Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	degree_n	latitude_n	minute_n	5,380	5	11.8773	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64545	A relation of the voyage to Siam performed by six Jesuits, sent by the French King, to the Indies and China, in the year, 1685 : with their astrological observations, and their remarks of natural philosophy, geography, hydrography, and history / published in the original, by the express orders of His Most Christian Majesty ; and now made English, and illustrated with sculptures.; Voyage de Siam des pères jésuites. English	Tachard, Guy, 1651-1712.	1688 (1688)	Wing T96; ESTC R16161	188,717	400

the South and South-East Wind that reigns there constantly in that Season But we came to know afterward that it was Mony when we saw exacter Charts at Batavia which placed that Isle just in ten Degrees eleven Minutes South Latitude The Treasurer General show'd us that the first Day we went ashoar when we acquainted him with the Danger we had been in he called an old Pilot who shew'd us in a great Chart that Isle placed exactly as we found it The Signs of being near the Land of Mony are three sorts of Birds which the Sea-men call Boobies Frigats and Tropick Birds or Straw in Tails according to the French. The first suffer themselves to be catcht with the Hand when in the Fore-part of the Night they come and perch upon the Yards of the Ship and the Last have Feathers in the Tail about twenty inches long which one would take for Straws seeing them at a distance and that 's the reason the French call them by that Name In all that long Passage we saw nothing remarkable unless it were some Porposes pretty different from those we formerly spoke of as to Bigness Shape and Colour for they are bigger and whiter by one half and have the Snout shorter and almost round as you may see by the Figure of them in the following Map of the Road of Bantam Seeing they are fairer than the others and that many took them at first for the Dorado's we thought they were the Fish known to the Antients by the Name of Dolphins We caught no Fish from the Time we put out from the Cape the Seas being too rough for Fishing We saw Grampusses which are like little Whales and some others bigger that spouted the Water up in the Air above fifteen or sixteen foot high by what we could judge at the distance we saw them at A VOYAGE TO SIAM The Third BOOK The Voyage from the Isle of Java to the Kingdom of Siam AVgust 5. We Discovered a great Coast of Land and standing in with it Arrival at the Isle of Java found it to be the Isle of Java when we thought our selves to be far from it This made us observe that that Island lies much more to the West A considerable mistake in the Hydrographical and Geographical Charts and by consequent is nearer by threescore Leagues to the Cape of Good-hope than it is marked in the Geographical Maps Therefore it was that we came in with the Land above threescore Leagues farther up than the most Western point of that Isle which we lookt for An error to be imputed to the Charts and not to the inability of the Pilots who all along Sailed very exactly and always kept reckoning that we should make the Land the same day that we saw it both at the Isle of Java and the Cape of Good-hope as we have already observed The sight of these Lands seemed somewhat rare to us they are covered with Trees of a most lovely verdure which yield a pleasant smell to the Ships that Sail along the Coast at two or three Leagues distance We Coasted along that Isle with so good a wind that in a day and a halfs time we made the sixty Leagues which we had run too far to the East and Monday evening the sixth of August were got to the entry into the Streight of the Sound which is made by the Isles of Java and Sumatra But what surprised us more and was a sign of Gods particular Providence upon our Voyage the same evening that we saw the entry into the Streight of the Sound we made the Maligne which was separated from us by the bad weather I mentioned June 24. in the night time and which we had never seen since Though my Lord Ambassador and several others took it to be the Frigat yet we could not be sure of that because it was already late and the weather dark We were not certain it was she till eight days after in the Road of Bantam where we joyned her again The Pilots who were aboard of her having made the Streight in good time put into it and having a fair wind came to the place of Anchoring But it being usual to shoot the Streight of the Sound betwixt the Princes Isle and Sumatra keeping as near as may be to the Princes Isle which we could not make plainly because of the night we were forced to tack and stand off to Sea all the night long So that since we could not make the best of the fair weather which then we had which would have easily carried us beyond the Princes Isle we fell too low and spent the rest of the week in the Streight which is not above thirty Leagues in length strugling