I was under the necessity of waiting till the strength of the tide should abate, which did not happen till the next morning, when Mr Williamson got on board the ship, and learnt that she had been seven months from Europe, and three from the Cape of Good Hope; that before she sailed, France and Spain had declared war against Great Britain; and that she left Sir Edward Hughes, with a squadron of men of war, and a fleet of East India ships, at the Cape.  Mr Williamson having at the same time been informed, that the water at Cracatoa was very good, and always preferred by the Dutch ships to that of Prince’s Island, I resolved to rejoin the Resolution at the former place; and a fair breeze springing up, we weighed and stood over toward the island, where we soon after saw her at anchor; but the wind falling, and the tide setting strong against us, I was obliged to drop anchor, at the distance of about five miles from the Resolution, and immediately sent a boat on board, to acquaint Captain Gore with the intelligence we had received.

As soon as the Resolution saw us preparing to come to, she fired her guns, and hoisted an English jack at the ensign staff, the signal at sea to lead a-head.  This we afterward understood was intended to prevent our anchoring, on account of the foul ground, which the maps she had on board placed here.  However, as we found none, having a muddy bottom, and good holding ground, in sixty fathoms water, we kept fast till the return of the boat, which brought orders to proceed the next morning to Prince’s Island.  We were at this time two miles distant from the shore; the Peak of Cracatoa bore N.W. by N.; Bantam Point E.N.E. 1/2 E.; Prince’s Island S.W. by W.

The island of Cracatoa is the southernmost of a group situated in the entrance of the Strait of Sunda.  It has a high peaked hill on the S. end,[113] which lies in the latitude 6 deg. 9’ S., and longitude 105 deg. 15’ E.; the whole circuit of the island is not more than three leagues.  Off the N.E. end lies a small island, which forms the road where the Resolution anchored; and within a reef that runs off the S. end of the latter, there is good shelter against all northerly winds, with eighteen fathoms water near the reef, and twenty-seven in the mid-channel.  To the N.W. there is a narrow pass for boats between the two islands.

The shore, which forms the western side of the road, is in a N.W. direction, and has a bank of coral stretching into the sea, about one-third of a cable’s length, which makes the landing difficult for boats, except at high water; but the anchoring-ground is very good, and free from rocks.  The place where the Resolution watered is a small spring, situated abreast of the S. end of the small island, at a short distance from the water-side.  A little to the southward there is a very hot spring, which is used by the natives as a bath.  Whilst we were lying off the S. end of this island, we sent a boat with the master, on shore, to look for water; but, after having landed with some difficulty, he returned unsuccessful.