OP LA PEROUSE. 317 



ingly ; but it was eafy for us to find another 

 lodging. 



Our fears refpecting the lad, who had difap- 

 pcared three days before, were but too well 

 founded : he had remained during all this time 

 under water, and it was not till about half part 

 two o'clock in the afternoon of the ioth that he 

 was difcovered beginning to float near the fhip. 

 His remaining fo near the place where he had 

 fallen overboard feems to demonstrate, againlt 

 the opinion of moft of the Europeans fettled at 

 Amboyna, that the currents in the road ftre not 

 rapid at the bottom of the water, but only at its 

 furface : and, indeed, this appears to me very 

 probable. The currents being occaiioned by the 

 tides, the waters neither flow in nor run out of 

 the road but in order to eftablifh their equili- 

 brium, which, in thefe circumitances, is de- 

 ranged only at a fmall diftance from their fur- 

 face. 



This young man was much regretted by all 

 the fhip's company. Several exclaimed againfl 

 the inattention of thofe who, having brought 

 him up in his infancy, had neglected making 

 him learn to fwim. In fact, a few leffons of 

 fwimming might have faved the lad's life. It 

 were to be wifhed that this event may ferve as 

 an example to others ; for, I have feen with 

 aftonimment, that many feamen could not fwim. 



Our 



