A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xvii Part 21

I have the honour to be,

Gentlemen,

Your most obedient humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN,

Minister Plenipotentiary from the Congress of the United States, at the Court of France.

_At Pa.s.sy, near Paris, this 10th day of March, 1779_.'

"It is observable, that as Dr Franklin acted on his own authority, he could only _earnestly recommend_ to the commanders of American armed vessels not to consider Captain Cook as an enemy; and it is somewhat remarkable, that he mentions no more than one s.h.i.+p; Captain Clerke not being noticed in the requisition. In the confidence which the Doctor expressed, with respect to the approbation of Congress, he happened to be mistaken. As the members of that a.s.sembly, at least with regard to the greater part of them, were not possessed of minds equally enlightened with that of their emba.s.sador, he was not supported by his masters in this n.o.ble act of humanity, of love to science, and of liberal policy. The orders he had given were instantly reversed; and it was directed by Congress, that especial care should be taken to seize Captain Cook, if an opportunity of doing it occurred. All this proceeded from a false notion, that it would be injurious to the United States for the English to obtain a knowledge of the opposite coast of America. The conduct of the court of Spain was regulated by similar principles of jealousy. It was apprehended by that court, that there was reason to be cautious of granting, too easily, an indulgence to Captain Cook; since it was not certain what mischiefs might ensue to the Spaniards from a northern pa.s.sage to their American dominions.

M. de Belluga, a Spanish gentleman and officer, of a liberal and a philosophical turn of mind, and who was a member of the Royal Society of London, endeavoured to prevail upon the count of Florida Blanca, and M. d'Almodavar, to grant an order of protection to the Resolution and Discovery; and he flattered himself, that the ministers of the king of Spain would be prevailed upon to prefer the cause of science to the partial views of interest; but the Spanish government was not capable of rising to so enlarged and magnanimous a plan of policy. To the French nation alone, therefore, was reserved the honour of setting an example of wisdom and humanity, which, I trust, will not, hereafter, be so uncommon in the history of mankind."

The illiberality of his contemporaries, it may be remarked, is not one of the least evils with which a mind advanced beyond their standard, has to contend; but he has always one consolation in which he may take refuge--the time will come when the grat.i.tude of science and humanity will vindicate his views, though charity, perhaps, forbid their jealousy and prejudices to be remembered as a contrast. Nations never more injure themselves in opinion, which is so closely connected with their best interests, than when, from narrow policy and unfounded suspicions, they obstruct, or attempt to obstruct, the prosecution of undertakings which have the welfare of our common nature for their object. The best apology which it is possible to make for them in such cases, is, that they are too ignorant to comprehend how the general improvement of human concerns implies the enlargement of their own advantages.--E.

[108] The English settled here in the year 17O2, when the factory of Chusan, on the coast of China, was broken up, and brought with them some Maca.s.sar soldiers, who were hired to a.s.sist in building a fort; but the president not fulfilling his engagement with them, they watched an opportunity, and one night murdered all the English in the fort. Those without the fort hearing a noise, took the alarm, and ran to their boats, very narrowly escaping with their lives, but not without much fatigue, hunger, and thirst, to the Joh.o.r.e dominions, where they were treated with great humanity. Some of these afterward went to form a settlement at Benjar-Ma.s.sean, on the island of Borneo.- -_East India Directory_, p. 36.

[109] Mr Bingley informs us, that buffaloes have been introduced into some of the countries of Europe, where they are now perfectly naturalized.

Thus in Italy they are said to const.i.tute an essential part both of the riches and the food of the poor. So far as the writer knows, they have not yet been brought into England, and, indeed, notwithstanding the high opinion entertained of their good qualities, he thinks it doubtful if they would prove any acquisition to it.--E.

[110] Neptune Oriental.

[111] Vid. Dampier, vol. i. p. 392.

[112] Dampier, vol. i. p. 90.

SECTION XI.

Departure from Pulo Condore.--Pa.s.ss the Straits of Banca.--View of the Island of Sumatra.--Straits of Sunda.--Occurrences there.--Description of the Island of Cracatoa.--Prince's Island.--Effects of the Climate of Java.--Run to the Cape of Good Hope,--Transactions there.--Description of False Bay.--Pa.s.sage to the Orkneys.--General Reflections.

On the 28th day of January, 1780, we unmoored; and, as soon as we were clear of the harbour, steered S.S.W. for Pulo Timoan. On the 30th, at noon, the lat.i.tude by observation, being 5 0' N., and longitude 104 45' E., we altered our course to S. 3/4 W., having a moderate breeze from the N.E., accompanied by fair weather. At two in the morning of the 31st, we had soundings of forty-five fathoms, over a bottom of fine white sand; at which time our lat.i.tude was 4 4' N., longitude 104 29' E., and the variation of the compa.s.s 0 31' E.

