standing, by which they take up less room. They told us we were just
before the entrance to _Nangasaki_, which bore N.N.E.; the straits of
_Arima_ being N.E. by N. and that the high hill we saw yesterday was
upon the island called _Uszideke_,[8] making the straits of _Arima_, at
the north end of which is good anchorage, and at the south end is the
entrance to _Cahinoch_.[9] We agreed with two of the masters of these
fishing-boats for thirty dollars each, and rice for their food, to pilot
us to _Firando_, on which agreement their people came aboard our ship,
and voluntarily performed its duty as readily as any of our own
mariners. We steered N. by W. the pilots reckoning that we were thirty
leagues from Firando. One of the boats which came to us at this time
belonged to the Portuguese who dwelt at Nangasaki, being Christian
converts, and thought our ship had been the Portuguese ship from Makao;
but, on finding we were not, made all haste back again to advise them,
refusing every entreaty to remain with us.

[Footnote 5: The island of Tanao-sima is probably here meant, being the
most southerly of the Japanese islands. It may be proper to remark, that
the termination _sima_, in the names of islands belonging to Japan,
obviously means _island_, like the prefix _pula_ in the names of islands
in the Malay Archipelago.--E.]

[Footnote 6: There is a considerable cluster of small islands south from
Tanaosima, between the latitudes of 29° 30' and 30° N.--E.]

[Footnote 7: Xima, or sima, only means island. Perhaps Mashama may be
that named Kaba-sima in modern maps, and Amaxay may possibly be Amacusa,
these islands being in the way towards Nangasaki.--E.]

[Footnote 8: This seems the same island called before Amaxay, or