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1767.

December.

Friday 18.

Saturd. 19.

which they very politely defired that I would permit their fervants to bring in the victuals which had been dreffing in their own veffel; I readily confented, and a very genteel dinner was foon served up, confifting of fish, flesh, vegetables, and fruit. It is with the greatest pleasure that I take this opportunity of acknowledging my obligations to thefe gentlemen for the politeness and humanity of their behaviour in their private capacity, and particularly to Mr. Douglas, who being qualified by his knowledge of the French language to interpret between us, undertook that office with a courtefy and politenefs which very much increased the value of the favour. After this we parted, and at their leaving the ship, I faluted them with nine guns.

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The next morning the fhebander was fent to acquaint me, that the Governor and Council had confirmed the engagement which had been made with me on their behalf. Every thing was now fettled much to my fa tisfaction, except the procuring money for my bills upon the government of Great Britain, which the fhebander faid he would folicit. At eight o'clock in the evening, he came on board again, to let me know that there was not any perfon in the town who had money to remit to Europe, and that there was not a dollar in the Company's cheft. I answered, that as I was not permitted to go on shore to negotiate my bills myself, I hoped they would give me credit, offering him bills for any debt I fhould contract, or to pay it at Batavia. To this the thebander replied, that the Refident at Bonthain, the place to which I was going, would receive orders to fupply me with whatever I fhould want, and would be glad to take my bills in return, as he had money to remit, and was himself to go to Europe the next season. He told me alfo, that he had confiderable property in England, being a denifon of that country;" and, faid "the fhebander, he has also money in my hands, with "which I will purchase fuch things as you want from "Macaffar, and fee that they are fent after you." Having specified what these articles were to be, and agreed with him for the quantity and the price, we parted.

The next day, in the afternoon, I received a letter, figned by the Governor and Council of Macaffar, containing the reasons why I was fent to Bonthain, and

confirming

confirming the verbal agreement which fubfifted be

tween us.

Soon after, the Enfign M. Le. Cerf, the Secretary of the Council, and a pilot, came on board to attend us to Bonthain. Le Cerf was to command the foldiers who were on board the guard-boats; and the Secretary, as we afterwards discovered, was to be a check upon the Refident, whose name was Swellingrabel. This gentleman's father died Second Governor at the Cape of Good Hope, where he married an English lady of the name of Fothergill. Mr. Swellingrabel, the Resident here, married the daughter of Cornelius Sinkclaar, who had been Governor of Macaffar, and died about two years ago in England, having come hither to see some of his mother's relations.

CHA P. XI.

Transactions at Bonthain, while the Veffel was waiting for a Wind to carry her to Batavia, with fome Account of the Place, the town of Macaffar, and the adjacent Country.

THE

1767. December.

HE next morning at day-break we failed, and Sund. 20. the day following in the afternoon we anchored Monday 23. in Bonthain road with our two guard-boats, which were immediately moored close into the fhore, to prevent the country boats from coming near us, and our boats from going near them. As foon as I arrived at this place, I altered our reckoning. I had loft about eighteen hours, in coming by the weft and the Europeans that we found here, having come by the east,had gained about fix, fo that the difference was juft a day.

I immediately waited upon the Refident, Mr. Swellingrabel, who spoke English but very imperfe&ly, and having fettled with him all matters relating to money and provifions, a house was allotted me near the feafide, and close to a little pallifadoed fort of eight guns, the only one in this place, which I converted into an hofpital, under the direction of the furgeon; to this place I immediately fent all the people who were thought incapable of recovering on board, and refervVOL. I. Ꮓ .

ed

1767.ed the rest as a security against accidents. As soon as December. our people were on shore, a guard of thirty-fix private

men, two ferjeants, and two corporals, all under the
command of Enfign.Le Cerf, was set over them; and
none of them were fuffered to go more than thirty
yards from the hofpital, nor were any of the country
people allowed to come near enough to fell them any
thing; fo that our men got nothing of them, but
through the hands of the Dutch foldiers, who abused
their power very fhamefully. When they faw any of the
country people carrying what they thought our invalids
would purchase, they first took it away and then asked
the price what was demanded fignified little, the
foldier gave what he thought proper, which was feldom
one fourth of the value; and if the countryman ven-
tured to exprefs any difcontent, he gave him immedi-
ately an earneft of perfect fatisfaction, by flourishing
his broad-fword over his head; this was always fuffi-
cient to filence complaint, and send the fufferer quietly
away: after which the foldier fold what he had thus
acquired for profit of fometimes more than a thousand
This behaviour was fo cruel to the natives,
per cent.
and fo injurious to us, that I ventured to complain
of it to the Refident, and the other two gentlemen,
Le Cerf and the Secretary. The Resident, with becom-
ing spirit, reprimanded the foldiers; but it produced
fo little effect, that I could not help entertaining fufpici-
ons, that Le Cerf, connived at these practices, and
fhared the advantages which they produced I fufpect-
ed him alfo of felling arrack to my people, of which I
complained, but without redress, and I know that his
flaves were employed to buy things at the market,
which his wife afterwards fold to us for more than
twice as much as they coft. The foldiers were indeed
guilty of many other irregularities; it was the duty of
one of them by rotation to procure the day's provision
for the whole guard, a fervice which he constantly per-
formed by going into the country with his mufquet
and a bag; nor was the honeft proveditor always con-
tent with what the bag would contain, for one of them,
without any ceremony, drove down a young buffalo
that belonged to fome of the country people, and his
comrades, not having wood at hand to dress it when

