1767.

December.

ror. This fudden attack, however, rather roused than depreffed us, and though our ene my attempted to board us, before we could Thurfd, 10. have the leaft apprehenfion that an enemy was

1

near, we defeated his purpofe: he then plied us with what we fuppofed to be fwivel guns, and fmall arms, very brifkly; but, though he had the ftart of us, we foon returned his falute with fuch effect, that shortly after he funk, and all the unhappy wretches on board perifhed. It was a fmall veffel, but of what country, or how manned, it was impoffible for us to know. The lieutenant, and one of the men, were wounded, though not dangerously; part of our running rigging was cut, and we received fome other flight damage. We knew this pirate to be a veffel which we had seen in the dusk of the evening, and we afterwards learnt that she belonged to a freebooter, who had more than thirty fuch veffels under his command. The fmallness of our veffel encouraged the attack, and her strength being fo much more than in proportion to her size, supposing her a merchantman, rendered it fatal,

On Saturday the 12th, we fell in with the Saturd. 12. dangerous fhoals called the Spera Mondes, and had the mortification to find that the wefterly monfoon was now fet in, against which, and the current, it was impoffible for any ship to get as far weftward as Batavia. As it was now necef

fary

December.

had

1767. fary to wait till the return of the eastern monė foon, and the shifting of the current; as we Saturd. 12. buried thirteen of our crew, and no less than thirty more were at the point of death; as all the petty officers were among the sick, and the lieutenant and myfelf, who did all duties, in a feeble condition; it was impoffible that we should keep the sea, and we had no chance of preferving those who were still alive, but by getting on fhore at fome place, where rest and refreshment might be procured; I therefore determined that I would take advantage of our being fo far to the southward, and endeavour to reach Macaffar, the principal settlement of the Dutch upon the island of Celebes.

Sunday 13

The next day, we made fome iflands which lie not far from that place, and faw, what fometimes we took for fhoals, and fometimes for boats, with men on board, but what afterwards appeared to be trees, and other drift floating about, with birds fitting upon them; we fuddenly found ourselves twenty miles farther to the fouthward than we expected, for the current, which had for fome time fet us to the northward, had fet us to the fouthward during the night. We now hauled up eaft, and E. N. 을 intending to have gone to the northward of a fhoal, which has no name in our Eaft India Pilot, but which the Dutch call the Thumb: by noon, however, we found ourselves upon it, our

5

water

1767. December.

water fhallowing at once to four fathom, with rocky ground. We now hauled off to the fouth-weft, and keeping the boat a-head to Sunday 13. found, ran round the weft fide of the fhoal in ten and twelve fathom; our water deepening when we hauled off to the weft, and fhallowing when we hauled off eaft. Our latitude, by obfervation, when we were upon the fhoal, was 5° 20' S. and the northermoft of the islands, called the Three Brothers, then bore S. 81 E. at the distance of five or fix leagues. This island is, in the English Pilot, called Don Dinanga, but by the Dutch the North Brother.

Between the Three Brothers, and the main of Celebes, there is another island, much larger than either of them, called the Island of Tonikiky; but none of them are inhabited, though there are a few huts belonging to fishermen upon them all. The paffage between the shoal and this ifland is clear and good, with from ten to thirteen fathom and a fandy bottom; but the foundings are to be kept on the fide of the island in twelve fathom, and never under ten: it is, however, very difficult and dangerous for fhips to fall in with the land this way without a pilot on board, for there are many fhoals and rocks under water. I ran in by a chart in the English East India Pilot, which upon the whole I found a good one, though the names of

the

1767.

December.

the islands, points, and bays, differ very much from those by which they are now known. Sunday 13. When we got near to the Celebes fhore, we had land and fea-breezes, which obliged us to edge along the coaft, though our ftrength was fo much reduced, that it was with the utmost difficulty we could work the stream anchor.

Tuesday 15.

In the evening of Tuesday the 15th, we anchored at about the distance of four miles from the town of Macaffar, which, according to my account, lies in latitude 5° 10' or 5° 12' S., longitude 117° 28′ E. having spent no less than five and thirty weeks in our paffage from the Streight of Magellan.

I have been the more particular in my description of as much as I faw of this Streight, because all the charts, both English and French, that I confulted, are extremely deficient and erroneous, and because an exact knowledge of it may be of great service to our China trade: the fhips by which that trade is carried on, may pafs this way with as little danger as by the common one, which lies along the Praffel fhoals; and when they miss their pasfage to China, in the fouth-east monfoon, and lose the feason, they may be fure of a clear channel here, and fair winds at W. S. W., W. and round to W. N. W., in November, December, and the four following months; I am

alfo

December.

alfo of opinion, that it is a better and 1767. fhorter way to go to the N. E. and eastward of the Philippine Iflands, than to thread Tuesday 15. the Moluccas, or coaft New Guinea, where there are fhoals, currents, and innumerable other dangers, as they were forced to do when the French were cruizing for them in the com-. mon paffage during the last war.