On the morning of the 14th we again made sail for the coast, and found the same depth as before, but principally fifteen fathoms of brackish water; being then in 30 degrees and 40 minutes latitude.
On the 15th, after having held a council, we made sail along the coast, and found the latitude 30 degrees 17 minutes. In different places towards the south we saw a great smoke and vapour arising, and we went with our two boats on shore, and found, nearly a league from the shore, a rock; and a gunshot from thence two fathoms water, and from that to the coast four, five, six, three, two and a half, three, five, eight, five, three, and two fathoms; mostly foul bottom, not adapted for anchoring; and on the south-west side there are generally breakers. These two corners extend south and north from the gulf; the soil dry and sandy, and but little adapted for the habitation of animals, still less of men. We had nearly proceeded a league and a half inland; but we saw no men nor fresh water, but several footsteps of men, and steps like those of the dog and of the cassowary. Nor did we see any trees, but only briars and thorns. One of our people said that he had seen a red serpent. Some others said that as soon as we reached the shore, they saw a yellow dog leaping from the wild herbage, and throwing itself into the sea, as if to amuse himself with swimming. What truth there was in these statements, I do not know. At all events I did not see either of these things myself. At two o’clock we returned with our chief pilot on board.
On the 16th my companion went with the boats ashore, and marched onwards with his crew in order for one hour and a half; but returned on board in the evening without having made any discovery.
On the 17th the boats returned on shore, and directed their course then more towards the south than they had hitherto done, and brought on board from an island a quantity of sea-mews. The latitude 30 degrees 42 minutes. Nothing new.
The 20th, returning to the shore, I found nothing but a great plain very barren; many rocks on the coast; and the depth sixteen, fourteen, eleven, eight, six, five, three, and two fathoms; the anchorage difficult.
On the 21st our boat once more went on shore, but without learning anything new. The latitude was 29 degrees 47 minutes. Along the coast, the wind south; the course N. and N.N.W. Towards evening we saw breakers ahead, and sounded twenty-six, twenty, sixteen, and suddenly three fathoms. We held close on the wind, and immediately got greater depth. It was a reef, which stretched four or five leagues from the coast.
On the 22nd I started for the shore with our under-pilot. Being nearly three leagues from the coast, and sailing along it for some leagues, we found, close under the shore, ten and nine fathoms; a steep coast with constant breakers. On landing we found, at two hundred paces from the shore, a brackish stream, along which we walked landwards for a quarter of an hour. The middle was rather deep, and the fish pretty plentiful. We should have followed it further, but, the time being too short, we returned, and on the road saw many footprints like those of a dog; but saw no men, nor animals, nor trees, the country here being twice as barren as what we had before seen. Towards evening we returned together on board.
On the 21st (sic) our boat again made sail for the land, and keeping along the shore, we found that here, in between 28 and 29 degrees, tolerably good anchorage might be found. The land is tolerably high. Our chief pilot returning on board after dinner, informed us that he had seen on the shore three or four men, and several more on the little downs beyond, all quite naked, black, and of our own height; but that he had not been able to get near them on account of the current; that afterwards, rowing a little further, they had landed and found a lake, which extended far into the country like a river. It was of brackish taste, and though white had a reddish tinge caused by the bottom, which was of red sand and mud. At noon we were in latitude 28 degrees 16 minutes; and at five o’clock, after dinner, we anchored in a gulf, in eighteen fathoms water, good holding ground, sand and mud, at about a cannon’s-shot from the shore.
On the 25th, early in the morning, I landed with nine of our crew, our under pilot, together with the commandant of De Vlaming’s soldiers, his Dardewaak, and thirty-one soldiers. On reaching the shore, we found a good many oysters; we put ourselves in marching order, but from the fatigue occasioned by the excessive heat, and the obstructions on the road from brushwood, we were obliged occasionally to rest ourselves, till we reached the mountains, where we took our rest. But if the road had been difficult, a greater trouble was yet in store for us; for, finding no fresh water, we thought we should have fainted with thirst. From this point we could see our vessels, and wished a thousand times over that we were on board again. However, the commandant of the soldiers, with two men, went down, and soon came up to us again, with a look of satisfaction, bringing news that he had discovered some fresh water, and also a little hut, and about an hour’s distance from our camp, some footsteps, of the length of eighteen inches; upon which we resolved, although it was beginning to be dark, to bend our steps in that direction, an effort which, from the quantity of brushwood and the approach of night, could not be made without much difficulty. On arriving at the drinking place, we found a great pool, but the water was slightly brackish. We encamped there, and having arranged that there should be a soldier constantly on the watch as sentry, we passed the night there in the best manner we could.
On the 26th, in the morning before sunrise, we continued our journey, and shortly reached the aforesaid little hut, which had a good many egg-shells around it, but the eighteen inch footsteps changed into ordinary ones. This night also we remained on shore, and encamped again near the pool. Although we were divided, we met with no men nor cattle, but nothing but wild brushwood.