CHAPTER Y. 
WE REACH CASPAR STRAITS, AND COMMENCE OUR SURVEY BY FIRING A GUN 
— I AM ORDERED ON TEMPORARY DUTY, WHICH LASTS FOUR MONTHS 
AND ENABLES ME TO VISIT SINGAPORE — VAST PREPARATIONS OF AN 
ALARMIST TO RECEIVE PIRATES, AND THE WAY IN WHICH WE LEARNED 
THE MEANING OF THE MALAY WORD “ MAN-AR-B.” 
It was on the morning of the 10th of January, 1854, 
that we fired our first gun for ^‘hase by sound.” We 
were in Gaspar Straits, lat. 3° 19' S., long. 106° 40' E. 
The “rear division” — as we called our portion of the 
squadron — had begun the long-talked-of survey. I will 
indulge in a few remarks in regard to this work, and 
then pass on to more interesting matter. 
These straits — which are the door through which nine- 
tenths of the world’s trade with China passes — had never 
been properly surveyed, were said to be full of hidden 
dangers, and were known to be washed by strong and 
uncertain currents. 
We bent to our task with the spirit and energy of 
“new brooms,” — worked through rain, wind, sharks, 
tigers, snakes, &c, — and on the 15th of May it was done. 
We came out of this woi'k without the loss of a man, and 
the result of our labours was satisfactory in the extreme. 
We found parts of some charts correct ; but, generally 
speaking, they were woefully out. We found dozens of 
rocks and shoals where all the charts gave safe water, and 
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