n. This
incident induced us to be more cautious, and to keep within safe
boundary for the future.

Our repose at Cockpit Hall was, however, much disturbed by the nightly
visits of wild hogs, porcupines, wild cats, guanos, and various other
animals, some of which made dreadful noises. When they paid us their
visits, we all turned out, and, armed with muskets, commenced an assault
upon them, which soon caused them to evacuate our domain; but similar
success did not attend our endeavours to dislodge the swarms of
musquitos, scorpions, lizards, and centipedes from our habitations. They
secreted themselves in the thatch, and the sides of the house during the
day, and failed not to disturb with their onslaughts during the whole of
the night.

July 22d.--Mr. Hooper, the purser, was despatched in the Royalist to
Sincapore, to purchase provisions and obtain assistance from any of the
men-of-war who might be lying in the roads.

It is not necessary to enter into a minute detail of the service which
we were now employed upon. It certainly was not a service of love, as we
had to raise a ship which we hoped would remain where she was. To enter
into particulars, technical terms must be resorted to, which would only
puzzle the reader. The position of the Samarang was simply this: she lay
on a rock, and had filled by careening over; as long as she was on her
side, the water rose and fell in her with the flood and ebb of the tide;
but if once we could get her on an even keel, as soon as the water left
her with the ebb of the tide, all we had to do was to pump her out, and
then she would float again. To effect this, we had to lighten her as
much as possible, by taking out of her her guns and stores of every
description; then to get purchases on her from the shore, and assist the
purchases with rafts under her bilge, so as to raise her again upon an
even keel. On the second day after she filled, when the tide had run
out, we removed all our chests from the lower deck; most of them were
broken, and a large proportion of the contents missing. On the 27th May
every thing had been prepared, and the attempt to get the vessel on an
even keel was made, and it proved successful, as it well might with the
variety of purchases, and the force of men we had at our disposition.
When we repaired to the ship with 100 Malays to man the purchase-falls,
the tide was ebbing fast, and the pumps were immediately set to work; so
that at midnight, when the t