Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/454

426 but instantly returned towards the shore, without hailing us. On coming still nearer the land, we saw both natives and canoes, upon the sandy beach. We sounded several times, with thirty fathoms of line; but found no bottom.

About four o'clock P.M. we saw the Island of Batou, bearing south-east, distant about 10,000 toises. It is separated from Timor, only by an interval of 2,500 toises.

26th. Calms being frequent on the coast of Timor, we stood off shore this afternoon, by help of a breeze from the south, and steered towards the west; but without finding a steadier wind. Those calms appear to be caused by the heats, which at that season of the year are the more violent, as the sun darts his rays almost perpendicularly.

The continuance of the calms renders the navigation very troublesome along those coasts, on which there is always danger of being thrown by the currents. The great irregularity of those currents, renders it very difficult to construct charts of those coasts; and hence the great disagreement between those which have been hitherto offered to the public.

A great number of whales of different species, several times surrounded our ship, and leaped out of