Towards Noon Some Canoes Came Off To Us From One Of The Isles,
Having Two Or Three People In Each; Who Advanced Boldly Alongside, And
Exchanged Some Cocoa-Nuts, And Shaddocks, For Small Nails.
They pointed out
to us Anamocka, or Rotterdam; an advantage we derived from knowing the
proper names.
They likewise gave us the names of some of the other isles,
and invited us much to go to theirs, which they called Cornango. The breeze
freshening, we left them astern, and steered for Anamocka; meeting with a
clear passage, in which we found unequal sounding, from forty to nine
fathoms, depending, I believe, in a great measure, on our distance from the
islands which form it.
As we drew near the south end of Rotterdam, or Anamocka, we were met by a
number of canoes, laden with fruit and roots; but as I did not shorten
sail, we had but little traffic with them. The people in one canoe enquired
for me by name; a proof that these people have an intercourse with those of
Amsterdam. They importuned us much to go towards their coast, letting us
know, as we understood them, that we might anchor there. This was on the
S.W. side of the island, where the coast seemed to be sheltered from the S.
and S.E. winds; but as the day was far spent, I could not attempt to go in
there, as it would have been necessary to have sent first a boat to examine
it.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 631 of 885
Words from 170385 to 170637
of 239428
