[Footnote 1: No account is given of this voyage from Bowman's islands, perhaps the Fee-jees, as already mentioned, to New Britain, neither indeed is it any way expressed on what part of New Britain they had now arrived. They probably steered a course N.W. or N.W. by W. from the Fee-jees, and fell in with the N.E. part of New Britain, now known to be a separate island, and called New Ireland; and by the lower latitude mentioned, in the text, they appear to come first to the eastern part of New Ireland; but it is impossible to say whether they went to the N. or S. of Solomon's island.--E.]
The nearer they drew towards the coast, the more they were delighted with its appearance, as giving them a nearer prospect of the wished-for refreshments. The inhabitants came down in multitudes to the coast, but in such guise as did not by any means increase their satisfaction, as they were all armed with bows and arrows and slings, and demonstrated sufficiently by their gestures that the Dutch were by no means welcome visitors, and that they were not to expect being permitted to land peaceably. As the boat approached the shore, the natives seemed to become frantic with despair, made frightful faces, tore their hair, and howled in a horrible manner; and at length, as borrowing courage from the increase of danger, they hurried into their canoes and put off from the shore, as if to meet that danger the sooner which was evidently unavoidable. As the Dutch continued their way towards the land, the natives discharged a flight of arrows at the boat, which they followed by throwing their spears or javelins, after which they threw in a shower of stones discharged from slings. Convinced now that there was nothing to be trusted to but force, the Dutch opened their fire, and kept it up with such effect, that many of the natives were slain, and the rest so terrified, that great numbers of them leapt into the water to swim ashore, and at last all the survivors followed the example, by turning their canoes towards the land. But such was their confusion and dismay, that they were now unable to distinguish the proper channels by which to get back to the coast, but ran them on the rocks and shoals. This circumstance almost deprived the Dutch of all hopes of being able to attain the coast.