No event worthy of notice happened till the 18th of January, and then I learnt by a letter from Macassar that the Dolphin had been at Batavia.  On the 28th, the secretary of the council, who had been sent hither with Le Cerf, as we supposed to be a check upon the resident, was called to Macassar.  By this time our carpenter, having in a great degree recovered his health, examined the state of our vessel, and to our great regret she appeared to be very leaky:  Our main yard also was found not only to be sprung, but to be rotten and unserviceable.  We got it down and patched it up as well as we could, without either iron or a forge, so that we hoped it would serve us till we got to Batavia, for no wood was to be procured here of which a new one could be made.  To our leaks very little could be done, and we were therefore reduced to an entire dependence upon our pumps.

On Friday the 19th of February, Le Cerf, the military officer who commanded the soldiers on shore, was recalled, as it was said, to fit out an expedition for the island of Bally; on the 7th of March, the largest of our guard-boats, a sloop about forty-five tons, was ordered back to Macassar with part of the soldiers; and on the 9th, the resident, Mr Swellingrabel, received a letter from the governor 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.