with long leaves and brackish taste strongly resembling persil de mer or
samphou. The pilot Major and second mate of the _Zeehaen_ made the
following report, to wit:

That they had rowed the space of upwards of a mile round the said point
where they had found high but level land, covered with vegetation and
not cultivated but growing naturally (by the will of God) abundance of
excellent timber and a gently sloping watercourse in a barren valley;
the said water though of good quality being difficult to procure,
because the watercourse is so shallow that the water could be dipped
with bowls only.

That they had heard certain human sounds, and also sounds resembling the
music of a small trump or a small gong not far from them though they had
seen no one.

That they had seen two trees about 2 or 2-1/2 fathoms in thickness
measuring from 60-65 feet from the ground to the lowermost branches,
which trees bore notches made with flint implements, the bark having
been removed for the purpose; these notches forming a kind of steps to
enable persons to get up the trees and rob birds' nests in their tops
were fully five feet apart; so that our men concluded that the natives
here must be of very tall stature or must be in possession of some sort
of artifice for getting up the said trees. In one of the trees these
notched steps were so fresh and new that they seemed to have been cut
less than four days ago.

That on the ground they discovered the footprints of animals, not unlike
those of a tiger's claws. They also brought on board a small quantity of
gum, of a seemingly very fine quality, which had exuded from trees, and