1768.

September.

November.

Saturd. 28.

stave all that we had taken in at Batavia and Prince's Ifland, and fupply it from this place. It is procured from a fine ftrong run on the Java fhore, which falls down from the land into the fea, and by means of a hoase it may be laded into the boats, and the casks filled without putting them on fhore, which renders the work very eafy and expeditious. There is a little reef of rocks within which the boats go, and lie in as fmooth water, and as effectually sheltered from any fwell, as if they were in a mill-pond; nor does the reef run out fo far as to be dangerous to shipping, though the contrary is afferted in Herbert's Directory; and if a fhip, when lying there, fhould be driven from her anchors by a wind that blows upon the fhore, fhe may, with the greatest ease, run up the paffage between New Ifland and Java, where there is fufficient depth of water for the largest vessel, and a harbour, in which, being land-locked, she will find perfect security. Wood may be had any where either upon Java or New Ifland, neither of which, in this part, are inhabited.

Having in a few days completed our wood and water, we weighed and ftood out of the Streight of Sunda, with a fine fresh gale at fouth-eaft, which did not leave us till the island of Java was seven hundred leagues behind us.

On Monday the 23d of November we discovered Monday 23.the coaft of Africa; at day-break on the 28th we made the Table Land of the Cape of Good Hope, and the fame evening anchored in the bay. We found here only a Dutch ship from Europe, and a fnow belonging to the place, which however was in the Company's fervice, for the inhabitants are not permitted to have any shipping.

Table Bay is a good harbour in Summer, but not in Winter; fo that the Dutch will not permit any of their veffels to lie here longer than the 15th of May, which answers to our November. After that time, all the ships go to Falfe Bay, which is well fheltered from the north-weft winds, which blow here with great violence.

At this place we breathed a pure air, had wholesome food, and went freely about the country which is extremely

extremely pleasant, fo that I began to think myself already in Europe. We found the inhabitants open, hofpitable and polite, there being fcarcely a gentleman in the place, either in a public or private ftation, from which I did not receive fome civility; and I fhould very ill deferve the favours they bestowed, if I did not particularly mention the First and Second Governor, and the Fifcal.

The recovery of my people made it neceffary to continue here till the 6th of January 1769; in the Wednes. 6. evening of this day I fet fail, and before it was dark

cleared the land.

Satur, 30

On the 20th, after a fine and pleasant paffage, we Wednes. 20. made the Island of St. Helena; and fet fail again on Sund. 24. the morning of the 24th. At midnight on the 30th, we made the north-east part of the Island of Afcenfion, and brought to till day-light, when we ran in close to it. I fent a boat out to difcovered the anchoring-place which is called Crofs-hill Bay, while we kept running along the north-east and north fide of the island, till we came to the north-weft extremity of it, and in the afternoon anchored in the bay we fought. The way to find this place at once, is to bring the largest and most confpicuous hill upon the island to bear S. E. when the fhip is in this pofition, the bay will be open, right in the middle between two other hills, the westermost of which is called Cross-hill, and gives name to the bay. Upon this hill there is a flag-ftaff, which if a ship brings to bear S. S. E. E. or S. E. by E. and runs in, keeping it fo till fhe is in ten fathoms water, she will be in the best part of the Bay. In our run along the northeaft fide of the ifland, I obferved feveral other small fandy bays, in fome of which my boat found good anchorage, and faw plenty of turtle, though they are not fo convenient as this, where we had plenty of turtle too. The beach here is a fine white fand; the landing-place is at fome rocks, which lie about the middle of the Bay, and may be known by a ladder of ropes which hangs from the top to mount them by. In the evening I landed a few men to turn the turtle that should come on shore during the night, and in the morning I found that they had thus fecured no less than eighteen, from four hundred to fix hundred weight each, and

these

1769. February:

Friday 19.

these were as many as we could well ftow on the deck. As there are no inhabitants, upon this ifland, it is a cuftom for the fhips that touch at it to leave a letter in a bottle, with their names and deftination, the date, and a few other particulars. We complied with this cuftom, and in the evening of Monday the 1ft of February, we weighed anchor and fet fail.

