(Here end the mountains of the western extremity of Nova Guinea.)
The high-lying interior of Ceram ends here, without showing any opening
or passage (through which we might run north according to our plan), and
passes into low-lying half-submerged land, bearing E.S.E. and S.E. by E.,
extending in all likelihood as far as Nova Guinea, a point which with
God's help we mean to make sure of at any cost; on coming from Aru to the
island of Ceram, the latter is found to have a low-lying foreland
dangerous to touch at, since at 6, 8 and 9 miles' distance from the same,
the lofty mountains of the interior become visible, the low foreland
remaining invisible until one has got within 3 or 4 miles from the land;
the high mountains are seen to extend fully thirty miles to eastward,
when you are north of Aru; as seen from afar, the land seems to have
numerous pleasant valleys and running fresh-water rivers; here and there
it is overgrown with brushwood and in other places covered with high
trees; but we are unable to give any information as to what fruits,
metals and animals it contains, and as to the manner of its cultivation
since the natives whom {Page 27} we found to be savages and man-eaters,
refused to hold parley with us, and fell upon our men who suffered
grievous damage; after the report, however, of some of the men of the
yacht Aernem, who being wounded on the 11th aforementioned, succeeded in
making their escape, the natives are tall black men with curly heads of
hair and two large holes through their noses, stark naked, not covering
even their privities; their arms are arrows, bows, assagays, callaways
and the like. They have no vessels either large or small, nor has the
coast any capes or bights that might afford shelter from west- and
south-winds, the whole shore being clear and unencumbered, with a clayey
bottom, forming a good anchoring-ground, the sea being not above 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 fathom in depth at 1, 2 and more miles' distance from
the land, the rise and fall of the water with the tides we found to be
between 1Ω and 2 fathom.
* * *
In the morning of the 27th the wind was W.N.W. with dirty weather and a
very high sea, so that the Aernem was unable so heave her anchor in order
to get near us, on which account we both of us remained at anchor the
whole day; towards the evening the weather became much worse with pouring
rains, so that we dropped another anchor; in the day-watch the cable of
our large anchor broke without our perceiving it, and the other anchor
getting loose, we drifted slowly to eastward; the land here extended
E.S.E. and W.S.W.
In the morning of the 28th the Aernem was no longer in sight, so that we
resolved to set sail in order to seek her; holding our course S.W., we ran
on for three miles, after which we saw on our lee land bearing S.W. which
we would not sail clear of; we therefore dropped anchor in 9 fathom, the
weather still continuing dirty with rain and wind, and a strong ebb from
the E.S.E. running flat against the wind; the water rising and falling
fully two fathom at every tide.