OF TTIF, VEKCITT^DK DRAEOK, ETC. 79
number, most probably, came to an untimely end. Accord- ing to the reports which were made, some men or some signs of the wreck had been noticed, although the Gocde Hooj^, which had been at the place where the ship was supposed to have been wrecked, gave a different statement.
Subsequently the commander at the Cape of Good Hope, according to instructions sent to him, gave orders in the year 165T to the fly-boat Vmch, bound thence to Batavia, to touch en passant at the same place where the above-mentioned disaster had occurred, that search might be made for the unfortunate men. But his vessel also having arrived at the unfavourable season, found no means of landing either with fly-boat or boat, so as to make a proper search. According to its reports, having, on the 8th of June, 1657, during the daytime, seen signs of land in 29" 7' south latitude, and the weather being very favourable, they anchored at night in twenty-five fathoms water, the bottom being coarse sand mixed with coral. In the morning, when day dawned, they saw the surf breaking over the reef at the foot of which they lay, and on one side of them the Southland, presenting a low sandy shore, on which their anchor lifted. They continued their course along the coast in order to observe the land, which was still kept in sight the following day. The weather, however, became so boisterous, and the breakers rolled all along the coast with such violence, that they were compelled to put out a little further to sea, yet, throughout the 10th and 11th of June, they still followed the coast line in forty or fifty fathoms water. However, the chance of landing grew gradually less as they proceeded, for the weather con- tinued stormy, with thunder and lightning, so that it became necessary to get clear of the coast. They allowed their ship to drive before the wind under bare poles until the 12th, when they loosened sail a little, the wind shifting between S., S.S.AV., and S.S.E., and stood out towards Batavia, where they arrived on the 27th.
