VOYAGE FROM CAPE TOWN TO CHINA. 5 1 



counted for the drift which we had encountered in the 

 straits. 



I volunteered to remain to assist in warning incom- 

 ing vessels, but the captain did not consider it necessary, 

 preferring that I should take despatches to the Dutch 

 authorities at Batavia, with whom he had not communi- 

 cated for some time. Accordingly we kept on for 

 Batavia, changing the course of the vessel to avoid Bezee 

 Channel. At 11.30 p.m. dropped anchor in 27 fathoms 

 to await the morning. 



Under way at daylight on the morning of the 4th, 

 with Krakatoa in full view ; and as we passed along the 

 coast we could see something of the effects of the tidal 

 wave. Not a house was standing where before there 

 had been villages. At Anjer a portion of the base of 

 the light-house was seen, and a few feet of the trunk of 

 the large banyan tree which had been a prominent mark 

 for many years. 



Thwartway Island, reported to have been rent in 

 twain by the earthquake, at a distance appeared like 

 two or more islands, but a closer inspection dispelled 

 the illusion. 



At 6.45 P.M., September 4, 1883, the Enterprise 

 anchored off Batavia. 



Two days after our arrival we were agreeably sur- 

 prised to see the U. S. S. Juniata, Commander Harring- 

 ton, entering port. This vessel had touched at Singa- 

 pore, where a cablegram from the Navy Department 

 was found directing the Juniata and the Enterprise to 



