mountains that will be hereafter mentioned, that this country is very
subject to earthquakes, and if so, without doubt it abounds with metals
and minerals, of which we have also another proof from a point in which
all these writers agree, viz., that the people they saw had rings on
their noses and ears, though none of them tell us of what metal these
rings were made, which Le Maire might easily have done, since he carried
off a man from one of the islands whose name was Moses, from whom he
learned that almost every nation on this coast speaks a different
language.



CHAPTER XVI: ARRIVES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF BURNING ISLAND, AND SURVEYS
THE WHOLE COAST OF NEW GUINEA.


On the 20th, in the latitude of 5 degrees 4 minutes south, and in the
longitude 164 degrees 27 minutes, we found the variation 8 degrees 30
minutes east. We that night drew near the Brandande Yland, _i.e_.,
burning island, which William Schovten mentions, and we perceived a great
flame issuing, as he says, from the top of a high mountain. When we were
between that island and the continent, we saw a vast number of fires
along the shore and half-way up the mountain, from whence we concluded
that the country must be very populous. We were often detained on this
coast by calms, and frequently observed small trees, bamboos, and shrubs,
which the rivers on that coast carried into the sea; from which we
inferred that this part of the country was extremely well watered, and
that the land must be very good. The next morning we passed the burning
mountain, and continued a west-north-west course along that coast.