1844.] A JUNK IN DISTRESS. 99 



wild, her sails lowered, and evidently in distress. At this 

 time it blew very fresh ; and having steered for her, 

 Lieut. Inglefield succeeded in boarding her, in our second 

 cutter, a boat of the life boat-build, constructed purposely 

 for us, after the model of the catraias of the coast of Por- 

 tugal. At the time we boarded her the crew were in the 

 act of cutting away her mast ; we succeeded in attaching 

 a hawser to her, and she was eventually secured by our 

 stream cable. I had intended towing her into Hong-Kong, 

 but on her coming alongside, the crew eagerly quitted her, 

 and meeting with further concussion from the ship, she 

 dropped astern, broke her tow-rope, and within a few 

 minutes settled in the water and disappeared. By the 

 accounts received from her crew, we learned that she 

 was from Chin-chew, one of the northern provinces of 

 China, with a cargo of trifling value, bound to one of the 

 southern ports, aud that she had been for some time in a 

 sinking state. 



On the 13th of February we returned to our anchorage 

 at Hong-Kong, where we met Rear Admiral Sir Thomas 

 Cochrane, in the 'Agincourt', upon whom the chief 

 command in China had now devolved. Nothing worthy 

 of note occurred during the present visit to Hong-Kong. 

 Having refitted and provisioned, and completed our term- 

 day observations, we departed, on the 6th of March, 

 for Macao, where we anchored on the day following. 



Having obtained the necessary observations for our 

 Chronometers, and quitted Macao on the 10th, we passed 

 to the southward of the Pratas, and reached the entrance 

 of the bay of Manila on the morning of the 16th of March. 

 Here we observed the U.S. Frigate 'Brandy wine 'working 



