I had heard also that there were both Dutch and Portuguese settlements on
this island; but whereabouts I knew not: however I was resolved to search
about till I found either one of these settlements, or water in some
other place.

It was now almost night and I did not care to run near the land in the
dark, but clapped on a wind and stood off and on till the next morning,
being September 15th, when I steered in for the island, which now
appeared very plain, being high, double and treble land, very remarkable,
on whatever side you view it. See a sight of it in 2 parts, Table 5
Number 1. At 3 in the afternoon we anchored in 14 fathom, soft black oasy
ground, about a mile from the shore. See 2 sights more of the coast in
Table 5 Numbers 2 and 3, and the island itself in the particular map;
which I have here inserted to show the course of the voyage from hence to
the eastward; as the general map shows the course of the whole voyage.
But in making the particular map I chose to begin only with Timor, that I
might not, by extending it too far, be forced to contract the scale too
much among the islands, etc., of the New Guinea coast, which I chiefly
designed it for.

The land by the sea on this south side is low and sandy, and full of tall
straight-bodied trees like pines, for about 200 yards inwards from the
shore. Beyond that, further in towards the mountains, for a breadth of
about 3 miles more or less, there is a tract of swampy mangrove land
which runs all along between the sandy land of the shore on one side of
it, and the feet of the mountains on the other. And this low mangrove
land is overflown every tide of flood by the water that flows into it
through several mouths or openings in the outer sandy skirt against the
sea. We came to an anchor right against one of these openings; and