We found that a ship (the Marquis Cornwallis) had sailed for Cork to take in her convicts three weeks before the Ceres left England; and that it was reported at Rio de Janeiro, that the Cape of Good Hope was in our possession.

The Ceres, touching at the island of Amsterdam in her way hither, took off four men, two French and two English, who had lived there three years, having been left from a brig (the Emilia), which was taken on to China by the Lion man of war.  One of the Frenchmen, M. Perron, apparently deserved a better kind of society than his companions supplied.  He had kept an accurate and neatly-written journal of his proceedings, with some well-drawn views of the spot to which he was so long confined.  It appeared that they had, in the hope of their own or some other vessel arriving to take them off, collected and cured several thousands of seal-skins, which, however, they were compelled to abandon.  M. Perron had subsisted for the last eighteen months on the flesh of seals.

On the day following this arrival the signal was again made; and before noon the snow Experiment, commanded by Mr. Edward McClellan, who was here in the same vessel in the year before last, from Bengal, and the ship Otter, Mr. Ebenezer Dorr master, from Boston in North America, anchored in the cove.

Mr. McClellan had on board a large investment of India goods, muslins, calicoes, chintzes, soap, sugar, spirits, and a variety of small articles, apparently the sweepings of a Bengal bazar; the sale of which investment he expected would produce ten or twelve thousand pounds.

The American, either finding the market overstocked, or having had some other motive for touching here, declared he had nothing for sale; but that he could, as a favour, spare two hogsheads of Jamaica rum, three pipes of Madeira, sixty-eight quarter casks of Lisbon wine, four chests and a half of Bohea tea, and two hogsheads of molasses.  He had touched at the late residence of M. Perron, the island of Amsterdam, and brought off as many of the sealskins (his vessel being bound to China after visiting the north-west coast of America) as he could take on board.  He had been five months and three days from Boston, touching no where but at the abovementioned island.

We had the satisfaction of hearing, through Mr. McClellan, from the master of the Britannia.  He had, according to his instructions, proceeded to Batavia, where judging from his own observation, and by what he heard, that it was unsafe to make any stay, he after four or five days left the port, and by that means fortunately escaped being detained, which, from information that he afterwards received at Bengal, he found would have happened to him.  He was to leave Calcutta about the end of December.

The report of the Cape of Good Hope being in our possession had reached that place before the Experiment sailed.  On this subject we were rather anxious, as the armed ships which had lately arrived, the Reliance and Supply, were intended to proceed to that port as soon as the season would admit, for cattle for the colony.