e may be gone over in twelve hours. This, however, is when
the Great Channel, as it is called, is attempted at a wrong season. The
Secured Passage or Bahonden, viz. betwixt Java and Prince's Island, is
more generally navigated, except by vessels coming from Bengal, Surat,
&c. which cannot reach the windward shore of Java against the south-east
monsoon. Those which take the Secured Passage soon get into anchoring
depth off the Java shore, which is one of its greatest advantages,--E.]

At six o'clock in the evening, the wind having obliged us to continue at
anchor, one of the country boats came along side of us, on board of
which was the master of the packet. He seemed to have two motives for
his visit, one to take an account of the ship, and the other to sell us
refreshments; for in the boat were turtle, fowls, ducks, parrots,
paroquets, rice-birds, monkies, and other articles, which they held at a
very high price, and brought to a bad market, for our Savu stock was not
yet expended: However, I gave a Spanish dollar for a small turtle, which
weighed about six-and-thirty pounds: I gave also a dollar for ten large
fowls, and afterwards bought fifteen more at the same price; for a
dollar we might also have bought two monkies, or a whole cage of
rice-birds. The master of the sloop brought with him two books, in one
of which he desired that any of our officers would write down the name
of the ship and its commander, with that of the place from which she
sailed, and of the port to which she was bound, with such other
particulars relating to themselves, as they might think proper, for the
information of any of our friends that should come after us: And in the
other he entered the names of the ship and the commander himself, in
order to transmit them, to the governor and council of the Indies. We
perceived that in the first book many ships, particularly Portuguese,
had made entries of the same kind with that for which it was presented
to us. Mr Hicks, however, having written the name of the ship, only
added "from Europe." He took notice of this, but said, that he was
satisfied with any thing we thought fit to write, it being intended
merely for the information of those who should enquire after us from
motives of friendship.

Having made several attempts to sail with a wind that would not stem the
current, and as often come to an anchor, a proa came along-side of us in
the morning of the 5th, in which was a Dutch officer, who sen