The 10th of April, we observed the clouds to gather more than usual in the horizon, which is a sure indication of land, as it is common between the tropics to be foggy over the land, though perfectly clear at sea; wherefore we kept an anxious look-out all this night, and early in the morning of the 11th, we saw the island of Magon W. ten leagues distant. This is a high woody island, very plain, and green on the top. When within a mile of this island, we lay to, and several fishing boats came to us, bringing us fish, yams, eggs, potatoes, and other provisions, to our great joy. The men in these boats were very tall and large-limbed, of tawny complexions, with long black hair reaching to their middles, and were all utterly stark naked, not even covering their parts of shame. In exchange for what we had of these people we offered them money, which they looked at and returned, making signs to give them tobacco, which we did, and they seemed much pleased. We also gave them some old shirts, which they tore in pieces and wrapped round their heads. We would have given each a dram of brandy, but they were afraid of it; only one man accepted a glass, which he drank off, but we thought he would never have closed his mouth again, he seemed so astonished at the heat it left in his mouth and stomach, that I believe he thought himself on fire. He lay down and roared like a bull near half an hour, when he fell asleep; and we being in haste, put him into his boat, making signs to his companions to take care of him.
These islanders seemed a very civil people, yet we did not venture to allow too many of them to come on board at once. When they first came near us, they tied two sticks together in form of a cross, which they held up, as we supposed, to signify to us that they had some knowledge of Christianity; whereupon we shewed them a crucifix, we had taken from the Spaniards, at the sight of which they all bowed their bodies, and came on board. This island of Magon, as I reckoned, is in lat. 15° N. and we made its longitude by computation, 120° 9' W. from St Miguel, or 7029 English miles, allowing 58-1/2 miles to the degree of longitude in this parallel.[210]
[Footnote 210: From the sequel, this island of Magon appears almost certainly to have been one of the Ladrones, perhaps to the N.E. of Guam, now named Rota. Point Candadillo, near San Miguel, the N.W. cape of the Gulf of Amapalla, is in long. 87° 58' W. and the Ladrones are in long. 216° W. from Greenwich, so that the difference, or run across the Pacific, is 128° 2', which, at 58-1/2 miles, extend to 7590 miles, besides the allowance for difference of latitude.--E.]
On mature deliberation, we resolved to proceed directly from this place to New Guinea, without putting in at the island of Guam, which was in sight. The weather continued fair, and the wind brisk and favourable, till we came into the latitude of 4° N. when we had a calm for seven days, during which time we had no means of relieving our hunger, except by taking large draughts of water, and then lying down to sleep. On the 3d May we had a fine gale, which continued till the 5th, and then died quite away before we got sight of land; but about ten that night we were all sensible of a very odoriferous smell, whence we concluded that we were near land, on which we examined our charts, but found none laid down. Next morning, however, we saw land at no great distance. This day also we caught two bonetoes, which were most welcome, as they made a hearty meal to our whole company. This fish is commonly about three feet long and two in circumference, having a very sharp head, with a small mouth, full eyes, and a semilunar tail. It is very fleshy, and makes good broth. About noon we were in sight of three small islands, all low land, but very green and pleasant, especially to us, who had been so long of seeing any land. We had this day an observation of the sun, by which we found our latitude to be 50' N. and as the eastermost of these islands was four leagues S.E. of the ship, it must of consequence be in lat. 0° 42' N.[211]
[Footnote 211: The only islands in modern maps which agree with the slight notice in the text, are Frevilla, or St David's Isle,, nearly in lat. 1° N. and long. 135° E. from Greenwich: Yet it is singular that Funnell should have passed through the numerous group of the Carolines without seeing any of them.--E.]
