1832.] 
BANTAM BAY. 
257 
On Sunday, the eighteenth, there was a Httle improvement in 
the weather, which for the two preceding days had presented Httle 
else than a succession of squalls, attended with considerable rain, 
thunder, and lightning, while the height of the surf on the shore 
had much retarded the progress of procuring a supply of water. 
But little rain, however, had fallen near the anchorage of the 
frigate, as the clouds appeared to be attracted by the lofty summits 
and peaks of the neighbouring mountains. In the meantime, our 
officers had been much on shore, and seen considerable of the 
Fxatives, visited the villages, and rambled over an interesting sec- 
tion of the ancient kingdom of Bantam. It was easy to perceive 
that the Dutch had much power over the natives, and ekercised 
it with no little rigour. No inducements are held out to encourage 
their advance in knowledge, refinement, and the arts of civilized 
life ; but they appear to be kept in such a state of servile degra- 
dation, that they still remain almost as v/ild and uncultivated as 
they did before the island was first visited by Europeans, They 
are slaves to their own rajahs, who are, in their turn, slaves to the 
Dutch colonists. 
The town of Bantam, at the head of the bay, would perhaps 
have afforded good a:nchorage for the frigate, had not the com- 
modore preferred to remain in an open position, in order that he 
might more readily get under way in case of a typhoon.* In 
* Typhoon, from the Chinese word Ty-foong, signifying great wind. Ty, is great 
or mighty, and Foong, signifies wind. They are dangerous tempests which often 
happen at the equinox, in the northern part of the China Sea, near Formosa, Bashee 
Islands, also the north of Luconia, and sometimes between Formosa and the Japan 
Archipelago. They are liable to happen in either monsoon. September is a month 
much dreaded by sailors in these seas, particularly if the change or perigee of the 
moon coincide with the equinox. 
To be able to" prognosticate ^the approach of these winds would be very favourable 
to navigators, but this cannot be done with certainty, for they frequently commence 
without giving much evidence of their proximity. The clouds' having a red aspect is 
not a certain warning of the approach of a typhoon ; for at the rising, but more par- 
ticularly at the setting of the s,un, the clouds, in settled weather, are sometimes tinged 
with a red colour, by the~reflected Hght, especially those opposite the luminary. A 
hazy atmosphere, preventing land from being seen at a great distance, is no unfavour- 
able sign on the coast of China, for this is generally its state in medium or unsettled 
weather. Neither is an irregular swell a good criterion to judge of the approach of a 
typhoon ; for, near the coast of China, a cross swell frequently prevails during steady, 
settled weather. A serene sky, with the horizon remarkably clear, should not be 
considered as an indication of a continuation of favourable weather ; for a series of 
, R 
