Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/71

 Rh. This is the distance which Barros states that he had to sail in order to reach that island. Had he sailed to the nearest of the two other points his voyage would have been, instead of sixty leagues, more than twice that distance; whereas the very nearness of the island was a leading inducement for undertaking the voyage, as the object was to relieve the immediate necessities of the settlement at Ternate. Upon landing at the point thus shown to be the northernmost one, the fact of his having carried with him stuffs for barter being discovered by the natives, converted the friendly feeling with which they had at first received him into hostility, as, having heard of some previous acts of greediness on the part of the Portuguese, they immediately concluded that the visit was not made in a spirit of friendship, but from selfish and ulterior motives. Hence Sequeira and his party were compelled to make their escape in haste, and proceeded to four or five other small islands in the neighbourhood, at which they met with a like reception. The map will show these plainly to the north of Celebes. Resolving after these rebuffs to return to Ternate, they encountered a terrific storm, which drove them, to the best of their calculation, three hundred leagues, into an open sea, with not a single island in sight, but constantly towards the east. At length one night they struck upon an island and unshipped their rudder. They met with a most friendly reception from the natives, who are described as of a light, rather than a dark, colour, and clothed. The island is stated to have been large, and the natives