On the 30th the wind was N. with good weather, so that we also sent out the pinnace of the Aernem in order to take soundings in various directions 2 or 3 miles from the yachts; at low water we saw various sandbanks and reefs lying dry, to wit E.S.E., S.S.W. and W.; in the afternoon the pinnace of the Aernem returned on board, having found shallows everywhere at 2 miles' distance. Towards the evening the boat of the Pera also returned, when we heard from the steersman that they had been E. by S. and E.S.E. of the yachts, at about 8 miles' distance, where they had found very shallow water, no more than 7, 8, 9 and 10 feet, which extended a mile or more, and was succeeded by depths Of 2, 2Ω, 3, 5 and 7 fathom; they had found the land to extend E. and E. by N., and to be very low-lying and muddy, and overgrown with low brushwood and wild trees. On the 31st the wind was N.N.E. with rain. In the afternoon I rowed with the two pinnaces to one of the reefs in order to examine the state of things between the yachts and the land, which space had fallen dry at low tide; in the afternoon the skipper of the Pera also got orders to row to the land with the boat duly manned and armed, in order to ascertain whether anything could be done for the service of our Masters, and to attempt to get a parley with the inhabitants and to get hold of one or two of them, if practicable; very late in the evening the boat returned on board, and we were informed by the skipper that, although it was high water, they could not come nearer than to a pistol-shot's distance from the land owing to the shallow water and the soft mud; they also reported the land to be low-lying and half-submerged, overgrown with brushwood and wild trees. * * * {Page 34} NOTE. (The Drooge Bocht, where we were compelled to leave the western extremity of Nova Guinea is in 9 degrees 20 minutes S. Lat.)