426 cook's voyage to feb. 



Early in the afternoon, the boat returned with an 

 account that the large ship was a Dutch East-India- 

 man, bound for Europe ; and the other a packet 

 from Batavia, with orders for the several ships lying 

 in the Straits. It is the custom for the Dutch ships, 

 as soon as their lading is nearly completed, to leave 

 Batavia, on account of its extreme unwholesomeness, 

 and proceed to some of the more healthy islands in 

 the Straits, where they wait for the remainder of 

 their cargo, and their dispatches. Notwithstanding 

 this precaution, the Indiaman had lost, since her de- 

 parture from Batavia, four men, and had as many 

 more whose recovery was despaired of. She had lain 

 here a fortnight, and was now about to proceed to 

 water at Cracatoa, having just received final orders 

 by the packet. 



At seven in the morning of the 9th, we weighed, 

 and stood on through the Straits to the south-west, 

 keeping pretty close in with the islands on the 

 Sumatra shore, in order to avoid a rock near Mid- 

 channel Island, which lay on our left. At half after 

 ten, I received orders from Captain Gore to make 

 sail toward a Dutch ship which now hove in sight to 

 the southward, and which we supposed to be from 

 Europe j and, according to the nature of the intelli- 

 gence we could procure from her, either to join him 

 at Cracatoa, where he intended to stop, for the pur- 

 pose of supplying the ships with arrack, or to proceed 

 to the south-east end of Prince's Island, and there 

 take in our water, and wait for him. 



I accordingly bore down toward the Dutch ship, 

 which, soon after, came to an anchor to the eastward - r 

 when the wind slackening, and the current still 

 setting very strong through the strait to the south- 

 west, we found it impossible to fetch her, and having, 

 therefore, got as near her as the tide would permit, 

 we also dropped anchor. I immediately dispatched 

 Mr. Williamson, in the cutter, with orders to get on 

 board her if possible ; but as she lay near a mile off, 



