V 
i64 THE STRAIT OF SUNDA. 
wooden monument to his memory bearing a suitable inscrip- 
tion, of which, being a perishable material, the friends and 
relatives of the deceased may not be displeased to see an 
accurate representation. 
On entering the strait we fell in with an homeward-bound 
Indiaman, which had left at Batavia a dispatch from China, 
addressed to Lord Macartney. This circumstance, added to 
other considerations, made it expedient for the squadron to 
proceed thither as soon as Ave should have completed the ne- 
cessary supply of wood, water, and refreshments. Nothing 
could possibly be more delightful than the short passage be- 
tween North Island and Batavia, along the northern coast of 
Java. The distance is about ninety miles ; the sea is rarely 
rutflcd with a gust of wind, but is smooth as the serpentine 
river in Hyde Park ; and the crowd of little islands rising out 
of its surface is so immensely great, that even the indefati- 
gable J)utch, who are accustomed to deal in detail, despair- 
ing in this instance of being able to assign to each a distinct 
name, have given to the whole groupe the general appella- 
tion of the Thousand Islands. Every one of these numerous 
islets is completely clothed with an unvarying tint of the 
more lively verdure ; and though their surfaces are flat and 
little elevated above that of the sea, yet the tall trees which 
grow on most of them appear, from a distance, just like so 
many fleets of ships. Some of them are skirted by smooth 
sandy beaches, where turtles in abundance resort ; but on 
the greater part, the branches and the roots of the trees 
strike into the salt water. 
