These bearings and the observations place the south-east head of Mallison's Island in 12° 11¾' south, and 136° 8' east.

We returned on board at eleven, and then steered eastward along the south side of Cape Newbald; the flood tide, which set in that direction, having induced the hope of finding a river there. The wind was light and scant, so that we advanced principally by means of the tide; and finding it to run against us at five in the evening, anchored in 5 fathoms, mud and shells, eight or nine miles above the entrance of the bay, and one and a half from a rocky point on the Cape-Newbald side. We proceeded with the flood tide, next morning [WEDNESDAY 2 MARCH 1803], in a varying depth from 3 to 5 fathoms; and after advancing four or five miles, it was found impossible to go further without risk of getting aground, and we therefore came to an anchor. The land on the east side of the bay was distant three miles, and no other than a shallow opening in the north-east corner could be seen; a disappointment which left little to be expected in the southern parts of the bay, to which no set of tide had been perceived. In consequence, I gave up the intention of further prosecuting the examination in the ship, in favour of going round in my boat; and directed lieutenant Fowler, so soon as the botanical gentlemen should have explored the productions on the nearest part of Cape Newbald, to return with the ship to the entrance of the bay, and anchor near some low cliffs on the western side, where the botanists could again pursue their researches until my arrival.

Mr. Bauer the natural-history painter, himself a good botanist, expressed a wish to accompany me, and with Mr. Bell, the surgeon, we went off in the afternoon, steering S. S. E. for a small beach in the low, woody shore, five or six miles off. Squalls of wind with heavy rain prevented sounding in the first half of the way; but we then had nine feet, and nearly the same to the beach, where we landed at dusk. The wood was very thick here, the ground swampy, and the musketoes numerous and fierce; so that between them and our wet clothes we had very little rest.

THURSDAY 3 MARCH 1803

In the morning, after bearings had been taken from a projecting part of the ironstone shore, we steered four miles to the S. S. W., mostly in 2 fathoms, to some low cliffs of red earth; where Mr. Bauer examined the productions of the main land, whilst I took bearings from a small islet or bank of iron ore, lying near it.

Seeing that the shore took a western direction about five miles further on, we steered for the low islet; and at a mile from the land had 3, and afterwards 5 fathoms until approaching a long sandy spit, which extends out from the east end of the islet and was then dry. I landed upon it in time to observe the sun's meridian altitude, which gave 12° 22' 6" south, but a passing cloud deprived me of the supplement. The islet is little else than a bed of sand, though covered with bushes and small trees; there were upon it many marks of turtle and of turtle feasts; and finding the musketoes less numerous than on the main, we stopped to repose during the heat of the day.

In the afternoon, after taking bearings, we steered over to the south side of the bay, four miles off, with soundings from 7 at the deepest, to 3 fathoms at a mile from the iron-stone shore. The land is low and covered with wood, and the traces of kangaroo being numerous, the surgeon was induced to make a little excursion into the wood, whilst I took bearings and Mr. Bauer pursued his botanical researches. Mr. Bell found the country to be tolerably fertile, but had no success in his hunting; and at night we returned to the islet to sleep, hoping to procure some turtle; but no more than three came on shore, and one only was caught, the laying season appearing to be mostly past.

FRIDAY 4 MARCH 1803

At daylight we steered for a low rocky island, seven or eight miles to the W. N. W., where I took angles from the iron-stone rocks at its south end, and Mr. Bauer examined the vegetable productions. To the S. S. W., about five miles, was a woody point, on the east side of which no land was visible; and the depth of water in coming across from Low Islet having been as much as 10 fathoms, it left a suspicion that a river might fall into the south-west corner of the bay, and induced me to row over to the point. The soundings diminished from 5 to 3 fathoms; in which depth the boat being brought to a grapnel, I found the latitude to be 12° 20' 27", from observations to the north and south, and set Low Islet E. 7° S. by a pocket compass.