On Friday the 19th we discovered a fhip at a confiderable diftance to leeward in the fouth-weft quarter, which hoifted French colours; fhe continued in fight Monday 1. all day, and the next morning we perceived that the had greatly outfailed us during the night; she made a tack however in order to get farther to windward, and as it is not ufual for fhips to turn to windward in these parts, it was evident that she had tacked in order to speak with us. By noon she was near enough to hail us, and to my great surprise, made use both of my name and that of the fhip, enquiring after my health, and telling me that after the return of the Dolphin to Europe, it was believed we had fuffered fhipwreck in the Streight of Magellan, and that two fhips had been fent out in queft of us. I asked, in my turn, who it was that was fo well acquainted with me and my fhip, and with the opinions that had been formed of us in Europe after the return of our companion, and how this knowledge had been acquired. I was answered, that the fhip which hailed us was in the service of the French Eaft India Company, commanded by M. Bougainville; that he was returning to England from the ffle of France; that what was thought of the Swallow in England, had been learnt from the French Gazette at the Cape of Good Hope; and that we were known to be that veffel by the letter which had been found in the bottle at the Island of Afcenfion a few days after we had left that place. An offer was then made of fupplying me with refreshments, if I wanted any, and I was asked if I had any letters to fend to France. I returned thanks for the offer of refreshments, which however was a mere verbal civility, as it was known that I had lately failed from the places where M. Bougainville himself had been supplied: but I faid that I had received letters for France from fome gentlemen of that country at the Cape, and if he would fend his boat

on

on board they should be delivered to his meffenger. 1769. Thus was an occafion furnished for what I have reason February. to believe was the principal object of M. Bongainville in speaking with us: a boat was immediately fent on board, and in her a young officer, drest in a waistcoat and trowfers; whether he was thus dreffed by defign I fhall not determine, but I foon perceived that his rank was much fuperior to his appearance. He came down to me in my cabbin, and after the ufual compliments had paffed, I afked him how he came to go home so foon in the feafon? To which he replied, that there had been fome difagreement between the Governor and inhabitants of the Ifle of France, and that he had been fent home in hafte with difpatches: this ftory was the more plaufible, as 1 had heard of the difpute between the Governor and inhabitants of the Ifle of France, from a French Gentleman, who came from thence, at the Cape of Good Hope; yet I was not perfectly satisfied: for, fuppofing.M. Bougainville to have been fent in hafte to Europe with dispatches, I could not account for his lofing the time which it cost him to speak with me; I therefore obferved to this Gentleman, that although he had accounted for his coming before the ufual time from the Isle of France, he had not accounted for his coming at an unusual time from India, which must have been the cafe. To this, however, he readily replied, that they had made only a fhort trading voyage on the western coaft of Sumatra. I then enquired, what commodities he had brought from thence; and he answered, cocoa-nut oil, and rattans but, faid I, these are commodities which it is not usual to bring into Europe; it is true, faid he, but these commodities we left at the Isle of France, the oil for the use of the island, and the rattans for ships which were to touch there in their way to China, and in exchange we took in another freight for Europe; this freight I think he faid was pepper, and his whole tale being at least poffible, I asked him no more questions. He then told me, he had heard at the Cape, that I had been with Commodore Byron at Falkland's Island's; and, faid he, I was on board the French ship that met you in the Streight of Magellan; which must have been true, for he mentioned feveral incidents that

it

1769. it was otherwise highly improbable he should know, February, particularly the ftore-fhip's running a-ground, and many

of the difficulties that occurred in that part of the Streight which we paffed together: by this converfation he contrived to introduce feveral enquiries, concerning the western part of the Streight, the time it coft me to get through, and the difficulties of the navigation; but perceiving that I declined giving any account of these particulars, he changed his fubject. He faid, he had heard that we loft an officer and some men in an engagement with the Indians; and taking notice that my fhip was small, and a bad failer, he infinuated that we must have suffered great hardship in fo long a voyage; but, faid he, it is thought to be fafer and pleasanter failing in the South Sea than any where else, As I perceived that he waited for a reply, I faid, that the great ocean, called the South Sea, extended almost from one pole to the other; and therefore, although that part of it which lay between the Tropics might juftly be called the Pacific, on account of the trade-winds that blow there all the year; yet without the Tropics, on either fide, the winds were variable, and the feas turbulent. In all this he readily acquiefced, and finding that he could not draw from me any thing to fatisfy his curiosity, by starting leading fubjects of converfation, he began to propofe his questions in direct terms, and defired to know on which fide the equator I had croffed the South Seas, As I did not think proper to answer this question, and wifhed to prevent others of the fame kind, I rofe up fomewhat abruptly, and I believe with fome marks of displeasure: at this he seemed to be a little difconcerted, and I believe was about to make an apology for his curiosity, but I prevented him, by defiring that he would make my compliments to his Captain, and in return for his obliging civilities prefent him with one of the arrows that had wounded my men, which I immediately went into my bed-room to fetch he followed me, looking about him with great curiofity, as indeed he had done from the time of his firft coming on board, and having received the arrow, he took his leave.

After he was gone, and we had made fail, I went upon the deck, where my Lieutenant asked me, if my

vifitor