unsavoury mess. All the bread, except a few pounds, was lost. The men had half allowance of rum divided between dinner and supper, (sometimes more on hard fags,) and the officers two glasses of wine at dinner, and a quarter allow ince of rum (a small dramglass) at supper. It is astonishing how soon order sprung out of confusion, and the general cheerfulness and content which prevailed, for Saturday night was drank in defiance of the Malays.

A small bag of oatmeal was found one morning, which some of the young Scotch midshipmen considered as their own, and sat down, with great glee and smiling countenances, round a washhand basin full of burgoo, made from it; but they reckoned too securely on the antipathies of their English friends, (for not thinking this, perhaps, a proper time for indulging national prejudices) they claimed their share, and managed to get through it without a wry face. A few weeks schooling on a desert isle would also be a great blessing to many thousands who are capriciously unl appy in the midst of superfluity, and wretched only because they have never known distress.

The guards at the posts, covering the boats, were generally under charge, alternately, of Lieut. Hay, Messrs. Casey, Johnstone, Sykes, Abbot, Brownrigg, and Hope. The garrison duty, at night, was conducted, in turns, by the surgeon, chaplain, Messrs. Eden, Raper, Mostyn, Stopford, and Gore; thus making it light, and enabling them to keep their eyes open, and walk vigilantly round to oberve that all the sen

tries were on the alert, and called out every quarter of an hour; the younger midshipmen, Messrs. Maxwell, Martin, Hawthorn, Gordon, and Browne, being perched, in rotation, on the look-out rock during the day, to watch the motions of the pirates, and give notice of any ship or vessel which might appear in the offing.

As there is no evil from which some good may not be derived, so the young officers had, on the present occasion, an opportunity of marking the resources which spring from self-possession and cool exertion, even under the most appalling difficulties; and thereby of imbibing a character of promptitude, with a contempt of helpless indecision-a failing of all others, in cases of danger or emergency, not only the most injurious to private fame, but to the publ.c service.

It is somewhat remarkable, that, during our stay here of nineteen days, exposed alternately to heavy rain, and the fierce heat of a vertical sun, none were taken sick, and those who landed so (some very ill) all recovered, except a marine, who was in the last stage of a liver complaint, contracted whilst in China, as one of guard to the Embassador. Another man, of very troublesome character, thought proper to leave his companions on the third day after landing. He may have been bitten by a serpent in the woods, and died there, or have fallen into the hands of the savages; but be was never afterwards heard of. We marked with oil and blacking, in large characters, on the rocks, the date of our departure, to be a guide to any that might come

there

there in quest of us, and in the afternoon of the 7th, we bid adieu to Pulo Leat, where it is not wonderful that, in our situation, we bould have suffered some hardp and privation; but it is remarkable, indeed, that, surround ed by so many dangers, the occurrence of any one of which would have proved fatal, that we should have escaped the whole. We had, for example, great reason to be thankful that the #hp did not fall from the rocks on which she first struck into dee,er water, for then all must Lave perished;—that no accident happened to the boats which Conveyed the embassy to Batavia; for, in that case, we should never have been heard of;-that we found water ;—that no mutiny or division took place among ourseives,-that we had been able and willing to stand our ground ainst the pirates;-and that the Ternate had succeeded in anchoring raight of the island; which she was enabled to do by a fortuitous sant of wind for an hour or two. Had we been unfortunate in any one of these circumstances, few world have remained to tell our

Tongataboo, lie nearly in latitude 20 S. to the west of Otaheite. William Mariner, then a youth, was engaged by his father's consent to accompany Captain Duck in a ship which had a two-fold commission, which was first to cruise for prizes, and then to double Cape Horn, and proceed into the Pacific Ocean in search of whales. The vessel, named the Port-au-Prince, having met with small success in the earlier part of her cruise, entered upon the second part of her commission, and employed a considerable part of the year 1805 in whaling. At length the ship anchored for the last time at Lefooga, one of the Friendly Islands, where it was deserted, first by four of the crew, and then by fifteen others. This desertion was probably the cause of an attack by the natives, which took place on the first of December 1806, and ended in the death of all the crew except Mariner, who was probably preserved in consequence of his youth. He fortunately attracted the notice of Finow, the king of the islands, before whom he was brought, and by whose orders the ship was run aground and plundered.

Mariner, who was born near London, on September 10, 1791, was somewhat past 15 at the time of this unhappy event. Under the patronage of Finow, and after his death, of his son, he passed some years in tolerable comfort; and he, with some of his remaining com. panions who had gone ashore before the massacre, were engaged to join an expedition against the Isle of Tonga. At length, in the year 1810, being with three other men, in a canoe of his own, he 8 G

cast

measure to sink their proa, for she went down almost immediately. Nothing could exceed the desperate ferocity of these people. One who had been shot through the body, but who was not quite dead, on being removed into the barge, with a view of saving him, (as his own vessel was sinking,) furiously grasped a cutlass which came within his reach, and it was not without a struggle wrenched from his hand he died in a few minutes. The consort of this proa, firing a parting shot, bore up round the north end of the island, and escaped. Their canoes (which we found very useful to us) were also brought on shore, containing several articles of plunder from the ship. They appeared to be the two identical proas which set fire to her. The prisoners (the one rather elderly, the other young) when brought on shore, seemed to have no hope of being permitted to live, and sullenly awaited their fate; but, on the wounds of the younger being dressed, the hands of the other untied, and food offered to them, with other marks of kindness, they became more cheerful, and appeared especially gratified at seeing one of their dead companions, who had been brought on shore, decently buried.