From thence to the point the water was shallow, and the open space proved to be a shoal bight, with very low land at the back. After I had taken bearings, to ascertain the position of the point and form this side of the bay, we returned northward, passing on the west side of the rocky island; and the ship having arrived at the appointed station, got on board at eight o'clock in the evening.

SATURDAY 5 MARCH 1803

On laying down the plan of this extensive bay, I was somewhat surprised to see the great similarity of its form to one marked near the same situation in the Dutch chart. It bears no name; but as not a doubt remains of Tasman, or perhaps some earlier navigator, having explored it, I have given it the appellation of the land in which it is situate, and call it ARNHEM BAY. So far as an extent of secure anchoring ground is concerned, it equals any harbour within my knowledge; there being more than a hundred square miles of space fit for the reception of ships, and the bottom seemed to be every where good. Of the inducements to visit Arnhem Bay, not much can be said. Wood is plentiful at all the shores, and the stream which ran down the hills at Mallison's Island would have supplied us conveniently with water, had it been wanted; but in three months afterwards it would probably be dried up. In the upper parts of the bay the shores are low, and over-run with mangroves in many places; but near the entrance they may be approached by a ship, and there are beaches for hauling the seine, where, however, we had not much success.

We saw no other stone on the low shores than iron ore, similar to that found in the upper part of Melville Bay, and on Point Middle in Caledon Bay; and it seems probable, that iron runs through the space of country comprehended between the heads of the three bays, although the exterior shores and the hills be either granitic, argillaceous, or of sand stone. The flat country where the iron ore is found, seems to afford a good soil, well-clothed with grass and wood, much superior to that where granite or sand stone prevails; this I judge from what was seen near the heads of the bays, for our excursions inland were necessarily very confined, and for myself, I did not quit the water side at Arnhem Bay, being disabled by scorbutic ulcers on my feet.

This country does not seem to be much peopled, though traces of men were found wherever we landed; in the woods were several species of birds, mostly of the parrot kind, and the marks of kangaroo were numerous, as at Melville Bay. These circumstances would be in favour of any colony which might be established in the neighbourhood; but should such a step come to be contemplated, it would be highly necessary, in the first place, to see what the country is in the dry season, from June to November; for it is to be apprehended that the vegetation may then be dried up, and the sources of fresh water almost entirely fail.

The middle of the entrance into Arnhem Bay is in latitude 12° 11' south, and longitude 136° 3' east. Azimuths taken on board the ship, when at anchor in the north-eastern part of the bay and the head E. by N., gave 0° 48' east variation, which corrected to the meridian, would be 2° 31' east; but the most allowed to the bearings on shore is 1° 40', and the least 1°, no greater difference being produced by the iron stone upon which some were taken. From general observation, the time of high water was nearly the same as in Malay Road, or about eight hours after the moon's passage, and the rise seemed to be six or eight feet.

Before noon of the 5th we quitted Arnhem Bay, and steered northward along the chain of islands extending out from the west side of the entrance. On approaching the north end of Probable Island the soundings diminished to 4 fathoms, and a short tack was made to the S. E.; and the flood tide becoming too strong to be stemmed with a light breeze, an anchor was dropped in 17 fathoms, sand and stones. A dry reef had been set from Mallison's Island, and should have lain about two miles S. E. from this anchorage; but it was not seen from the ship, being probably covered by the tide. There were two natives, with a canoe, under Probable Island, and some others were standing on the beach; but no attempt was made to approach the ship, nor did I send on shore to them.

SUNDAY 6 MARCH 1803

In the morning we had a moderate breeze at E. S. E., and pursued the line of the main coast and islands to the northward at the distance of three or four miles, with soundings from 10 to 17 fathoms. Both the coast and islands are in general so low and near to each other, that it was difficult to say whether some were not connected; at eleven, however, we approached two which certainly were islands, and there being a clear passage between the surrounding reefs of a mile and a half wide, we steered through it with 12 to 17 fathoms. The north-easternmost most, which I have named after captain Cunningham of the navy, is four or five miles in circumference, and of moderate elevation; and lies in 11° 47' south and 136° 6' east by the survey.

