1 697-] PEACE OF EYSWICK. 271 



Ships, November 28, 1697. We caiiie before Bantam^ the 

 30th, and tarry'd there to the 6th of the following ]Month. 

 We were eleven days in passing the Streights of Sundt,^ 

 which Seamen call the Channel. Sometimes one is above a 

 Month in this Passage, by reason of the great inconstancy of 

 tlie Winds, altho' this Streight be not more than 36 Leagues 

 thro'.^ 



Nothing Piemarkable happen'd to us till we came to the 

 Caije of Good Hope, unless that in our way we learnt from a 

 Dutch Sliip that was going to Batavia, that the Peace of 

 ResvAck^ w\as concluded and sign'd. As soon as the Fleet 



divided at Batavia into two fleets, one of which generally left India 

 towards the end of the year, the other some months afterwards ; and 

 some days before the departure of each a single ship sailed for Europe 

 which was called the voorzeilder, or forerunner. Except in war-time 

 their ships seldom sailed together, though they usually made their rendez- 

 vous at the Cape of Good Hope." (Note by S. H. Wilcocke, translator 

 oi Admiral Stavorhvis' Voyages; op. cit., i,]). 170.) 



1 Bantam Bay is about two leagues and a half S E. from St. Nicholas 

 Point, which is fifty miles west of Batavia. The bay is extensive, and 

 contains several islands, of which Pulo Panjang is the largest. For- 

 merly Bantam was a fine port, but it was monopolised by the Dutch in 

 1683, when Fort Spielwyk was erected. The natives continued bitter 

 enemies of the Dutch until 1742, when they were completely subdued. 

 (Cf. Thorn, I. c, p. 262.) Stavorinus writes that ships passing out 

 through the Straits of Sunda often anchor in the bay of Anjer to take 

 their last supply of fresh water. (Op. cit., vol. i, p. 207.) 



2 The Strait of Sunda. 



3 The Strait of Sunda is sixty miles in width at its western entrance 

 between Flat Cape, the S.W. extremity of Sumatra, and the noble Java 

 Head, the western extremity of Java, but the main strait is narrowed 

 by Princes Island on the south side, the N.W. point of which is 

 fifty-one miles from Flat Cape. (Findlay, op. cit., p. 1228.) 



The Strait of Sunda is subject to the N.W. monsoon and outside the 

 limits of the south-east trade wind during November, which accounts 

 for the delay experienced by the Dutch at this season. Stavorinus 

 states that the current through the strait changed its course twice in 

 twenty-four hours, independent of the wind. (Cf. ojy. cit., vol. i, p. 

 207.) 



* In orig. : " que la paix avoit ete conclue & signee a Riswik." 

 The peace of Ryswick concluded the wars of the League of Augs- 



