small Showers of Rain. Steer'd along shore S.W. and S.W. by W. until 6 o'Clock in the morning, when we steer'd W.S.W., and at 9, W., at which time we saw the Island Rotte right ahead. At Noon we were in the Latitude of 10° 39′, Long. 235° 57′; the S. end of Timor bore N.N.W., distant 5 or 6 Leagues; the Island of Rotte extending from S. 75° W. to N. 67° W., and the Island of Anaboa as Dampier calls it, or Seman[1] as it is called in the Charts, which lies of the S. end of Timor, bore N.W. Course and distance sail'd since Yesterday noon S. 55° 15′ W., 67 Miles. Dampier, who has given us a large and, so far as I know, an Accurate discription of the Island of Timor, says that it is 70 Leagues long and 16 Broad, and that it lies N.E. and S.W. I found the East side to lie nearest N.E. by E. and S.W. by W., and the S. end to lie in the Lat. 10° 23′ S, Long. 236° 5′ W. from Greenwich. We run about 45 Leagues along the East side, which I observed to be free from Danger, and, excepting near the S. end, the Land which bounds the Sea is low for 2, 3, or 4 Miles inland, and seem'd in many places to be intersected with Salt Creeks. Behind the low land are Mountains, which rise one above another to a considerable height. We continually saw upon it smoakes by day and fires by night, and in many places houses and plantations. I was strongly importuned by some of my Officers to go to the Dutch settlement at Concordia, on this Island, for refreshments; but this I refused to comply with, knowing that the Dutch look upon all Europeans with a Jealous Eye that come among these Islands, and our necessities were not so great as to oblige me to put into a place where I might expect to be but indifferently treated.
Monday, 17th.—Winds Easterly, with which we steer'd W.N.W. until 2 o'Clock, when being pretty near the N. end of Rotte, we hauled up N.N.W., in order to go between it and Anaboa. After steering 3 Leagues upon this Course we edged away N.W. by W., and by 6 we were clear of all the Islands; at this time the S. part of Anaboa, which lies in the Latitude of 10° 15′ S., bore N.E., distant 4 Leagues, and the Island of Rotte extending as far to the Southward as S. 36° W. The N. End of this Island and the S. end of Timor lies N. ½ E. and ½ W., distant about 3 or 4 Leagues from each other. At the W. end of the Passage between Rotte and Anaboa are two Small Islands; the one lays near the Rotte shore and the other off the S.W. point of Anaboa; there is a good Channel between the 2 of 5 or 6 Miles broad, which we came thro'. Being now clear of the Islands we steer'd a W. course all night
- ↑ Semao. This island lies off the Dutch settlement of Koepang or Concordia in Timor; but Cook was right in supposing he would have received but a cold reception there. The Dutch discouraged any visits at their outlying settlements. Rotte is a large island lying off the south-west end of Timor.