[NORTH COAST. WESSEL'S ISLANDS.]

A third chain of islands commences here, which, like Bromby's and the English Company's Islands, extend out north-eastward from the coast. I have frequently observed a great similarity both in the ground plans and elevations of hills, and of islands in the vicinity of each other; but do not recollect another instance of such a likeness in the arrangement of clusters of islands. This third chain is doubtless what is marked in the Dutch chart as one long island, and in some charts is called Wessel's Eylandt; which name I retain with a slight modification, calling them WESSEL'S ISLANDS. They had been seen from the north end of Cotton's Island to reach as far as thirty miles out from the main coast; but this is not more than half their extent, if the Dutch chart be at all correct.

At noon, when Cunningham's Island bore from S. 1° to 26° E., at the distance of two miles, the furthest visible part of Wessel's Islands bore N. 53° E.; it was not distant, for the weather was squally with rain, and both prevented us from seeing far and obscured the sun. To the westward, we had land at the distance of three or four miles; and from its north-east end, which is named Point Dale, three small isles with rocks extended out to the bearing of N. 16° E., which we could not weather without making a tack. At three they were passed; and at six in the evening the outer islet bore S. 14° E., four leagues, and the most western part of the land of Point Dale, S. 36° W.; but whether this last were an island or a part of the main, was still doubtful.

For the last several days the wind had inclined from the eastward, and at this time blew a steady breeze at E. by S., with fine weather; as if the north-west monsoon were passed, and the south-east trade had resumed its course. We had continued the survey of the coast for more than one-half of the six months which the master and carpenter had judged the ship might run without much risk, provided she remained in fine weather and no accident happened; and the remainder of the time being not much more than necessary for us to reach Port Jackson, I judged it imprudent to continue the investigation longer. In addition to the rottenness of the ship, the state of my own health and that of the ship's company were urgent to terminate the examination here; for nearly all had become debilitated from the heat and moisture of the climate--from being a good deal fatigued--and from the want of nourishing food. I was myself disabled by scorbutic sores from going to the mast head, or making any more expeditions in boats; and as the whole of the surveying department rested upon me, our further stay was without one of its principal objects. It was not, however, without much regret that I quitted the coast; both from its numerous harbours and better soil, and its greater proximity to our Indian possessions having made it become daily more interesting; and also, after struggling three months against foul winds, from their now being fair as could be wished for prosecuting the further examination. The accomplishment of the survey was, in fact, an object so near to my heart, that could I have foreseen the train of ills that were to follow the decay of the Investigator and prevent the survey being resumed--and had my existence depended upon the expression of a wish, I do not know that it would have received utterance; but Infinite Wisdom has, in infinite mercy, reserved the knowledge of futurity to itself.

[NORTH COAST. TOWARDS TIMOR.]

(Atlas Plate I.)

On quitting Wessel's Islands, we steered a north-west course all night, under easy sail; having a warrant officer placed at the look-out, and the lead hove every quarter of an hour. The soundings increased very gradually till daylight [MONDAY 7 MARCH 1803], when we had 30 fathoms; and no land being distinguishable, the course was then altered to W. by S. Our latitude at noon was 10° 56' 40", longitude by timekeeper 135° 10'; and I judged that part of the coast seen by lieutenant McCluer, in 1791, to lie about fifty miles to the southward. This was the first land seen by him in his course from New Guinea; and according to the comparison afterwards made of his longitude, it should not lie more than twelve leagues from the western part of Point Dale.

Mr. McCluer saw some islands near the coast, and amongst others an outer one called New Year's Isle, in latitude 10° 52' south and 133° 12' east, which I purposed to visit in the hope of procuring turtle. But our friendly trade wind gradually died away, and was succeeded by light airs from the N. W. and S. W., by calms, and afterwards by light winds from the north-eastward; so that it was not until daylight of the 12th [SATURDAY 12 MARCH 1803], that the island was seen. At eleven o'clock, lieutenant Fowler went on shore to examine the beach for traces of turtle; but finding none recent, he returned before two, and we again made sail to the westward.

