rnor of that
place, enquiring when I should sail for Batavia. I must confess, that I
was surprised at the recal of the officer, and the guard boat; but I was
much more surprised at the contents of the governor's letter, because he
knew that it was impossible I should sail till May, as the eastern
monsoon would not sooner set in. All matters, however, remained in the
same situation till near the end of the month, when some of my people
took notice, that for a short time past a small canoe had gone round us
several times at different hours of the night, and had disappeared as
soon as those on board perceived any body stirring in the ship. On the
29th, while these things were the subjects of speculation, one of my
officers who came from the shore brought me a letter, which he said 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 necessary to acquaint him, that the island of Celebes is
divided into several districts, which are distinct sovereignties of the
native princes. The town of Macassar is in a district called also
Macassar, or Bony, the king of which is in alliance with the Dutch, who
have been many times repulsed in an attempt to reduce other parts of the
island, one of which is inhabited by a people called Buggueses, and
another is called Waggs or Tosora. The town of Tosora is fortified with
cannon, for the natives had been long furnished with fire-arms from
Europe, before the Dutch settled themselves at Macassar in the room of
the Portuguese.

The letter acquainted me, that a design had been formed by the Dutch, in
conjunction with the king of Bony, to cut us off: That the Dutch,
however, were not to appear in it: That the business was to be done by a
son of the king of Bony, who was, besides a gratuity from the Dutch, to
receive the plunder of the vessel for his reward, and who, with eight
hundred men, was then at Bonthain for that purpose: That the motive was
jealousy of our forming a connection with the Buggueses, and other
people of the country, who were at enmity with the Dutch and their
allies, and driving them out of the island; or at least a suspicion
that, if we got back to England, some project of that kind might be
founded upon the intelligence we should give, no English man-of-war, as
I have already observed, having ever been known to have visited the
island before.

This letter was a new su