I Accordingly Went Into The Native Town, And
Could Only Find Two Boats For Hire, One Much Larger Than I
Required, And The Other Far Smaller Than I Wished.
I chose the
smaller one, chiefly because it would not cost me one-third as
much as the larger
One, and also because in a coasting voyage a
small vessel can be more easily managed, and more readily got
into a place of safety during violent gales, than a large one. I
took with me my Bornean lad Ali, who was now very useful to me;
Lahagi, a native of Ternate, a very good steady man, and a fair
shooter, who had been with me to New Guinea; Lahi, a native of
Gilolo, who could speak Malay, as woodcutter and general
assistant; and Garo, a boy who was to act as cook. As the boat
was so small that we had hardly room to stow ourselves away when
all my stores were on board, I only took one other man named
Latchi, as pilot. He was a Papuan slave, a tall, strong black
fellow, but very civil and careful. The boat I had hired from a
Chinaman named Lau Keng Tong, for five guilders a month.
We started on the morning of October 9th, but had not got a
hundred yards from land, when a strong head wind sprung up,
against which we could not row, so we crept along shore to below
the town, and waited till the turn of the tide should enable us
to cross over to the coast of Tidore.
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