1767. December.

CHAP. X.

Tranfactions off Macaffar, and the Paffage

thence to Bonthain.

HE fame night that we came to an anchor, at about eleven o'clock, a Dutch

TH

When

Tuesday 15. man came on board, who had been difpatched by the Governor, to learn who we were. I made him understand that the fhip was an English man of war, he seemed to be greatly alarmed, no man of war belonging to the King of Great Britain having ever been there before, and I could not by any means perfuade him to leave the deck, and go down into the cabbin; we parted, however, to all appearance, good friends.

Wednes. 16.

The next morning, at break of day, I fent the lieutenant to the town, with a letter to the governor, in which I acquainted him with the reafon of my coming thither, and requested the liberty of the port to procure refreshments for my ship's company, who were in a dying condition, and shelter for the veffel against the approaching ftorms, till the return of a fit season for failing to the weftward. I ordered that this letter fhould, without good reafon to the con

trary,

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1767. December.

Wednef. 16.

trary, be delivered into the governor's own hand; but when my officer got to the wharf of the town, neither he nor any other perfon in the boat was fuffered to land. Upon his refufal to deliver the letter to a meffenger, the governor was made acquainted with it, and two officers, called the fhebander and the fifcal, were fent down to him, who, as a reason why he could not deliver the letter to the governor himself, pretended that he was fick, and faid, that they came by his express order to fetch it; upon this the letter was at length delivered to them, and they went away. While they were gone, the officer and men were kept on board their boat, exposed to the burning heat of the fun, which was almost vertical at noon, and none of the country boats were fuffered to come near enough to fell them any refreshment. In the mean time, our people obferved a great hurry and bustle on fhore, and all the floops and veffels that were proper for war were fitted out with the utmost expedition: we should, however, I believe, have been an overmatch for their whole fea force, if all our people had been well. In the mean time I intended to have gone and anchored close to the town, but now the boat was absent, our united ftrength was not suffi cient to weigh the anchor though a small one. After waiting five hours in the boat, the lieutenant was told that the governor had ordered.

1767. December.

two gentlemen to wait upon me with an answer to my letter. Soon after he had returned, and Wednef. 16. made this report, the two gentlemen came on board, and we afterwards learnt that one of them was an ensign of the garrifon, named Le Cerf, and the other Mr. Douglas, a writer of the Dutch East India Company: they delivered me the governor's letter, but it proved to be written in Dutch, a language which not a single perfon on board could understand: the two gentlemen who brought it, however, both spoke French, and one of them interpreted the contents to me in that language. The purport of it was, "that I should inftantly depart from the port, without coming any nearer to the town; that I fhould not anchor on any part of the coaft, or permit any of my people to land in any place that was under his jurifdiction." Before I made any reply to this letter, I fhewed the gentlemen who brought it the number of my fick at the fight of fo many unhappy wretches, who were dying of languor and disease, they seemed to be much affected; and I then urged again the preffing neceffity I was under of procuring refreshment, to which they had been witneffes, the cruelty and injuftice of refusing to supply me, which was not only contrary to treaty, as we were in a King's fhip, but to the laws of Nature, as we were human beings: they seemed to admit the force of this reafoning, but they

had

"that they

1767.

December.

had a fhort and final answer ready, had abfolute and indefpenfable orders from their masters, not to suffer any ship, of whatever Wedness. 16. nation, to stay at this port, and that these orders they must implicitly obey." To this I replied, that persons in our fituation had nothing worse to fear than what they fuffered, and that therefore, if they did not immediately allow me the liberty of the port, to purchase refreshments, and procure shelter, I would, as foon as the wind would permit, in defiance of all their menaces, and all their force, go and anchor clofe to the town; that if at last I should find myself unable to compel them to comply with requifitions, the reasonableness of which could not be controverted, I would run the fhip aground under their walls, and, after felling our lives as dearly as we could, bring upon them the dif grace of having reduced a friend and ally to fo dreadful an extremity. At this they feemed to be alarmed, as our fituation alone was fufficient to convince them that I was in earnest, and urged me with great emotion to remain where I was, at leaft till I had heard again from the gover-, nor: to this, after some altercation, I confented, upon condition that I heard from the governor. before the fea-breeze set in the next day.

We paffed all the remainder of this day, and all the night, in a state of anxiety, not unmixed with indignation, that greatly aggravated our distress;

L 3

1767.

diftrefs; and very early the next morning, we had the mortification to see a floop that mountThurfd. 17. ed eight carriage guns, and one of the veffels

December.

of the country, fitted out for war, with a great number of foldiers on board, come from the town, and anchor under each of our bows. I immediately sent my boat to speak with them, but they would make no reply to any thing that was faid. About noon, the sea-breeze set in, and not having then heard again from the governor, I got under fail, and proceeded towards the town, according to my declaration, refolving, if the veffels that had anchored under our bows, fhould oppofe us, to reprefs force with force as far as we were able: these two veffels, however, happily both for us and for them, contented themselves with weighing anchor, and attending our motions.

Very soon after we had got under fail, a handfome veffel, with a band of mufic, and several gentlemen on board, made up to us, and told us that they were fent by the governor, but could not come on board if we did not drop our anchor again; our anchor therefore was immediately dropped, and the gentlemen came on board: they proved to be Mr. Blydenbourg, the fifcal, Mr. Voll, the fhebander, an officer called the licence-mafter, or master of the port, and Mr. Douglas the writer, who has been mentioned already. They expreffed fome fur

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