us in two days, giving great encouragement to hope for abundance of cloves.  He told us that the Dutch gave 50 dollars the bahar, but they would cost us 60, which I very readily promised to give.  The 7th we weighed from this anchorage or road, called Amascan; and, by direction of our new pilots, steered W. and W. by N. for Machian, leaving two islands to larboard, four or five miles from Amascan; we had twenty-two, thirty, and even forty fathoms, two cables length only off the island.  The 10th we had sight of Machian, being a high and capped island, bearing N.E. and the island of Tidore opening like a sugar-loaf on its western side, but not such high land as Machian.  We anchored in twenty-three fathoms, a mile from a little island in the mouth of a strait or passage among islands five leagues from the straits of Namorat, and fourteen leagues from the road of Amascan, where is the Dutch fort we had been near in Bachian.  The 11th in the morning, we weighed with the wind at S.S.E. and the current setting to the northwards, enabled us to pass the straits.  The wind then veered to N.W. by N. on which we stood east till noon, when we tackt to westwards, and had sight of Gilolo, a long land.  Our depth going out of the strait was from twenty-nine to thirty-four fathoms, and we had many islands to the E. and E.S.E.  The point of old Bachian was three or four leagues north of the strait, leaving four islands to starboard.  The island which makes that side of the strait is called Tavally Backar, where we anchored and remained till the 12th, waiting for Key Malladaia, being the place where he appointed to come to us, being ten leagues from Machian.  In this island of Tavally we had plenty of wood, but no water.  The 13th our coopers provided themselves with rattans, which make excellent hoops, and of which there was abundance to be had here of all sizes.

[Footnote 425:  Tahannee is a town on the island of Machian, where the Portuguese formerly had a fort, but there is none now, neither for them nor the Hollanders.  There is here the best anchorage in the whole island, and though very near the shore, yet perfectly safe.—­Purchas.]

As Key Malladaia did not make his appearance on the 14th, his people doubted that the Dutch had detained him, on seeing us making our way among the islands, and suspecting he was in treaty with us.  Wherefore we set sail with the wind at N.W. and plied up towards Machian.  The channel between Bachian, Machian, Tidore, and Ternate, stretches N. by W. and S. by E. and is six leagues across in its narrowest part.  In the morning of the 15th, we passed between Gilolo, otherwise called Batta-china and Caia, our latitude at noon being 0 deg. 17’ N. so that Machian was not truly placed on our chart, in which the equator is made to pass through its middle, whereas we found it five leagues more to the northwards.  The 16th in the morning we were close by the island of Caia,