and beating against the Currents and contrary winds One of our Pilots assured us that the Sun of the East of which he was aboard in an East-India Voyage was three full weeks stopped there and could not get to Bantam but as she was towed with Boats. We entred then the Streight of the Sound three days after we made the Land of Java but the Princes Island lying at the mouth of the streight betwixt Java and Sumatra and dividing it into two we entred by the more Northern Passage which is the larger and safer betwixt the Princes Isle and Sumatra We made many Tacks to double the Isle of Cacatoua so called because of the white Parrots that are upon that Isle which incessantly repeat that name we did I say all that lay in our power to double the Isle or Cacatoüa which lyes pretty near to Sumatra that so we might stand in with the Land of Java but all our attempts were unsuccessful because the wind was too weak and Currents too strong in the middle of the Channel That which causes the Currents is because the water that for several Months has been forced into the Streights by the South and South-west-winds which reign commonly from the Month of March to September set our again impetuously during the other six Months of the year being bent back by the East and North East winds We had the wind so cross and the Currents so contrary that it was thought best to keep as close in as we could by the Shore of the Princes Isle Breezes rise on Sumatra at certain hours of the day by the help of some Breezes that came from Sumatra and which for some hours interrupted the great heats and dead calms that are common in that season in the Streights of the Sound By the help of those little Breezes we were in hopes by little and little to come up with the Land of Java but it behoved us first to double the Princes Isle which is pretty big and lies in the mouth of the Streight After all the view which we had of the Land and of several small Islands all decked in verdure comforted us a little for the time which we lost in that Streight The danger the Ship was in in the

Month in the Night-time we re-passed the Tropick of Capricorn and from that day forward we sailed as near as we could upon a Wind until we came in sight of the Isle of Java For we were afraid of falling too much to the Northward A Caution not to be neglected in that course and by consequence to the Leeward of the Streight of the Sound which would have mightily perplexed us because the Trade-winds and Currents that are in those Parts not suffering us to enter it we would have been obliged to put into the Isle of Ceilon or Sumatra Therefore we desired Winds that might suffer us to bear away more to the East to the end we might come up with the Land of Java However perceiving that the contrary Winds still continued on Wednesday the five and twentieth of July we held Counsel to determine whether or not we should bear away still North-east that we might pass betwixt the Isles of Cocos and the Trial or if we should go and make New-Holland Two of our Pilots were of this last Opinion trusting to particular Instructions that set off the Course so and they alledged that the Winds changed not and that if we went and made these Lands they would be fair for us for entering into the Streight of the Sound The other three were against it because of the Dangers that are to be met with along that Coast and the many Shipwracks that happen there besides they made it appear that it was very difficult to pass betwixt the Trial and the Land The Trial are three pretty low Islands and that so it was better to make up to the Isle of Java They said that in a short time the Winds would change or that at worst we might put in to Sumatra that this Course though irksome enough was nevertheless safe and that it was better to resolve upon it than to run the risk of being cast away This last advice was followed and it proved to be the best as may be seen in the Sequel The truth is the Winds became no fairer afterwards than they had been before but seeing the Isles of Java was not so far from us as our Pilots relying upon their Carts imagined in a short time we found our selves a good deal higher than the Streight of the Sound and we entered it as you shall hear We would not trust to the Experience and good advice of Monsieur de St. Martin who assured us that the Isle of Java was ill placed in the common Maps and that it was about an hundred Leagues nearer the Cape and much more to the Leeward than was believed We hold on that course then steering North East in hopes of a fairer Wind The W●●●ing contr●● we be took our selves to Prayers again but seeing after long Sailing the wind changed not we vowed another Novenary which we began with fresh Zeal and Devotion About me half of the Shi● Company were dangerously dark and 〈◊〉 were so feeble and spent that they cold ●●t work the Ship. The Sea-men of St. Malo show a particular Devotion The Seamen who be●●ed ●o St. Malo resolved to give s●ne