Travels in India (Tavernier) 149.2.2

149.2.2

Eight days afterwards we found that we were off Point de Galle, and we took in some of our sails in order to gain the port, one of the worst in all India, on account of the rocks, which are at a level with the water in many places. It is for this reason that as soon as a vessel is sighted at sea the Governor-General sends two pilots to direct and bring her into port. But as we had both weather and sea sufficiently favourable, the captain and pilots, who had never been there before, not realising that we had passed the reefs, which they thought were nearer to land, and seeing that no pilot came to bring the vessel into port, turned to sea again ; this caused much surprise to the Governor and the pilots, who did not come out because they saw that we had passed the danger. The wind then commencing to change, drove us 9 or 10 leagues out to sea, and consequently we were two or three days beating about before we could remake the port. If the wind had driven us a little farther to sea we should have been obliged to go to winter at Masulipatam, in the Gulf of Bengal. At length the pilots of Point de Galle having come out for us, we entered the port and landed on the 12th of May. I immediately went to visit the Governor Madsuere, who is at present General at Batavia, and he did me the honour to invite me to eat always with him during the sojourn which I made there.