New Year's Isle is a bed of sand mixed with broken coral, thrown up on a coral reef. It is four or five miles in circumference, and the higher parts are thickly covered with shrubs and brush wood; but much of it is over-run with mangroves, and laid under water by the tide. Fresh prints of feet on the sand showed that the natives had either visited it very lately, or were then upon the island; turtle also had been there, but their traces were of an old date. The reef extends about a mile off, all round; we had 22 fathoms very near the outer edge, and saw no other danger. Broken land was perceived to the southward, probably the inner isles marked by lieutenant McCluer; and six or seven leagues to the S. W. was a part of the main, somewhat higher but equally sandy, which we traced above half a degree to the westward. I made the latitude of the island to be 10° 55' south, and longitude by time keeper corrected 133° 4' east; being 3' more south and 8' less east than Mr. McCluer's position. The variation of the compass, from azimuths taken twenty leagues to the east of New Year's Isle, was 1° 55' east, with the ship's head W. N. W.; and at thirteen leagues on the west side, 1° 20' with the head N. W.; these being corrected to the meridian, will be 0° 23' and 0° 12' east. The tide ran strong to the N. W. whilst it was ebbing by the shore, so that the flood would seem to come from the westward; whereas in the neighbourhood of Cape Arnhem the flood came mostly from the opposite direction: whether this change were a general one, or arose from some opening to the S. E. of New Year's Isle, our knowledge of the coast was too imperfect to determine.

We had continued to have soundings, generally on a muddy bottom, from the time of quitting Wessel's Islands; nor did they vary much, being rarely less than 25, and never more than 35 fathoms. On the 13th [SUNDAY 13 MARCH 1803] at noon we had 34 fathoms, being then in 10° 41' south and 132° 40' east, and the coast still in sight to the southward. The winds then hung in the southern quarter, being sometimes S. W., and at others S. E., but always light; and I steered further off the land, in the hope of getting them more steady. Our soundings gradually increased until the 18th, when the depth was 150 fathoms in latitude 9° 47' and longitude 130° 17'; at midnight we had no ground at 160, but next morning [SATURDAY 19 MARCH 1803] the coral bottom was seen under the ship, and we tacked until a boat was sent ahead; from 7 fathoms on the bank, the soundings in steering after the boat increased to 9, 10, 13, and suddenly to 92 fathoms.

This small bank appeared to be nearly circular, and about four miles round; it lies in latitude 9° 56', longitude 129° 28' and as I judge, about twenty-five leagues from the western extremity of the northern Van Diemen's Land. In some of the old charts there are shoals marked to a considerable distance from that cape; and it seems not improbable, that a chain of reefs may extend as far out as the situation of this bank. We afterwards had soundings at irregular depths, from 30 to 100 fathoms, until the evening of the 26th [SATURDAY 26 MARCH 1803], in 10° 38' south and 126° 30' east; in which situation they were lost. (Atlas, Plate XVI.)

The winds had hung so much in the south-west, and retarded our passage as well as driven us near to the island Timor, that I judged it advisable to obtain refreshments there for my ship's company; under the apprehension that, as the winter season was fast advancing on the south coast of Terra Australis, the bad state of the ship might cause more labour at the pumps than our present strength was capable of exerting. Some of the smaller articles of sea provision., such as peas, rice, and sugar, which formed a principal part of our little comforts, were also become deficient, in consequence of losses sustained from the heat and moisture of the climate, and leakiness of the ship's upper works; and these I was anxious to replenish.

