On the 7th, we supposed ourselves about twenty-eight or thirty leagues from _Tonan_.[5] In the morning of the 8th, we had sight of a high round island, bearing E. six leagues off, with various other islands, in six or seven directions westwards, five or six leagues off.[6] In the morning of the 8th we had sight of land bearing N.N.E. and of six great islands in a row N.E. from the island we descried the preceding evening; and at the northern end of all were many small rocks and hummocks. In a bay to the eastwards of these, we saw a high land bearing E. and E. by S. and E.S.E. which is the island called _Xima_ in the charts, but named _Maihma_ by the natives, while the former island is called _Segue_, or _Amaxay_.[7] The 10th, four great fishing-boats came aboard, about five tons burden each, having one large sail, like that of a skiff. They had each four oars of a side, resting on pins fastened to the gunwales, the heads of the pins being let into the middle of the oars, so that they hung in just equipoise, saving much labour to the rowers. These people make much more speed in rowing than our men, and perform their work standing, by which they take up less room. They told us we were just before the entrance to _Nangasaki_, which bore N.N.E.; the straits of _Arima_ being N.E. by N. and that the high hill we saw yesterday was upon the island called _Uszideke_,[8] making the straits of _Arima_, at the north end of which is good anchorage, and at the south end is the entrance to _Cahinoch_.[9] We agreed with two of the masters of these fishing-boats for thirty dollars each, and rice for their food, to pilot us to _Firando_, on which agreement their people came aboard our ship, and voluntarily performed its duty as readily as any of our own mariners. We steered N. by W. the pilots reckoning that we were thirty leagues from Firando. One of the boats which came to us at this time belonged to the Portuguese who dwelt at Nangasaki, being Christian converts, and thought our ship had been the Portuguese ship from Makao; but, on finding we were not, made all haste back again to advise them, refusing every entreaty to remain with us. [Footnote 5: The island of Tanao-sima is probably here meant, being the most southerly of the Japanese islands. It may be proper to remark, that the termination _sima_, in the names of islands belonging to Japan, obviously means _island_, like the prefix _pula_ in the names of islands in the Malay Archipelago.--E.] [Footnote 6: There is a considerable cluster of small islands south from Tanaosima, between the latitudes of 29° 30' and 30° N.--E.] [Footnote 7: Xima, or sima, only means island. Perhaps Mashama may be that named Kaba-sima in modern maps, and Amaxay may possibly be Amacusa, these islands being in the way towards Nangasaki.--E.] [Footnote 8: This seems the same island called before Amaxay, or Amacusa.--E.]