steered S.W. keeping about five
leagues off the islands along the coast of China. The 15th we came among
many fisher boats, but had so much wind that we could not speak any of
them, but they made signs to us, as we thought to keep to the westwards.
At noon our lat. was 21 deg. 40' N. and having the wind at N.N.E. a stiff
gale, we steered W.N.W. northerly, to make the land, and about two hours
afterwards had sight of it, although by our dead reckoning we ought
still to have been fifty-six leagues from it. It is to be noted, that
the islands along the coast of China are considerably more to the
southward than as laid down in the charts. About three p.m. we were
within about two leagues of an island called _Sancha_[45].

[Footnote 44: By the latitude indicated in the text, Captain Saris
appears to have fallen in with the coast of Fo-kien, and to have passed
through between that province and the island of Formosa, without
discovering the existence of that island.--E.]

[Footnote 45: Probably the island of Tchang-to-huen, to the S.W. of the
bay of Canton, the situation of which agrees with the latitude in the
text, and the sound of the two first syllables of which name has some
affinity with that given by Saris, evidently from Spanish or Portuguese
charts. At this part, of his voyage, Saris entirely misses to notice the
large island of Hai-nan.--E.]

The 18th, in lat. 15 deg. 43' N. we had sight of an island called
Pulo-cotan, being high land, and is about twenty leagues, according to
report, from the shoal called _Plaxel_. In the morning of the 19th the
coast of Cambodia was on our starboard side, about two leagues off,
along which we steered S.E. by E. easterly, our latitude at noon being
13 deg. 31' N. estimating the ship to be then athwart _Varella_. We have
hitherto found the wind always _trade_ along shore, having gone _large_
all the way from Firando, the wind always following us as the land
trended. The 20th at noon we were in latitude 10 deg. 53', and three
glasses, or an hour and half after, we had sight of a small island,
which we concluded to be that at the end of the shoal called
_Pulo-citi_. We found the book of _Jan Huyghens van Linschoten_ very
true, for by it we have directed our course ever since we left Firando.
The 22d we had sight of _Pulo Condor_ about five leagues off, our
latitude at noon being 8 deg. 20' N.

About four a.m. on the 25th we made the island of _Pulo Timon_, and two
hours afterwards