62 ARRIVAL AT HONG-KONG. [1843 



rang ' from Sarawak, his kindness and attention to every 

 individual under my command was most unremitting. 



On the 4th of Sept. the ' Samarang ', towed by the 

 'Vixen', left Borneo Proper, but at noon on the 5th, having 

 cast off our tow-line, being then barely in sight of Labuan, 

 ' Vixen ' signalled five fathoms, and for one hour both 

 vessels were picking their way, steering to avoid the 

 rocks, clearly visible beneath us, and in one or two in- 

 stances finding as little as three fathoms. Having cleared 

 these dangers, we shaped our course through the Palawan 

 Channel, and arrived without further incident in the 

 neighbourhood of Manila on the 9th, when, in pursuance 

 of the instructions from the Admiral, the ' Vixen ' was 

 despatched into that port in order to obtain stores for the 

 squadron, as well as coal sufficient to enable her to reach 

 Hong-Kong. Passing the Lema Islands, the ' Samarang ' 

 entered that port on the 14th ; here we found the Corn- 

 wallis, Capt. P. Richards, bearing the flag of Sir S. W. 

 Parker, G.C.B; ' Agincourt ', Capt. Bruce, flag of Sir T. 

 Cockrane ; ' Castor ', Capt. Graham. Steps were im- 

 mediately taken by the Admiral to make good our de- 

 fects and complete us for sea, and as the report of the 

 ' Samarang's ' recovery from her disaster in the Sarawak 

 River was deemed by him to be satisfactory, the custo- 

 mary inquiry by Court Martial was dispensed with, and a 

 memorandum was communicated to the captain and crew, 

 thanking them for their conduct on the occasion. On 

 the 28th of October, the Admiral visited Macao, in H.M. 

 S. ' Spiteful ', followed by the ' Samarang ' on the 30th, 

 in order to obtain the meridian distance from that spot. 



The improvements made at Hong-Kong since our first 