it was killed, fupplied themfelves by pulling down fome of the pallifadoes of the fort. When this was reported to me, I thought it fo extraordinary, that I went on fhore to see the breach, and found the poor black people repairing it.

to return.

1767.

December.

On the 26th a floop laden with rice was fent out Saturd. 26. from this place in order to land her cargo at Macaffar ; but after having attempted three days fhe was forced The weather was now exceedingly tempestuous, and all navigation at an end from east to weft till the return of the eastern monsoon. On the fame day two large floops that were bound to the eastward anchored here, and the next morning also a large Sund. 27. fhip from Batavia, with troops on board for the Banda Islands; but none of the crew of any of these vessels were fuffered to speak to any of our people, our boats being restrained from going on board them, and theirs from coming on board us. As this was a mortifying restriction, we requested Mr. Swellingrabel to buy us some salt meat from the large fhip; and he was so obliging as to procure us four casks of very good European meat, two of pork and two of beef.

On the 28th a fleet of more than a hundred fail Mond. 18. of the small country veffels called Proas, anchored here; their burthen is from twelve to eighteen and twenty tons, and they carry from fixteen to twenty men. I was told that they carried on a fishery round the island, going out with one monsoon, and coming back with the other, fo as always to keep under the lee of the land; the fish was fent to the China market, and I obferved that all these veffels carried Dutch colours.

No event worthy of notice happened till the 18th of January, and then I learnt by a letter from Macaffar that the Dolphin had been at Batavia. On the 28th the Secretary of the Council, who had been sent hither with Le Cerf, as we supposed to be a check upon the Resident, was recalled to Macaffar. By this time our Carpenter, having in a great degree recovered his health, examined the state of our veffel, and to our great regret the appeared to be very leaky; our main yard alfo was found not only to be sprung, but to be rotten and unserviceable. We got it down and patch

1768. ed it up as well as we could, without either iron or a January. forge, fo that we hoped it would serve us till we got to Batavia, for no wood was to be procured here of which a new one could be made. To our leaks very little could be done, and we were therefore reduced to an

February. intire dependence on our pumps.

Friday 19.

Wedn. 9.

On Friday the 19th of February Le Cerf, the military officer who commanded the foldiers on fhare, was March. recalled, as it was faid, to fit out an expedition for the Monday 7. ifland of Bally; on the 7th of March, the largest of our guard-boats, a floop about forty-five tons, was ordered back to Macaffar with part of the foldiers ; and on the 9th the Refident, Mr. Swellingrabel, received a letter from the Governor of that place, enquiring when I fhould fail for Batavia. I must confefs that I was furprised at the recal of the officer and the guardboat; but I was much more furprised at the contents of the Governor's letter, because he knew that it was impoffible I should fail till May, as the eastern monsoon would not fooner fet in. All matters however remained in the fame fituation till near the end of the month, when fome of my people took notice, that for a short time paft a fmall canoe had gone round us feveral times at different hours of the night, and had disappeared as foon as those on board perceived any body stirring in Tuefd. 29. the hip. On the 29th, while these things were the fubjects of fpeculation, one of my officers who came from the fhore brought me a letter, which he faid had been delivered to him by a black man: it was directed, "to the commander of the English ship at Bonthyn." That the Reader may understand this letter, it is neceffary to acquaint him, that the island of Celebes is divided into feveral diftricts, which are diftin&t fovereignties of the native princes. The town of Macaffar is in a diftri& called alfo Macaffar, or Bony, the King of which is in alliance with the Dutch, who have been many times repulfed in an attempt to reduce other parts of the island, one of which is inhabited by a people called Bugguefes, and another is callen Waggs or Tofora. The town of Tofora is fortified with cannon; for the natives had been long furnished with fire-arms from

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