As we were fearful of entering upon an unknown coast in the dark, we stood off all night, which was well for us, as we found ourselves at day-break next morning, 7th May, within a ship's length of a great reef of rocks, which extended from one island to the other, and thinking to have gone between the islands, we had nearly run upon this dangerous ledge. Having a small breeze from shore we were fortunately able to stand off, and went to the westermost island, because we saw many shoals off the others. The rocks we were so near running upon were off the northmost isle, which we named the Island of Deceit. On getting near the westermost island which was the biggest of the three, forty or fifty of their flying proas came off, in which there might be 450 men, allowing ten to each proa, and we could also see multitudes of people on the shore looking at us as we passed. The flying proas kept at a distance from us, till we beckoned and made signs for them to come near, and at length one came within a ship's length, in which were ten men entirely naked, in the midst of whom was a grave old man of a pleasant countenance, entirely naked like the rest, except that he had a four-cornered cap on his head without a crown. By the respect shewn him by all the rest in the boat, we judged this man to be a king or prince. On their approach, they sung a song which continued near a quarter of an hour, and had a very pretty tune. When this was done, they came almost close to our vessel, and then sung another song, which was begun by the old man, and followed by all the rest in the boat. At the end of which, they put themselves in a posture of prayer, making many bows and cringes towards us; and then one of the men in the boat, who had a very sore leg, held it up to us, as if desiring us to cure it, whence we supposed they had never seen white men before, and deemed us more than mortals.
After some time, we made signs to let them know we wanted victuals and drink, when they shook their heads as if by way of denial. Seeing us proceeding towards the island, one of the men in the boat blew a horn, on which all the other boats made boldly towards us; and thinking they meant to board us, we fired a junket over their heads to intimidate them, at the noise of which they seemed much surprised and drew back, menacing us at a distance with their paddles, and still following. Seeing such multitudes on the shore, and finding we could have nothing from them but by force, and besides not having anchors and cables on which we could depend, or any boat in which to land, we concluded that we could do no good here; and on examining our water, which was found sufficient for eighteen days, at a quart each man daily, we resolved to quit these islands, and trust to Providence for guiding us to some more friendly place, where we might supply our wants. So we left these islands, naming the westermost the Island of Disappointment, because we made certain of procuring water here, but could not.
These three islands were all low, flat, and almost even with the water, yet full of trees of various sorts, all very green and flourishing; and doubtless, if we had possessed a boat, we must have found something beneficial to ourselves, perhaps useful to our country, as we might also at several other islands which we afterwards passed. The inhabitants of most of these islands were a very large and strong-boned race of men, having long black lank hair reaching to their middles, and were all entirely naked, not so much as covering their parts of shame; and I certainly never saw such, a parcel of stout-limbed men together in all my life. These islands, therefore, are abundantly peopled, though they were utterly averse from any communication with us, perhaps from a notion that all whites are Spaniards; and yet it is not quite clear that even the Spaniards have ever attempted to form a settlement at any of these islands.
We left these islands with a fresh breeze at E. steering S.W. and continually met with weeds and grass on our way, which made us believe we were not far from land, yet we had no ground with 100 fathoms. Early in the morning of the 9th May, we descried the coast of New Guinea, more than eighteen or nineteen leagues distant. We now saw the necessity of constructing a boat, with a few old boards and such other materials as we had, though not quite suitable for the purpose; and though neither strong nor handsome, it proved exceeding useful in the sequel. On the 9th we had very bad weather, the wind shifting to every point of the compass. This part of New Guinea appeared very mountainous, black, and rocky, without harbour, bay, or road, in which we might anchor in safety. The mountains seemed so bleak and barren, and the vallies so deep and narrow, that at first we conceived the country to be uninhabited; neither did we afterwards see any inhabitants or signs of any. That same day we passed two small islands, each about a league in length, which were very low, and well clothed with small green trees. At the same time we saw part of the great island of Gilolo, at the distance of eight leagues, and held our course W.S.W.[212] intending to pass through between that island and New Guinea, into the East Indian Sea.
[Footnote 212: The only way of explaining this part of the text, is by supposing Funnel may have mistaken the island of Waygoo for a part of New Guinea, and even the N.W. point of that island is at least sixty leagues from the S.W. leg or peninsula of Gilolo, to which the direction of his course certainly points.--E.]