What else it
yielded we knew not. The 11th July, we again passed the equator, where
we were becalmed, with excessive heat, and much thunder and lightning.
The 19th we descried land, which seemed many islands, locked as it were
into one, in lat. 2 deg. N. under the high coast of the great island of
Sumatra.[71] We here sent off our boat to get some fresh water; but the
sea went with so violent a breach [surf] upon the shore, that the
people durst not land. The natives of the island, or islands, made great
fires along the shore, as if inviting us to land.
[Footnote 70: Diego Garcia, in the indicated latitude nearly, and in
long. 72 deg. E. from Greenwich. - E.]
[Footnote 71: There is no such cluster of islands in the indicated
latitude and situation; but off the S.W. coast of Sumatra, between the
line and lat. 2 deg. N. are several islands of some size, considerably
distant from each other and from Sumatra. - E.]
The 28th we anchored near a small island, where we sent our boat ashore
for fresh water; but finding none, the people brought off some
cocoa-nuts, saying that the island was quite full of cocoa palms, which
had very few nuts upon them.
