raid of
running short of water if we should be becalmed at sea, and we therefore
determined, if possible, to touch at the island where our men had
been lost, and which lay directly in our proper course. The wind was,
however, as usual, contrary, being S.S.W. instead of S.S.E., as it
should have been at this time of the year, and all we could do was to
reach the island of Gagie, where we came to an anchor by moonlight under
bare volcanic hills. In the morning we tried to enter a deep bay, at
the head of which some Galela fishermen told us there was water, but a
head-wind prevented us. For the reward of a handkerchief, however,
they took us to the place in their boat, and we filled up our jars and
bamboos. We then went round to their camping-place on the north coast
of the island to try and buy something to eat, but could only get smoked
turtle meat as black and as hard as lumps of coal. A little further on
there was a plantation belonging to Guebe people, but under the care
of a Papuan slave, and the next morning we got some plantains and a few
vegetables in exchange for a handkerchief and some knives. On leaving
this place our anchor had got foul in some rock or sunken log in very
deep water, and after many unsuccessful attempts, we were forced to
cut our rattan cable and leave it behind us. We had now only one anchor
left.

Starting early, on the 4th of October, the same S.S.W wind continued,
and we began to fear that we should hardly clear the southern point
of Gilolo. The night of the 5th was squally, with thunder, but after
midnight it got tolerably fair, and we were going along with a light
wind and looking out for the coast of Gilolo, which we thought we
must be nearing, when we heard a dull roaring sound, like a heavy surf,
behind us. In a short time the roar increased, and we saw a white line
of foam coming on, which rapidly passed us without doing any harm, as
our boat rose easily over the wave. At short intervals, ten or a
dozen others overtook us with bleat rapidity, and then the sea became
perfectly smooth, as it was before. I concluded at once that these must
be earthquake waves; and on reference to the old voyagers we find
that these seas have been long subject to similar phenomena. Dampier
encountered them near Mysol and New Guinea, and describes them as
follows: "We found here very strange tides, that ran in streams, making
a great sea, and roaring so loud that we could hear them before they
came within