SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 
59 
At daylight we recognised the coast and Rat 
Island, which gave us great spirits ; and though we 
found ourselves much to the southward of the port, 
we considered ourselves almost at home. Sophia 
had gone through the night better than could have 
been expected, and we continued to pull on with all 
our strength. About 8 or 9 we saw a ship standing 
to us from the roads ; they had seen the flames from 
shore, and sent out vessels to our relief; and here, 
certainly, came a minister of Providence, in the cha- 
racter of a minister of the Gospel, for the first pei'son 
I recognised was one of our missionaries. He gave 
us a bucket of water, and took the captain on boaril 
as a pilot. The wind, however, was adverse, and 
we could not reach the shore, and took to the ship, 
where we got some refreshment and shelter from the 
sun. By this time Sophia was quite exhausted, 
fainting continually. About two o’clock we landed 
safe and sound, and no words of mine can do justice 
to the expressions of feeling sympathy and kindness 
with which we were hailed by every one. If any 
proof had been wanting that my administration had 
been satisfactory here, we had it unequivocally from 
all ; there was not a dry eye, and as we drove back 
to our former home, loud was tjie cry of ‘ God be 
praised.’ 
“ The loss I have to regret beyond all, is my pa- 
pers and drawings, — all my notes and observations, 
with memoirs and collections, snfficient for a full and 
ample history, not only of Sumatra, but of Borneo, 