Token of their Devotion towards St. Saviour ●heir Pat●●n They sent two or three of their Number to one of our Fathers to pray him that he would assist them in their good Desires and prescribe to them what was to be done for rendring their Vow acceptable to their Holy Patron This Custom they have amongst them which they inviolably observe that when they are in any Danger at Sea they promise to St. Saviour to go and visit his Church in Linnen that 's to say in their Shirt to communicate there and to have a solemn Mass sung They had already agreed among themselves to make this Vow many of their Townsmen who were sick of the Scurvey put that Thought into their Minds and egg'd on to the Performance of it When they had proposed their Design they were told that they must begin by Confession and Communicating that so they might be in a Condition to have their Prayers heard They prepared themselves accordingly during the rest of the Week and on Sunday all of them confessed and communicated When they had done so the Father to whom they had applied themselves went up upon-the Fore-castle and having made them to kneel published aloud the Promise which they made to God if by the Intercession of St. Saviour they obtained a fair Wind and a happy Return into their own Country Providence without doubt is in all places wonderful but I dare be bold to say and I have often found it by Experience that it shows it self in a particular manner at Sea. We had never begged fair Weather with greater Confidence and we never thought we stood more in need of it during all our Voyage Nevertheless God would not hear our Prayers and we were asto●●●d to find our selves already at the end of our M●●enary without any the least sign of the change of Weather Gods special Protection of our Ship. But we were soon happily undeceived and we found that after all our Vow● and Prayers we must resign our selves to the Providence of God. For had our Prayers been heard and had God granted us the Wind which we so earnestly begged on the Twelfth of August in the Night-time we had infallibly run foul of a little low Island and been in great danger of being cast away We did not make that Isle before next Morning at break of Day when we had already past almost one half of it being no more but about two Leagues off on 't So that if that Night we had had a fair Wind to carry us streight North-East as our Pilots thought best for us we could not have avoided being lost because that Isle lies almost in the tenth Degree of Latitude for some time we took it to be the Isle of Cocos which we thought we had already past and the rather because it is marked in the Sea-charts to lye in the twelfth Degree of South Latitude We could not imagine that it should be the Isle of Mony the most Southern The Perplexity we were in before we came to the Isle of Java and most Eastern of the two Isles which lye near the Coast of Java either because Mony is set down in the common Charts to be in eight Degrees of Latitude or else because we did not all that Day nor next see the other little Isle which is very near to it And so our sick Men who were in very great number having turned out to see Land were much dejected when they found it was not that which they expected but they had far sadder Hearts when they came to understand that we did not know where we were In this Doubt we took the surest Course and steered away East for fear of falling to the Leeward of the Streight of the Sound into which it would have been difficult to enter by reason of

Streight Nay we were like to have been stranded one night upon the Princes Isle as we endeavoured to bear close in with it We had not observed that the Tide which was not perceived in the middle of the Streight was pretty strong near Land and seeing we resolved to rake along very near the Shore because the Coast is safe and that within a Pistol-shot of Land there is no ground to be found that night we fetcht aboard into the Island that we might recover what the Currents and Tide had made us lose the day before Hardly were we got out of the strength of the Currents when the Officer that was upon the Watch and the Seamen who were upon the Deck took notice that the Ship ran apace towards Land. They had only time to tack about and stand off which was done so much in the nick that when the Ship was about and the Sails trimmed one might easily have thrown a stone on Shore from the Poup of our Ship. If Ships could come to an Anchor in the Streight they would not be exposed to that danger but no ground being to be found in it at least off of the Princes Isle we were forced to keep continually under Sail and when it was a Calm to keep at large amongst the Currents which made us lose sometimes in less than three hours what with small Breezes we had got in four before Thus we spent several days in passing that Island where we had leizure enough to make tryal of the extraordinary heats of that Climate and to consider Sumatra which appeared