330 
VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC, 
[May, 
which was written the following memorandum, dated Friday, the 
twenty-seventh day of April, only five days before his death:— 
" To-day we are passing the Middle, or Great Anambas, with a 
pleasant little breeze, which we consider, to be the southwest 
monsoon. If so, our run to the Celestial Em.pire ivill he com^ 
paratively short.^'' His run to that empire was indeed short ! — 
and for a long time previous to the fatal event, he seemed to have 
a presentiment of the final result of his disorder. On another 
loose paper was written the following, dated November the 
eleventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-one : — " My disease in the 
throat is in a dangerous state ; I begin to fear for the conse- 
quences. We have a tiresome and almost hopeless calm. One 
thing, however, makes me happy. It is the birthday of my little 
Billy. God bless my poor Willy ! When shall I see him again ! 
Far — far away is he — and I, all alone on the ocean billow, yes — 
all alone, though surrounded by half a thousand." 
Although this melancholy event had been long expected by his 
friends on board, yet when the moment did come, they felt, se- 
verely felt, how little they were prepared for it ! Indeed, when 
it was publicly announced, the gloom which settled upon the 
countenances of all, together with the solemn gaze of the crowd 
of officers and men collected around the bed of death, spoke in a 
language which needed no utterance, to show in what high esti- 
mation he was held by all on board. 
On the following day, which was Thursday, the third of May, 
at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, his mortal remains were sunk 
beneath the billows of the China Sea — receiving a sailor's burial 
and a sailor's grave, in latitude 1° 32' north, longitude 105° 52' 
east. The corpse was borne to the gangway by the officers, who 
formed in procession on the maindeck, while the men gathered 
in groups to witness and to hear the funeral ceremony. While 
the procession was ascending from the gundeck to the spardeck, 
the band, with muffled drums, played a mournful and solemn dirge. 
The marines had been drawn up on the side of the quarterdeck, 
and during the solemnities of the funeral service, remained at a 
"rest on arms reversed." The service was performed by the 
chaplain, Mr. Grier, in the most impressive and solemn manner. 
After the ceremonies were over, and the body committed to the 
deep, three volleys were fired by the marines. 
