As late as the year 1842 these pirates attacked a brig that was lying at anchor in the Macao Roads, murdering the crew and plundering the vessel.  The captain had remained on shore, and the sailors had carelessly given themselves up to sleep, leaving only one man to keep watch.  In the middle of the night a schampan—­which is the name given to a vessel smaller than a junk—­came alongside the brig.  One of the rowers then came on board, pretending he had a letter from the captain; and as the sailor went near the lantern to read the letter, he received from the pirate a blow upon his head which laid him senseless on the deck; the rest of those in the boat, who had hitherto remained concealed, now scaled the side of the brig, and quickly overpowered the slumbering crew.

In our case, however, the night passed without any incident worth noting; and on the morning of the 10th of July, having first taken on board a pilot, we proceeded to Hong-Kong, a distance of sixty nautical miles.  The voyage proved highly interesting, on account of the varied succession of bays, creeks, and groups of islands which we had to pass.

The English obtained Hong-Kong from the Chinese at the conclusion of the war in 1842, and founded the port of Victoria, which contains at present a large number of palace-like houses built of stone.

The Europeans who have settled here, and who are not more than two or three hundred in number, are far from being contented, however, as trade is not half as good as they at first expected it would be.  Every merchant is presented by the English government with a plot of ground, on condition of his building on it.  Many of them erected, as I before mentioned, splendid edifices, which they would now be glad to sell for half the cost price, or even very frequently to give the ground and foundations, without asking the smallest sum in return.

I resolved to stop only a few days in Victoria, as it was my wish to arrive at Canton as soon as possible.

In addition to the great politeness he had previously shown me, Captain Jurianse conferred another favour, by allowing me, during my stay here, to live and lodge on board his ship, thereby saving me an expense of 16s. or 24s. {91a} a day; and, besides this, the boat which he had hired for his own use was always at my disposal.  I must also take this opportunity of mentioning that I never drank, on board any other vessel, such clear and excellent water—­a proof that it is not so easily spoilt by the heat of the tropics, or a protracted period, as is generally imagined.  It all depends upon care and cleanliness, for which the Dutch are especially celebrated; and I only wish that every captain would, in this respect at least, imitate their example.  It is rather too bad for passengers to be obliged to quench their thirst with thick and most offensive water—­ a disagreeable necessity I was subjected to on board every other sailing vessel in which I made a voyage of any length.