to us always covered with a black thick mist and in the evening with continual flashes of Lightning Extraordinary Thunder and Lightning at Java and Sumatra Thunder is very common there and amongst others we had one Clap so hard and smart that many took it for a Canon-shot and some dabb'd down their heads as if it had been to avoid the Bullet At length a good Breeze did our work for us made us double the Isle and carried us upon the Coast of Java When we were got in with that Land we advanced by little and little dropping an Anchor so soon as the wind left us In the mean time vast numbers of the Javaners Canoes which they call Praux came on Board of us every minute The Javaners came on Board in their little Boats. These Boats are made of one entire piece of Timber hollowed and some of them are so little that with much ado can they hold their Man sitting We were altogether astonished to see these poor People venture out so many Leagues at Sea in such brittle Boats wherewith they danced upon the Waves and advanced with incredible swiftness to bring us fresh Provisions And because these Praux Sail in a quite different manner from other Canoes I thought fit to give you the figure of one under Sail in the Road of Bantam The Javaners are well shaped and strong they seem to be sprightly and resolute but the extraordinary heat of the Climate obliges them to go almost naked They who live in the middle of the Isle are Idolaters and the rest who inhabit the Coasts are Mahometans all Superstitious to excess When they came on Board we offered them Bread Wine and Brandy but there was not one of them that would take any thing saying that it was their fasting time and that their Law prohibited the drinking of Wine Notwithstanding all this they are bold Robbers and Thieves I saw one of them openly in the day time carry off a Seamans shirt which he had fastned to a line and held it by one end It was to no purpose for him to cry out and make a noise For the Javaner who held it only in one hand and row'd with the other was too strong for him and carried it clearly away The whole Nation are not subject to this Vice and there are some of them very faithful One of them coming on Board of us to sell some small refreshments he seemed to be so honest that some Gentlemen of the Ambassadors retinue who could not go ashore to buy some things they stood in need of trusted him with their Money He promised to bring them what they desired against the time they had prefixt This Javaner was so true to his word that the Ambassador having ordered to set Sail before the appointed hour he nevertheless got into his Praux with his Provisions and made so much hast that he came up with the Ship and gave an account of his Commission and brokeage even to the last farthing We did not come to sight of the Road of Bantam before the fifteenth of August The Road of Bantam the Assumption day of our Lady as we had arrived at the Cape on the Ascention day of our Lord. This is one of the fairest and most commodious Roads in the World. It is about eight or nine Leagues in circumference The Land on all sides is but low and yet there is always very smooth water in it The Town of Bantam which is pretty big lyes at the middle of the B●y and the houses of it are all of Wood. Towards the middle of the Road there is a small Fort ●here the King lives and where the Dutch since they became Masters of it keep a good Garrison till they have time to build a strong Fort which is already pretty well advanced Bantam was heretofore a Town of Trade especially for Pepper where all the Europeans entertained great Commerce But for these two or three years that it is fallen into the hands of the Dutch in the manner we shall hereafter relate none are suffered to come to it and all the Trade is removed to Batavia Hear you have the view of it as it appeared to us after we came to an Anchor At first we designed to go to Batavia to take in fresh Provisions but the season being already far spent we were afraid we might lose the Mousson that is to say the proper time tor Sayling to Siam Besides the passage from Bantam to Batavia tho not above fourteen or fifteen Leagues in length being very difficult because of Islands Banks ●nd Rocks on all hands it was thought convenient to stop in the Road of Bantam that we might lose no time and get more speedy relief for our sick Men who for most part were in a sad condition And therefore my Lord Ambassador resolved next Morning to send to Bantam to him who commanded in the Fort for the Dutch and to demand permission of him to take in fresh Provisions and put our sick Men on Shore That is the Sovereign remedy for that distemper which the French call the Land-Evil and which to speak properly is nothing else but a corruption of the Blood caused by bad Food and salt Victuals This evil begins commonly in the Gums which at first grow very red then black and at last entirely rot so that to prevent the Corruption from spreading farther