43(5 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



the captain, ordering all hands to- 

 gether, stated to them in few 

 wordSj that every man, by the 

 regulations of the navy, was as 

 liable to answer for his conduct 

 on the present as on any other oc- 

 casion ; that, as long as he lived, 

 the same discipline should be ex- 

 erted, and, if necessary, with 

 greater rigour than aboard ; a 

 discipline for the general welfare, 

 which he trusted every sensible 

 man of the party must see the ne- 

 cessity of maintaining ; — assuring 

 them, at the same time, he would 

 have much pleasure in recom- 

 mending those who distinguished 

 themselves by the regularity and 

 propriety of their conduct ; — that 

 the provisions we had been able to 

 save should be served out, although 

 necessarily with a very sparing 

 hand, yet with the most rigid 

 equality to all ranks, until we ob- 

 tained that relief which he trusted 

 would soon follow the arrival of 

 Lord Amherst at Java. 



During this day the well afford- 

 ed a pint of water for each man ; 

 it had a sweetish milk-and-water 

 taste, something like the juice of 

 the cocoa-nut, but nobody found 

 fault with it ; on the contrary, it 

 dififused that sort of happiness 

 which only they can feel who have 

 felt the horrible sensation of thirst 

 under a vertical sun, subject at the 

 same time to a harassing and fa- 

 tiguing duty. This day was em- 

 ployed in getting up every thing 

 from the foot of the hill ; boats 

 passing to the ship, but unfortu- 

 nately almost every thing of real 

 value to us in our present case 

 was under water We were in 

 hopes, however, that, as no bad 

 weather was likely to happen, we 



might be enabled by scuttling at 

 low water, or by burning her up- 

 per-works, to acquire many useful 

 articles. 



On Friday, 21st, the party sta- 

 tioned at the ship found them- 

 selves, soon after day-light, sur- 

 rounded by a number of Malay 

 proas, apparently well armed, and 

 full of men. Without a single 

 sword or musquet for defence, 

 they had just time to throw them- 

 selves into the boat alongside, and 

 push for the shore, chased by the 

 pirates, who, finding two of our 

 other boats push out to their as- 

 sistance, returned to the ship, and 

 took possession of her. Soon after- 

 wards it was reported, from the 

 look-out rock, that the savages, 

 armed with spears, were landing 

 at a point about two miles oflF. 

 Under all the depressing circum- 

 stances attending shipwreck— of 

 hunger, thirst, and fatigue j and 

 menaced by a ruthless foe ; it was 

 glorious to see the British spirit 

 staunch and unsubdued. The 

 order was given for every man to 

 arm himself in the best way he 

 could, and it was obeyed with the 

 utmost promptitude and alacrity. 

 Rude pike-staves were formed, by 

 cutting down young trees ; small 

 swords, dirks, knives, chisels, and 

 even large spike-nails sharpened, 

 were firmly affixed to the ends of 

 these poles ; and those who could 

 find nothing better hardened the 

 end of tlie wood in the fire, and, 

 bringing it to a sharp point, form- 

 ed a tolerable weapon. There 

 were, perhaps, a dozen cutlasses ; 

 the marines had about thirty mus- 

 kets and bayonets, but could mus- 

 ter no more than seventy-five ball- 

 cartridges among the whole party. 



We 