Coepang is a Dutch settlement at the south-west end of Timor and the determination to put in there being made, I revolved in my mind the possibility of afterwards returning to the examination of the north and north-west coasts of Terra Australis, during the winter six months, and taking the following summer to pass the higher latitudes and return to Port Jackson. There was little chance of obtaining salt provisions at Coepang, but there might be a ship or ships there, capable of furnishing a supply, and by which an officer might be conveyed to England; for it was a necessary part of my project to despatch lieutenant Fowler to the Admiralty, with an account of our proceedings, and a request that he might return as speedily as possible, with a vessel fit to accomplish all the objects of the voyage; and I calculated that six months employed upon the North and North-west Coasts, and the subsequent passage to Port Jackson, would not leave much more than the requisite time for refreshing the ship's company before his arrival might be expected. It is to be observed, that the ship had leaked very little in her sides since the caulking done at the head of the Gulph; and the carpenter being now directed to bore into some of the timbers then examined, did not find them to have become perceptibly worse; so that I was led to hope and believe that the ship might go through this service, without much more than common risk, provided we remained in fine-weather climates, as was intended.

MONDAY 28 MARCH 1803

On the 28th, being then in 10° 36' south, and 125° 47' east, the high land of Timor was seen bearing N. 61° W., at the distance of thirty, or perhaps more leagues; but no soundings could be obtained with 90, nor in the evening with 160 fathoms. Next day [TUESDAY 29 MARCH 1803], the light south-west wind suddenly veered to S. E., and blew fresh; and from its dying away at sunset was evidently a sea breeze attracted by the land, which, however, was forty miles off in its nearest part. Our latitude on the 30th [WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH 1803] was 10° 37' 13", longitude 124° 18½', and the land, mostly high mountains, extended from N. N. E. ½ E. to W. N. W., the nearest part was distant seven or eight leagues, but we still had no soundings. The island Rottee is reckoned tolerably high land, but must be greatly inferior to Timor; since the round hill at its eastern end was not seen from the mast head till four this afternoon, when its distance was little more than fifteen leagues. We carried all sail for the strait between the two islands till midnight, and then had soundings in 120 fathoms, muddy ground; an hour and a half afterwards the land was close, and the depth no more than 10 fathoms, upon which we hauled off till morning.

THURSDAY 31 MARCH 1803

At daylight, the north-east point of Rottee was distant two miles, and we steered along the shore, looking for boats and people to obtain intelligence, and if possible some refreshments; but none were seen, although we passed close to a deep and well-sheltered cove. At ten o'clock, when the sandy north point of Rottee was distant one mile and a half, we hauled up north-eastward, across the passage of about six miles wide, between it and the northern lands; for the purpose of entering Samow Strait, which was then open, and of which Mr. Westall took the view given in the Atlas (Plate XVIII, last View). The south-west point of Timor is surrounded by a reef, which extends from half a mile to a mile off, and runs some distance up the strait; both sides of the entrance are low land, yet at eleven o'clock we had no ground between them with 75 fathoms. The width of the entrance is three miles and a half, and continues nearly the same upwards, with a depth of 36 or more fathoms, and no dangers in it, other than the reef before mentioned. From the observations at noon, the extreme south-west point of Timor lies in 10° 22' south, and longitude by survey back from Coepang, 123° 29' east; captain Cook places it in 10° 23' and 123° 55', and calls it the south point, but there is a sloping projection, three leagues to the eastward, which I set in a line with it at E. 2° S.

[NORTH COAST. COEPANG BAY.]

Two vessels were lying under the north-east end of Samow; and on our ensign and pendant being hoisted, the one showed American, and the other Dutch colours. An officer was sent to them for information, as well of the propriety of going into Coepang Bay at this season, as of the political state of Europe; for although the intelligence of peace had arrived before we left Port Jackson, it seemed to be doubtful how long it might last. On his return with favourable intelligence, I steered through the northern outlet of the strait, which is not more than a mile and a half wide, but so deep that 65 fathoms did not reach the bottom; and at four o'clock the anchor was let go in 17 fathoms, muddy ground, half a mile from the shore, with the flag staff of Fort Concordia bearing S. S. E.

