a time, when one of the others would relieve him for a
little sleep; so I determined the next morning to look out for a
secure and convenient harbour, and rest on shore for a day.
In the morning, finding it would be necessary for us to get round
a rocky point, I wanted my men to go on shore and cut jungle-
rope, by which to secure us from being again drafted away, as the
wind was directly off shore. I unfortunately, however, allowed
myself to be overruled by the pilot and crew, who all declared
that it was the easiest thing possible, and that they would row
the boat round the point in a few minutes. They accordingly got
up the anchor, set the jib, and began rowing; but, just as I had
feared, we drifted rapidly off shore, and had to drop anchor
again in deeper water, and much farther off. The two best men, a
Papuan and a Malay now swam on shore, each carrying a hatchet,
and went into the jungle to seek creepers for rope. After about
an hour our anchor loosed hold, and began to drag. This alarmed
me greatly, and we let go our spare anchor, and, by running out
all our cable, appeared tolerably secure again. We were now most
anxious for the return of the men, and were going to fire our
muskets to recall them, when we observed them on the beach, some
way off, and almost immediately our anchors again slipped, and we
drifted slowly away into deep water. We instantly seized the
oars, but found we could not counteract the wind and current, and
our frantic cries to the men were not heard till we had got a
long way off; as they seemed to be hunting for shell-fish on the
beach.
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