At one in the afternoon, we saw Pulo Timoan; and, at three, it bore S.S.W.

3/4 W., distant ten miles. This island is high and woody, and has several small ones lying off to the westward. At five, Pulo Puissang was seen bearing S. by E. 3/4 E.; and, at nine, the weather being thick and hazy, and having out-run our reckoning from the effect of some current, we were close upon Pulo Aor, in lat.i.tude 2 46' N., longitude 104 37' E., before we were well aware of it, which obliged us to haul the wind to the E.S.E.

We kept this course till midnight, and then bore away S.S.E. for the Strait of Banca.

On the 1st of February, at noon, our lat.i.tude by observation was 1 20' N., and the longitude, deduced from a great number of lunar observations taken in the course of the preceding twelve hours, 105 E. At the same time, the longitude, by Mr Bayley's time-keeper corrected, was 105 15' E. We now steered S. by E.; and, at sun-set, having fine clear weather, saw Pulo Panjung; the body of the island bearing W.N.W., and the small islands, lying on the S.E. of it, W. 1/2 S., seven leagues distant. Our lat.i.tude, at this time, was 0 53' N.

On the 2d, at eight in the morning, we tried for soundings, continuing to do the same every hour, till we pa.s.sed the Strait of Sunda, and found the bottom with twenty-three fathoms of line. At noon, being in lat.i.tude, by observation, 0 22' S., longitude 105 14' E., and our soundings twenty fathoms, we came in sight of the little islands called Dominis, which lie off the eastern part of Lingen; and which bore from N. 62 W. to N. 80 W., five leagues distant. At this time we pa.s.sed a great deal of wood drifting on the sea; and, at one o'clock, we saw Pulo Taya, bearing S.W. by W., distant seven leagues. It is a small high island, with two round peaks, and two detached rocks lying off to the northward. When abreast of this island, we had soundings of fifteen fathoms. During this and the preceding day, we saw great quant.i.ties of a reddish-coloured sc.u.m or sp.a.w.n, floating on the water, in a southerly direction.

At day-light, on the 3d, we came in sight of the Three Islands; and, soon after, of Monopin Hill, on the island of Banca. At noon, this hill, which forms the N.E. point of the entrance of the Straits, bore S.E. 1/2 S.

distant six leagues; our lat.i.tude, by observation, being 1 48' S., and longitude 105 3' E., the soundings seventeen fathoms, and no perceivable variation in the compa.s.s.

Having got to the westward of the shoal, called Frederick Endric, at half- past two we entered the Straits, and bore away to the southward; and, in the afternoon, Monopin Hill bearing due E., we determined its lat.i.tude to be 2 3' S., the same as in Mons. D'Apres' map, and its longitude 105 18'

E. At nine, a boat came off from the Banca sh.o.r.e, and having rowed round the s.h.i.+ps, went away again. We hailed her in the Malaye tongue to come on board, but received no answer. At midnight, finding a strong tide against us, we anch.o.r.ed in twelve fathoms, Monopin Hill bearing N. 29 W.

On the 4th, in the morning, after experiencing some difficulty in weighing our anchors, owing to the stiff tenacious quality of the ground, we proceeded with the tide down the Straits; the little wind we had from the northward dying away as the day advanced. At noon, there being a perfect calm, and the tide making against us, we dropt our anchor in thirteen fathoms water, about three miles from what is called the Third Point, on the Sumatra sh.o.r.e, Monopin Hill bearing N. 54 W. The lat.i.tude, by observation, was 2 22' S., longitude 105 38' E. At three in the afternoon we weighed, and stood on through the Straits with a light breeze; and at eight, were abreast of the Second Point, and pa.s.sed it within two miles, in seventeen fathoms water; a sufficient proof that this Point may be bordered upon with safety. At midnight, we again came to anchor, on account of the tide, in thirteen fathoms, Mount Permissang, on the island of Banca, bearing N. 7 E, and the First Point S. 54 E., distant about three leagues.

In the morning of the 5th, we weighed, and kept on to the S E; and at ten, pa.s.sed a small shoal, lying in a line with Lusepara and the First Point, at the distance of five miles from the latter. At noon, the island of Lusepara bearing S., 57 1/2 E., four miles distant, we determined its lat.i.tude to be 3 10' 1/2 S., and its longitude 106" 15' E. The difference of longitude between the island Lusepara, which lies in the S. entrance of the Strait of Banca and Monopin Hill, which forms one side of the entrance from the N., we found to be 55', which is only two miles less than what is given in D'Apres' chart.