I sent the second lieutenant to present my respects to the Dutch governor, and inform him of our arrival and wants, with an offer of saluting the fort provided an equal number of guns should be returned; and the offer being accepted, mutual salutes of thirteen guns passed, and the same evening we received a boat load of refreshments. Next day [FRIDAY 1 APRIL 1803], I went with three officers and gentlemen to wait upon Mynheer Giesler, the governor, who sent the commandant of the fort and surgeon of the colony to receive us at the water side. The governor did not speak English, nor I any Dutch; and our communications would have been embarrassed but for the presence of captain Johnson, commander of the Dutch brig, who interpreted with much polite attention.

Coepang is dependant on Batavia for a variety of articles, and amongst others, for arrack, rice, sugar, etc. Mr. Johnson had arrived not long before with the annual supply, yet I found some difficulty in obtaining from the governor the comparatively small quantities of which we stood in need; and I had no resource but in his kindness, for there were no merchants in Coepang, nor any other who would receive bills in payment. Having made an agreement for the provisions, I requested permission for our botanists and painters to range the country, which was readily granted; with a caution not to extend their walks far from the town, as they might be there liable to insults from the natives, over whom the governor had no power.

We were occupied nearly a week in completing our water, which was brought on board in Malay boats, and in obtaining and stowing away the provisions. [SUNDAY 3 APRIL 1803] The governor, with captain Johnson and two other gentlemen were entertained on board the Investigator, and received under a salute; and the day before we proposed to sail [THURSDAY 7 APRIL 1803], I went with some of my principal officers and gentlemen to dine with the governor, the fort firing a salute on our landing; and it is but justice to Mr. Giesler and the orders under which he acted, to say, that he conducted himself throughout with that polite and respectful attention, which the representative of one friendly nation owes to that of another.

A part of the ship's company was permitted to go on shore so soon as our work was completed; and two men, my Malay cook and a youth from Port Jackson, being absent in the evening, the town was searched for them, but in vain. We got under way early next morning [FRIDAY 8 APRIL 1803], before the sea breeze set in, and stood off and on until lieutenant Fowler again went after the men. On his return without success, we stretched out of the bay; but the wind being light, and the governor having promised to send off the men, if found before the ship was out of sight, I still entertained a hope of receiving my deserters.

Timor is well known to be one of the southernmost and largest of the Molucca Islands. Its extent is more considerable than the charts usually represent it, being little less than 250 miles in a north-eastern direction, by from thirty to sixty in breadth. The interior part is a chain of mountains, some of which nearly equal the peak of Teneriffe in elevation; whilst the shores on the south-east side are represented to be exceedingly low, and over-run with mangroves. Gold is said to be contained in the mountains, and to be washed down the streams; but the natives are so jealous of Europeans gaining any knowledge of it, that at a former period, when forty men were sent by the Dutch to make search, they were cut off. In the vicinity of Coepang, the upper stone is mostly calcareous; but the basis is very different, and appeared to me to be argillaceous.

The original inhabitants of Timor, who are black but whose hair is not woolly, inhabit the mountainous parts, to which they appear to have been driven by the Malays, who are mostly in possession of the sea coast. There were formerly several Portuguese establishments on the north side of the island, of which Diely and Lefflow still remained; but these have all gradually declined, and the governor of Diely was now said to be the sole white Portuguese resident on the island. The Dutch territory at Coepang did not extend beyond four or five miles round Fort Concordia; and the settlement affording no other advantage to the Company than that of keeping out other nations, it seemed to be following, with accelerated steps, the ruin of their affairs. During the war which terminated in 1801, the communication with Batavia was interrupted, and the town taken by the English forces; an insurrection was raised by the half-cast people, and some of the troops left as a garrison were massacred, and the rest abandoned the island. During these troubles the town had been set on fire; and at this time, all the best houses were in ruins. The few troops kept by the Dutch were mostly Malays, some of the officers even, being mulattos; and the sole person amongst them, who had any claim to respectability, was a Swiss who had the command of Fort Concordia, but with no higher rank that that of serjeant-major. Besides the governor and two or three soldiers, I saw only two European residents at Coepang; one was the surgeon of whom captain Bligh speaks so handsomely in his narrative, the other a young gentleman named Viertzen, who had lately arrived.

