NEAR this harbour they touched at some islands, where they found great numbers of seals, and despairing now to find any passage through the northern parts, he, after a general consultation, determined to steer away to the Moluccas, and setting sail July 25th, he sailed for sixty-eight days without sight of land; and, on September 30th, arrived within view of some islands, situate about eight degrees northward from the line, from whence the inhabitants resorted to them in canoes, hollowed out of the solid trunk of a tree, and raised at both ends so high above the water, that they seemed almost a semi-circle; they were burnished in such a manner, that they shone like ebony, and were kept steady by a piece of timber, fixed on each side of them, with strong canoes, that were fastened at one end to the boat, and at the other to the end of the timber.