The Malays are a people of very unprepossessing aspect; their bodies of a deep bronze colour; their black teeth and reddened lips, (from chewing the betel-nut and siri,) their gaping nostrils, and lank clotted hair hanging about their shoulders and over their scowling countenances, give them altogether a fiend-like and murderous look. They are like

wise an unjoyous race, and seldom smile.

The state of one of the wounds received by the Malay (his kneejoint being penetrated, and the bones much injured) would have justified, more particularly in this kind of field practice, amputation; but, on consideration that it would be impossible to convinte him of this being done with the intention of benefitting him, and might have the appearance of torture, which it was not improbable might suggest the idea of amputation and other operations to them, in the event of any, or all of us, falling into their hands, it was determined, therefore, to try the effect of a good constitution, and careful attention. A little wigwam was built, and a blanket and other comforts given to him, his comrade being appointed his cook and attendant. They refused at first the provisions we offered them; but, on giving them some rice to prepare in their own way, they seemed satisfied. Never expecting quarter, when over-powered in their piratical attempts, and having been generally tortured when taken alive, may account for the others drowning themselves.

parture of Lord Amherst,) that they might have been froin Batavia to our relief.

The small flag (belonging to the embassy) was brought down. and displayed on the look-out rock; the strangers, each, immediately hoisted some flag at their mast-heads. Anxious to know still more about them, Mr. Sykes was allowed to advance with the union-jack, accompanied by some more of the young gentlemen, along the strand, to a considerable distance; and soon after some of their party, with a flag, set off to meet them. As they mutually approached, the Malays dropped a little in the rear of their flagbearer, and laid down their arms; ours also fell astern, and the two ancients (or colour men), wading into a creek which separated them, cautiously met each other. The Malay salamed a good deal : many fine Yorkshire bows were made on the other side: shaking hands was the next ceremony, and then, joining flags, they walked up arm and arm to the place where the captain and several others were stationed. Satisfied now they must be friends sent to our assistance, they were welcomed with cheers, and every countenance was gladdened. But our joy was of short duration; for, although their flag was laid submissively at the captain's feet, and all were sufficiently civil in their deportment, yet they turned out to be mere wanderers, employed gathering a sort of seaweed, found on the coast of these (but in still greater abundance among the Pelew) islands, said by some to be an article of commerce with the Chinese epicures, who use it like the bird-nests in their

soups. All this was made out chiefly by signs, added to a few Malay words which some understood.

Mr. Hay, with his division armed, proceeded down to their anchorage, himself and some other officers, going on board with their Rajah, (as they styled him) who expressed a great desire to see the captain on board, and sent him a present of a piece of fish, and some cocoa-nut milk. During the night many schemes were proposed as to the best mode of negotiating with these people. Some thought that, by the hope of reward, they might be induced to carry part of us to Java, and our four remaining boats would then be equal to the conveyance of the rest. Others, adverting to the treacherous character of the Malays, and the great temptation to murder us when in their power, from that sort of property still in our possession, and to them of great value, considered it safest to seize upon and disarm them, carrying ourselves to Batavia, and then most amply to remunerate them for any inconvenience they might have sustained from being pressed into the service.

The morning of Thursday, the 27th, however, perfectly relieved us from any further discussion on this subject, the Rajah and his suite having proceeded to plunder the wreck, which by this time they had espied. It is probabie they were not certain of our real situation on the first evening, but might have supposed, from seeing the uniforms, colours, and other military appearance, that some settlement, as at Minto, (in the island of Banca) had been esta

blished

blished there; and this may also account for their civility in the first instance; for, from the moment their harpy-like spirit was excited by the wreck, and they saw our real condition, there were no more offerings of fish, or of cocoa-nut milk.

To have sent the boats openly to attack them was judged impolitic; it would only have driven them off for a moment, and put them on their guard against surprise by night, should it be thought necessary, in a day or two, to do so. They could deprive us of little; for the copper bolts and iron work, which they were now most interested about, were not to us of material importance.

We had the day before moved the boats into another cove, more out of sight (from the overspreading branches of the trees,) and safer in case of attack, being commanded by two strong little ports (one having a rude draw-bridge,) erected on the rocks immediately above it, and wattled in, where an officer and piquet were nightly placed; and a new serpentine path was cut down to this inlet, communicating with our main position aloft.

On Friday, the 28th, the Malays were still employed on the wreck. A boat approached us in the forenoon; but on the gig going out to meet it, they refused to correspond, and returned to their party. No relief having appeared from Batavia, and the period being elapsed at which (as was now thought) we had reason to expect it, measures were taken, by repairing the launch and constructing a firm raft, to give us additional powers of transporting our

selves from our present abode, before our stock of provisions was entirely exhausted.

On Saturday, the 1st of March, the Malays acquired a great accession of strength, by the arrival of 14 more proas from the northward (probably of the old party,) who joined in breaking up the remains of the wreck.

At day-light, on Sunday, the 2d, still greater force having joined them during the night, the pirates (leaving a number at work on the wreck) advanced, with upwards of twenty of their heaviest vessels, towards our landing-place; fired one of their patereroes; beat their gongs; and, making a hideous yelling noise, they anchored in a line, about a cable's length from our cove. We were instantly under arms, the party covering the boats strengthened, and scouts sent out to watch their motions, as some of their boats had gone up the creek, at the back of our position; and to beat about, lest any should be lying in ambush from the land. About this time, the old Malay prisoner, who was under charge of the sentries at the well, and who had been incautiously trusted by them to cut some wood for the fire, hearing the howling of his tribe, left his wounded comrade to shift for himself, ran off into the wood, and escaped, carrying with him his hatchet. Finding, after waiting a short time in this state of preparation, that they made no attempt to land, an officer was sent a little outside the cove in a canoe, waving in a friendly manner, to try how they would act. After some deliberation, one of their boats, with several men armed