Coepang has little other trade than with Batavia. Sandel wood, bees-wax, honey, and slaves, are exported; and rice, arrack, sugar, tea, coffee, beetel nut, and the manufactures of China, with some from India and Europe, received in return; and the duties upon these were said to suffice the expense of keeping up the establishment. A vessel laden with ammunition, clothing, and other supplies for the troops, is annually sent from Batavia; but what may be called the trade of Coepang, is mostly carried on by the Chinese, some of whom are settled in the town, and have intermixed with the Malays.

Coepang Bay is exposed to the westward; but from the beginning of May to the end of October, the anchorage is secure; and there is little to apprehend from north-west winds after the middle of March, or before the middle of November; but the standing regulations of the Dutch company were, that until the first of May their vessels should lie under the north-east end of Pulo Samow, about five miles from Coepang; although Babao Road on the north side of the bay, of which Dampier speaks, was said to be a more secure and convenient anchorage. The commander of the American ship Hunter had gone under Samow, because he found the Dutch brig there; and although assured there was almost nothing to be apprehended in the bay, he feared to come up till encouraged by our example.

This ship was upon a trading speculation, and the commander was buying here sandel wood and bees-wax. For the best kind of wood he paid twenty dollars per picol, for the inferior sort thirteen, and seven dollars for the refuse; and bees-wax cost him twenty-five dollars. Upon all these he expected to make three hundred per cent. at Canton, besides the advantage of paying for them with cutlasses, axes, and other iron tools, at an equally great advance; he reported, however, that iron was still more valuable at Solor, Flores, and the neighbouring islands; and that supplies of fresh provisions were more plentiful. The usual profits of trade here, seemed to be cent. per cent. upon every exchange; and this the commander of the Hunter proposed to make many times over, during his voyage. At Solor he had bought some slaves for two muskets each, which muskets he had purchased at the rate of 18s. in Holland, at the conclusion of the war; these slaves were expected to be sold at Batavia, for eighty, or more probably for a hundred dollars individually, making about thirty capitals of the first price of his muskets. If such advantages attend this traffic, humanity must expect no weak struggle to accomplish its suppression; but what was the result of this trading voyage? That the commander and his crew contracted a fever at Diely, and nearly the whole died before they reached Batavia.

Spanish dollars were rated at 5s. 4d. according to the Dutch company's regulations, but their currency at Coepang was sixty stivers or pence; whence it arose that to a stranger receiving dollars, they would be reckoned at 5s. 4d. each, but if he paid them it was at 5s. Besides dollars, the current coins were ducatoons, rupees, and doits, with some few gold rupees of Batavia; but the money accounts were usually kept in rix dollars, an imaginary coin of 4s.

I made many inquiries concerning the Malay trepang fishers, whom we had met at the entrance of the Gulph of Carpentaria, and learned the following particulars. The natives of Macassar had been long accustomed to fish for the trepang amongst the islands in the vicinity of Java, and upon a dry shoal lying to the south of Rottee; but about twenty years before, one of their prows was driven by the north-west monsoon to the coast of New Holland, and finding the trepang to be abundant, they afterwards returned; and had continued to fish there since that time. The governor was of opinion, that the Chinese did not meet them at Timor-laoet, but at Macassar itself, where they are accustomed to trade for birds nests, trepang, sharks fins, etc.; and it therefore seems probable that the prows rendezvous only at Timor-laoet, on quitting Carpentaria, and then return in a fleet, with their cargoes.

The value of the common trepang at Canton, was said to be forty dollars the picol, and for the best, or black kind, sixty; which agrees with what I had been told in Malay Road, allowing to the Chinese the usual profit of cent. per cent. from Macassar to their own country.

