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408 MOCHA. 
and possibly not even so much as we suspected ; for those about 
him might have plundered unknown to him. Captain Sparks, 
therefore, made him a present of the five hundred dollars balance, 
and they parted excellent friends on the 27th, when the Alert set 
sail for Bombay, and the Augusta for Mocha. The length of her 
voyage was owing to light airs, and strong adverse currents. At 
one time Captain Bennet feared he should be obliged to bear away 
for Bombay, which he wished to avoid, as the Augusta is a grab, 
and ill adapted for the heavy sea that breaks on the Malabar coast 
in the S. W. monsoon. Yet the Company's Marine Board have had 
three built; the Queen, Princess Royal, and Princess Augusta, 
though so perfectly conscious of their defects, that they are regu- 
larly laid up at Massagong during the rainy monsoon. 
The waste of wine had been so great in the Factory, and on board 
the Alert, during our absence, that there was every reason to fear 
we should soon be totally destitute of every liquor, except indif- 
ferent spirit. By reducing ourselves to a short allowance, we hoped 
to have some till August, when possibly our wants might be re- 
heved from Bombay, whither we had written to state our situation 
on board the Panther, and to request, if possible, a supply of neces- 
saries for the ship, such as biscuit and spirits; the latter were 
procurable here only from Mi\ Pringle, at a monstrous price, and 
the former at a still greater. Our boat was also nearly worn out, 
and several naval stores were wanting. Mr. Pringle wrote to one of 
the tradesmen to send a large assortment of things for the Factory, 
almost sufficient to load a vessel. However, in the mean time, we 
tried what we could procure from the Americans. One captain 
admitted he had ten pipes of Madeira on board, but said it was 
