1832.j BANTAM BAY. , 255> 
chorage in Bantam Bay. At five o'clock in the morning the com- 
modore, accompanied by an oflEicer, left the frigate on a boat-ex- 
cursion to a small island about four leagues distant, in search of 
shells, with which the waters and shores of these islands abound. 
Indeed, conchology appeared to be the favourite study of all the 
officers when off duty; and the commodore, ever since his ar- 
rival in the eastern Archipelago, had evinced much interest, taste, 
and industry, in adding to his already valuable collection. 
In the afternoon a smart Httle squall occurred, which termi- 
nated in a breeze so fresh that it was found necessary to give the 
ship more cable. As night set in, there was no appearance of the 
conmiodore's boat returning to the vessel, which occasioned much 
solicitude on board on account of his safety. The squall had 
been sudden and severe, and it was feared that his boat had been 
capsized, or that some other accident had befallen him. Rockets 
were let off, and blue-lights burned during the whole night, to 
point out the situation of the ship. 
It appears, that after having landed and been successful in pro- 
curing some rare and beautiful specimens of conchology on the 
Island of Pulo Baby, the commodore left, at about five o'clock in 
the evening, with the view of returning on board the frigate ; but 
had not proceeded far, when he found that there was not only a 
strong current, but a fresh wind directly against him : so much 
so, that in three hours of hard pulling, not more than two miles 
of headway had been made. At this time a squall struck the 
boat with such violence, that it was found impossible to keep 
her head to the wind by the utmost exertions of the men tugging 
at their oars ; and in falling off she was several times on the point 
of being swamped, and was, with the utmost difficulty, kept afloat. 
Fortunately, the squall subsided in less than half an hour, though 
the wind still continued fresh, with an ugly, sharp sea, so that it 
was still impossible to pull to windward. 
The commodore's situation now became exceedingly uncom- 
fortable ; exposed as he was in an open boat to the rain, which 
fell in torrents, in a climate where such exposure is deemed fatal 
to the unclimated stranger. A return to the Island of Pulo Baby 
seemed to offer no safety, as the ocean, broken by the numerous 
rocks and coral reefs surrounding the island, was now white with 
foam. Sail was then made on the boat, in the hope of being able; 