In pa.s.sing this Strait, the coast of Sumatra may be approached somewhat closer than that of Banca. At the distance of two or three miles from the sh.o.r.e, there are ten, eleven, twelve, or thirteen fathoms, free from rocks or shoals; however the lead is the surest guide. The country is covered with wood down to the water's edge, and the sh.o.r.es are so low, that the sea overflows the land, and washes the trunks of the trees. To this flat and marshy situation of the sh.o.r.e, we may attribute those thick fogs and vapours, which we perceived every morning, not without dread and horror, hanging over the island, till they were dispersed by the rays of the sun.

The sh.o.r.es of Banca are much bolder, and the country inland rises to a moderate height, and appears to be well wooded throughout. We often saw fires on this island during the night-time; but none on the opposite sh.o.r.e.

The tide runs through the Strait at the rate of between two and three knots an hour.

In the morning of the 6th, we pa.s.sed to the westward of Lusepara, at the distance of four or five miles; generally carrying soundings of five or six fathoms water, and never less than four. We afterward steered S. by E.; and having brought Lusepara to bear due N., and deepened our water to seven fathoms, we altered our course to S. by W., keeping the lead going, and hauling out a little, whenever we shoaled our water. The soundings on the Sumatra side we still found to be regular, and gradually shoaling as we approached the sh.o.r.e. At five in the afternoon we saw the Two Sisters, bearing S. by W. 1/2 W.; and at seven, we came to an anchor in ten fathoms, about eight miles to the N. of the islands. The weather was close and sultry, with, light winds, generally from the N.W.; but sometimes varying round as far as the N.E.; and, during the night, we observed much lightning over Sumatra.

We weighed the next morning at five, and at eight were close in with the Sisters. These are two very small islands, well covered with wood, lying in lat.i.tude 5 0' 1/2 S., longitude 106 12' E., nearly N. and S. from each other, and surrounded by a reef of coral rocks; the whole circ.u.mference of which is about four or five miles. At noon we got sight of the island of Java to the southward; the N.W. extremity of which (Cape St Nicholas) bore S.; North Island on Sumatra sh.o.r.e, S., 27 W., and the Sisters N., 27 E., distant four leagues; our lat.i.tude was 5 21' S., longitude 105 57' E.

At four in the afternoon we saw two sail in the Strait of Sunda; one lying at anchor near the Mid-channel Island, the other nearer the Java sh.o.r.e. Not knowing to what nation they might belong, we cleared our s.h.i.+ps for action; and at six came to an anchor in twenty-five fathoms, four miles E. by S.

from North Island. Here we lay all night, and had very heavy thunder and lightning to the N.W.; from which quarter the wind blew in light breezes, accompanied with hard rain.

At eight o'clock the next morning we weighed, and proceeded through the Strait, the tide setting to the southward, as it had done all night; but about ten, the breeze failing, we came to again in thirty-five fathoms; a high, island, or rather rock, called the Grand Toque, bearing S. by E. We were at this time not more than two miles from the s.h.i.+ps, which now hoisting Dutch colours, Captain Gore sent a boat on board for intelligence.

The rain still continued, with thunder and lightning.

Early in the afternoon the boat returned, with an account that the large s.h.i.+p was a Dutch East Indiaman, bound for Europe; and the other a packet from Batavia, with orders for the several s.h.i.+ps lying in the Strait. It is the custom for the Dutch s.h.i.+ps, as soon as their lading is nearly completed, to leave Batavia on account of its extreme unwholesomeness, and proceed to some of the more healthy islands in the Strait, where they wait for the remainder of their cargo and their dispatches. Notwithstanding this precaution, the Indiaman had lost, since her departure from Batavia, four men, and had as many more whose recovery was despaired of. She had lain here a fortnight, and was now about to proceed to Cracatoa, having just received final orders by the packet.

At seven in the morning of the 9th we weighed, and stood on through the Strait to the S.W., keeping pretty close in with the islands on the Sumatra sh.o.r.e, in order to avoid a rock near Mid-channel Island, which lay on our left. At half after ten, I received orders from Captain Gore to make sail toward a Dutch s.h.i.+p, which now hove in sight to the southward, and which we supposed to be from Europe; and, according to the nature of the intelligence we could procure from her, either to join him at Cracatoa, where he intended to stop, for the purpose of supplying the s.h.i.+ps with arrack, or to proceed to the S.E. end of Prince's Island, and there take in our water and wait for him.

