454 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



especially when that example is 

 found, where it ought to be, in the 

 first rank. 



Parties were now returning, who 

 had been searching for water in 

 vain, every attempt to dig for it 

 having proved fruitless J or, being 

 too near the sea, salt water alone 

 had oozed into the pits. At one 

 spot they found the skeleton of a 

 man, and the horrid idea of his 

 having died from thirst rushed on 

 every mind. Those who went into 

 the wood, on these excursions, 

 were obliged to notch the trees, 

 and leave marks as they advanced, 

 in order to find their way back. In 

 the forenoon Captain Maxwell 

 came on shore, to confer with 

 Lord Amherst on the best mode 

 to be adopted in the perilous situ- 

 ation in which they were then 

 placed. The boats were utterly 

 incapable of conveying half our 

 number any where ; and, as some 

 must necessarily go to the nearest 

 friendly port for assistance, Cap- 

 tain Maxwell judged it best that 

 his excellency and suite should 

 proceed with a proper guard for 

 Batavia, or whatever part of Java 

 they could fetch, from whence 

 vessels could be despatched to 

 hrnXg off those who remained be- 

 hind. 



This being what is termed the 

 north-west monsoon, there was 

 every likelihood of the boats reach- 

 ing Java (the current being also 

 in their favovir) in three days ; and 

 by this arrangement, which very 

 happily was settled without loss of 

 time, two grand purposes were 

 answered, the nearest to the cap- 

 tain's heart and his first duty ; 

 viz. the immediate conveyance of 

 the embassador and suite to a place 



of safety ; and, by their safety, en- 

 suring more effectually than by 

 any other means that of the offi- 

 cers and men who remained with 

 himself upon this desert isle. It 

 was thought probable that row- 

 boats might be despatched from 

 Batavia after the arrival of his 

 excellency, so as to reach the j 

 island (even against wind and 

 current) in twelve or fifteen days ; 

 and, as Mr. EUis volunteered to 

 return with the first boat or vessel 

 that shoved off to our assistance, 

 an additional assurance was thus 

 given, that, combined with the 

 influence of the embassador with 

 the Dutch government, no delay 

 would occur in forwarding relief. 

 After a short, and very slender 

 ff^te champAre in this wilderness 

 (in which salt was viewed with 

 the same horror as arsenic), his 

 lordship, about five in the evening, 

 accompanied by the gentlemen of 

 his suite, by Lieutenant Hoppner, 

 in command of the boats, Mr. 

 Mayne to navigate. Lieutenant 

 Cooke, R. M. (with a party, as 

 officer of the guard, in the event 

 of falling in with any of the Malay 

 pirates who infest these seas), 

 Mr. Blair, midshipman, and Mr. 

 Somerset (who had come to see 

 the world a little), waded out to 

 the edge of the reef, and embarked 

 in the barge and cutter. They 

 were in all forty- seven persons, 

 and had with them a small stock 

 of provisions, consisting of a side 

 of mutton, a ham, a tongue, about 

 twenty pounds of coarse biscuit, 

 and some few more of fine ; seven 

 gallons of water, the same of beer, , 

 as many of spruce, and about i 

 thirty bottles of wine. This was 

 all that Gould be spared ; and, 



being 



