ACCOUNT OF CELEBES , AMBOYNA, &C. 247

in effe&ing it. For this purpofe the Company annually fend out a Jerjeant, who isftyled the extirpator, and who goes through the woods in all the iflands, and caufesall the clove-trees which he meets with to be cut down. The King of Bouton is ob-liged to provide him guides and interpreters, as likewife with veffels, if he hand inneed of them. But, as for feveral years, he has been very negligent in fulfilling hisengagements, and has feveral times, upon various pretences, hindered the extirpatorm his fearch after the fpice-trees, the government in India have thought fit to withholdthe abovementioned pecuniary allowance this year, in order to try, by that means,■whether the fear of lofing this annual revenue (for one hundred and fifty rix-dollars,or three hundred and fixty gilders*, is really a confiderable fum in the treafury of thisprince^) will not fuffice to make him flick more clofely to his contract, and be morerelive in affiding the Company to dedroy this rich production in his country, for thebenefit of Amboyna and Banda.

By the calm weather which accompanied us from Cabyne, till we were without theToucan-befiis, which is a diflance that is commonly failed over in one day, or in aday and a half, it was not till the 26th of February that we could accomplifh this partof the navigation. We had no violent currents, either for or againd us, though weWet with fome, but they neither held any regular eourfe, nor did the moon feem tohave the lead influence upon them.

The paflage between the ifland Bouton and the Toucan-beffis is the fecond dangerousPart of the navigation for fhips going to the Moluccas , or fpice-iflands. The channelit is true, wider than that of the Budgeroons, for, by my calculation,, it is aboutfour leagues over, from the neareft part of Bouton to the wedernmod of the Toucan-heffis, but the danger is of longer duration, by the numerous little iflands which formt he clufter called the Toucan-beffis, all of them either connefted or furrounded byrocky fhoals, over and between which very rapid currents fet drongly to the ead-Ward: a great and dangerous flat called the Hoefyzer, or Horfelhoe, lies one and a half,.0r two leagues fouth of them, upon which many veffels of the Company have been

"recked.

Along the fhore of Bouton, there is, indeed, no danger to avoid but the land itfelf,.but in the narrowed part of the paflage begins a large bay, which runs into the land,,"'ud and north, into which there is much danger of being drawn by the Currents■which fet into the bay, if the point oppofite to the Toucan-beffis be approached toopear in calm weather; and if you have once fallen into the bay, there is no getting out;

1 the wed monfoon fets in again, and it may even be considered a fortunate cir-I ? Ce to fucceed in getting out then : fome of the Company’s fhips that have been,have been five or fix months before their repeated attempts to get out have:

; and among other indances, when Mr. de Clerk went as governor to Banda,was detained a whole year in this vexatious gulph, before he could profecute his.°y a ge; our navigators have, on this account, given it the appropriate name of Dwaal,.0r Midake-bay.

The two principal of the Toucan-beffis iflands-lie, by the eye, about half a league.^th-north-ead and fouth-fouth-wed from each other; I faw the northernmod, whichHot f at didance of nine leagues; they are inhabited by a people who do

ufler any drangers, and efpecialiy no Europeans among them,in n n.^ e even ‘ n g of the id of March, at funfet, we difeovered the ifland Bouro, bear—% ea d-north-ead full thirteen or fourteen leagues off by computation.

*■ 32I. 14s. 6d. flerling. Ts.

This

in,

succeeded