I accordingly bore down toward the Dutch s.h.i.+p, which, soon after, came to an anchor to the eastward; when the wind slackening, and the current still setting very strong through the Strait to the S.W., we found it impossible to fetch her, and having therefore got as near her as the tide would permit, we also dropt anchor. I immediately dispatched Mr Williamson in the cutter with orders to get on board her, if possible; but as she lay near a mile off, and, the tide ran with great rapidity, we soon perceived that the boat was dropping fast astern. We therefore made the signal to return, and immediately began to veer away the cable, and sent out a buoy astern, in order to a.s.sist him in getting on board again. Our poverty, in the article of cordage, was here very conspicuous; for we had not a single coil of rope in the store-room to fix the buoy, but were obliged to set about unreeving the studding-sail geer, the topsail-halliards and tackle-falls for that purpose; and the boat was at this time driving to the southward so fast, that it was not before we had veered away two cables, and almost all our running-rigging, that she could fetch the buoy.

I was under the necessity of waiting till the strength of the tide should abate, which did not happen till the next morning, when Mr Williamson got on board the s.h.i.+p, and learnt that she had been seven months from Europe, and three from the Cape of Good Hope; that before she sailed, France and Spain had declared war against Great Britain; and that she left Sir Edward Hughes, with a squadron of men of war, and a fleet of East India s.h.i.+ps, at the Cape. Mr Williamson having at the same time been informed, that the water at Cracatoa was very good, and always preferred by the Dutch s.h.i.+ps to that of Prince's Island, I resolved to rejoin the Resolution at the former place; and a fair breeze springing up, we weighed and stood over toward the island, where we soon after saw her at anchor; but the wind falling, and the tide setting strong against us, I was obliged to drop anchor, at the distance of about five miles from the Resolution, and immediately sent a boat on board, to acquaint Captain Gore with the intelligence we had received.

As soon as the Resolution saw us preparing to come to, she fired her guns, and hoisted an English jack at the ensign staff, the signal at sea to lead a-head. This we afterward understood was intended to prevent our anchoring, on account of the foul ground, which the maps she had on board placed here.

However, as we found none, having a muddy bottom, and good holding ground, in sixty fathoms water, we kept fast till the return of the boat, which brought orders to proceed the next morning to Prince's Island. We were at this time two miles distant from the sh.o.r.e; the Peak of Cracatoa bore N.W.

by N.; Bantam Point E.N.E. 1/2 E.; Prince's Island S.W. by W.

The island of Cracatoa is the southernmost of a group situated in the entrance of the Strait of Sunda. It has a high peaked hill on the S.

end,[113] which lies in the lat.i.tude 6 9' S., and longitude 105 15' E.; the whole circuit of the island is not more than three leagues. Off the N.E. end lies a small island, which forms the road where the Resolution anch.o.r.ed; and within a reef that runs off the S. end of the latter, there is good shelter against all northerly winds, with eighteen fathoms water near the reef, and twenty-seven in the mid-channel. To the N.W. there is a narrow pa.s.s for boats between the two islands.

The sh.o.r.e, which forms the western side of the road, is in a N.W.

direction, and has a bank of coral stretching into the sea, about one-third of a cable's length, which makes the landing difficult for boats, except at high water; but the anchoring-ground is very good, and free from rocks. The place where the Resolution watered is a small spring, situated abreast of the S. end of the small island, at a short distance from the water-side. A little to the southward there is a very hot spring, which is used by the natives as a bath. Whilst we were lying off the S. end of this island, we sent a boat with the master, on sh.o.r.e, to look for water; but, after having landed with some difficulty, he returned unsuccessful.

Cracatoa is esteemed very healthy, in comparison of the neighbouring countries. It consists of high land, rising gradually on all sides from the sea; and the whole is covered with trees, except a few spots which the natives have cleared for rice-fields. The number of people on the island is very inconsiderable. Their chief, as are those of all the other islands in the Strait, is subject to the king of Bantam. The coral reefs afford plenty of small turtles, but other refreshments are very scarce, and sold at an enormous price.

Lat.i.tude of the road where the Resolution anch.o.r.ed 8 6' south.

Longitude, by Mr Bayley's timekeeper 104 48 east.

Ditto, by observation 105 36 east.

Dip of the south end of the magnetic needle 26 3 Variation of the compa.s.s 1 0 west.

On the full and change days, it is high-water at 7h in the morning. The water rises three feet two inches perpendicular.