[Footnote 115:  There is considerable difficulty at certain seasons, in working up this strait.  Thus it is not unusual for a vessel going at a wrong time, to be six weeks in accomplishing a distance, which at another time may be gone over in twelve hours.  This, however, is when the Great Channel, as it is called, is attempted at a wrong season.  The Secured Passage or Bahonden, viz. betwixt Java and Prince’s Island, is more generally navigated, except by vessels coming from Bengal, Surat, &c. which cannot reach the windward shore of Java against the south-east monsoon.  Those which take the Secured Passage soon get into anchoring depth off the Java shore, which is one of its greatest advantages,—­E.]

At six o’clock in the evening, the wind having obliged us to continue at anchor, one of the country boats came along side of us, on board of which was the master of the packet.  He seemed to have two motives for his visit, one to take an account of the ship, and the other to sell us refreshments; for in the boat were turtle, fowls, ducks, parrots, paroquets, rice-birds, monkies, and other articles, which they held at a very high price, and brought to a bad market, for our Savu stock was not yet expended:  However, I gave a Spanish dollar for a small turtle, which weighed about six-and-thirty pounds:  I gave also a dollar for ten large fowls, and afterwards bought fifteen more at the same price; for a dollar we might also have bought two monkies, or a whole cage of rice-birds.  The master of the sloop brought with him two books, in one of which he desired that any of our officers would write down the name of the ship and its commander, with that of the place from which she sailed, and of the port to which she was bound, with such other particulars relating to themselves, as they might think proper, for the information of any of our friends that should come after us:  And in the other he entered the names of the ship and the commander himself, in order to transmit them, to the governor and council of the Indies.  We perceived that in the first book many ships, particularly Portuguese, had made entries of the same kind with that for which it was presented to us.  Mr Hicks, however, having written the name of the ship, only added “from Europe.”  He took notice of this, but said, that he was satisfied with any thing we thought fit to write, it being intended merely for the information of those who should enquire after us from motives of friendship.

Having made several attempts to sail with a wind that would not stem the current, and as often come to an anchor, a proa came along-side of us in the morning of the 5th, in which was a Dutch officer, who sent me down a printed paper in English, duplicates of which he had in other languages, particularly in French and Dutch, all regularly signed, in the name of the governor and council of the Indies, by their secretary:  It contained nine questions, very ill expressed, in the following terms: