necessary to fire at them. Not,
however, until several of them had been killed did they take to flight,
when they leapt overboard, and dived and swam for their lives. On this
the Dutch, pursuing them in their boat, with what was certainly wanton
cruelty, knocked several on the head, and took three prisoners and four
of their canoes, the latter serving as fuel, of which they were in want.

Having made, one of the wounded men understand that if his countrymen
would bring off hogs and bananas the rest of the prisoners would be set
at liberty, they sent him on shore, telling him that ten hogs must be
paid as a ransom for each of the others; but as the natives refused to
agree to this arrangement, one of the captives, who was named after the
wounded Dutchman Moses, was carried off.

They here procured some beautiful birds, the plumage of which was
entirely red. From the appearance of the people they concluded that
they were Papuans. Sailing on along the coast, they saw three other
high islands, being then in 3 degrees 20 minutes south latitude.

On the night of the 29th, as the ship was sailing calmly on, she was
suddenly shaken so violently that the crew rushed up on deck, fully
expecting to find that she had run aground; but on sounding, no bottom
was found, and it was seen that no rocks nor shallows were in the
neighbourhood. They therefore came to the conclusion that the shaking
had been caused by a submarine earthquake, such as often takes place in
that volcanic region. The following night the same fearful phenomenon
again occurred, accompanied by terrific claps of thunder, while the
lightning darted so fiercely from the sky that, had not a heavy downpour
of rain come on there seemed every probability that the ship would have
been set on fire.

In the morning several canoes appeared full of blacks, who were allowed
to come on board. As a token that they wished to be friendly, they
broke some sticks they carried over the Dutchmen. Their canoes were
very neatly formed, and they themselves were more civilised than the
savages last visited. Their black hair was covered over with chalk.
They came only to beg, having brought nothing with them, though
cocoa-nut trees were seen in abundance on the shore.

On the 1st of July the _Unity_ again anchored between an island and the
coast of New Guinea. She was almost immediately surrounded by
twenty-five canoes, carrying the same people who had before given tokens
of p