About ten days before our arrival, a homeward-bound ship from India had touched at Coepang; and had we been so fortunate as to meet with her, it might have enabled me to put in execution the plan I had formed of sending an officer to England, and returning to the examination of the north and north-west coasts of Terra Australis. This plan was now frustrated; and the sole opportunity of writing to Europe was by captain Johnson, who expected to sail for Batavia in May, and promised to forward our letters from thence. I committed to his care an account of our examinations and discoveries upon the East and North Coasts, for the Admiralty; with the report of the master and carpenter upon the state of the ship, and the information I had obtained of the trepang fishery.

Our supplies for the ship, procured at Coepang, were rice, arrack, sugar, and the palm syrup called gulah; with fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables during our stay, and for ten days afterwards. The animal food consisted of young karabow, a species of buffalo, and of small pigs and kids; the karabow being charged at eight, the pigs at five, and kids at two rix dollars each. Vegetables were dear and not good, and for many of the fruits we were too early in the season; but cocoa-nuts, oranges, limes, bananas, and shaddocks were tolerably plentiful. Tea, sugar candy, and some other articles for our messes, were purchased at the little shops kept by the Chinese-Malays; and poultry was obtained along-side by barter.

To judge from the appearance of those who had resided any length of time at Coepang, the climate is not good; for even in comparison with us, who had suffered considerably, they were sickly looking people. Yet they did not themselves consider the colony as unhealthy, probably from making their comparison with Batavia; but they spoke of Diely, the Portuguese settlement, as very bad in this respect. Captain Baudin had lost twelve men from dysentery, during his stay at Coepang, and I found a monument which he had erected to his principal gardener; but it was even then beginning to decay.

The latitude of our anchorage, three-fifths of a mile to the north of Fort Concordia, was 10° 8' 2" from seven meridian altitudes of the sun; but these being all taken to the north, I consider it to be more correctly, 10° 8½' S.

Longitude of the anchorage and fort, from fifty four sets of lunar distances, of which the particulars are given in Table VII. of the Appendix No. I., 123° 35' 46" E.

Lieutenant Flinders took altitudes from the sea horizon, between April 1 p.m. and 8 a.m., for the rates of the time keepers; the mean of which, with the errors from mean Greenwich time at noon there on the last day of observation, were as under:

Earnshaw's No. 543, slow 2h 57' 14.56", and losing 16.73", per day, Earnshaw's No. 520, fast 1h 57' 19.28", and losing 33.99", per day;

the rate of No. 543 differing only 0.2" from that with which we had left Caledon Bay. The longitude given by this time keeper on April 1, p.m., with the Caledon rate, was 123° 39' 8.4" east, or 3' 22" more than the lunars; and when the Caledon rate is accelerated, the difference is only 2' 3½" east. This quantity, if the longitudes of Caledon and Coepang Bays be correct, is the sum of the irregularities of No. 543, during the fifty-one days between one station and the other. The time keeper No. 520 had been let down on the passage, and its rate being now more than 3" greater than at Caledon Bay, its longitude was not attended to at this time.

In laying down the coasts and islands of Arnhem's Land, the bearings and observed latitudes were used, with very little reference to the time keepers; but No. 543, when corrected, did not differ so much from the survey as 1' in twenty-five days. The rest of the track, from Wessel's Islands to Coepang, is laid down by this time keeper with the accelerated rate, and the application of a proportional part of 2' 3½", its irregularity during fifty-one days.

Variation of the surveying compass, 0° 46' west, observed when the ship's head was E. S. E., or corrected to the meridian, 0° 37' east; but this variation seems to apply only to Coepang Bay; for about two degrees to the eastward it was 1° 4' west, corrected, and one degree to the south-west it was 1° 41' west.

The flood tide comes from the southward, through Samow Strait, and rises from three to nine or ten feet; high water usually took place as the moon passed under and over the meridian, but the winds make a great difference both in the time and rise of the tide.