1765. colours. In the night, we had violent rain, with hard
■ _ '■ fqualls, during one of which we parted the ftream cable,
Wednef. 13. an(j therefore let go the fmall bower. At eight in the
Thurfday 14. morning, the- wind became moderate and variable, from
N.N. W. to W. S. W. We got out our longboat and weighed
the ftream anchor, and at nine made fail. We found the
current ftill very ftrong to the eaftward; and at two, we
anchored again in fourteen fathom, Pulo Taya bearing
N. W. 4. N. diftant between feven and eight leagues. The
veflel which we had feen the day before under Dutch colours,
ftill lying at anchor in the fame place, 1 lent a boat
with an officer to fpeak with her: the officer was received
on board with great civility; but was extremely furprifed to
find that he could not make himfelf underftood, for the
people on board were Malays, without a Angle: white man
among them: they made tea for our men immediately, and
behaved with great chearfulnefs and hofpitality. The veffel
was o f a very Angular conftrutftion; her deck was of flit
bamboo, and fhe was fleered, not by a rudder, but by two
large pieces of timber, one upon each quarter,
Friday 15. The next morning, at fix o’clock, we weighed and made
fail: at two, Monopin Hill bore S. by E. diftant about ten
or eleven leagues, and had the appearance o f a fmall ifland.
It bears S. by W. from the feven iflands, and is diftant
from them about twelve leagues : its latitude is 2° South.
From the feven iflands we fleered S. W. by S. and had regular
foundings from twelve to feven fathom, and foon
after faw the coaft of Sumatra, bearing from W. S. W. to
W. by N. at the diftance o f about feven leagues. In the
„ , , evening, we anchored in feven fathom: and the next morn- Saturday 16. -t}- ° # •
ing at four, we made fail again, and continued our courfe
S. by E. till the peak o f Monopin Hill bore eaft, and Batacarang
carang Point, on the Sumatra fir ore, S. W. to avoid a fhoal, >765-
called Frederick Hendrick, which is about mid-way between s----1---->
, _ n ■% r 1 • Saturday 16* the Banca and Sumatra more : the foundings were thirteen
and fourteen fathom. We then fleered E. S. E. and kept
mid-channel to avoid the banks of Palambam River, and
that which lies off the weftermoft . point of Banta. When
we were abreaft of Palambam River, we regularly fhoaled
our water from fourteen to feven fathom; and when we
had paffed it, we deepened it again to fifteen and fixteen
fathom. We continued to fleer E. S. E. between the Third
and Fourth Points o f Sumatra, which are about ten leagues
diftant from each other : the foundings, neareft to the Sumatra
fhore, were all along from eleven to thirteen fathom ;
and the high land of Queda Banca appeared over the Third
Point o f Sumatra, .bearing E. S. E. From the Third Point to
the Second, the courfe is S. E. by S. at the diftance of about
eleven or twelve leagues. The high land of Queda Banca,
and the Second Point of Sumatra bear E. N. E. and W. S. W.
o f each other. The Streight is about five leagues over, and
in the mid-channel there is twenty-four fathom. At fix
o’clock in the evening, we anchored in thirteen fathom ;
Monopin Hill bearing N. ~ W. ; and the Third Point of Sumatra,
S. E. by E. diftant between two and three leagues.
Many fmall vellels were in fight, and moll of them hoifted
Dutch colours. In the night we had frefh gales and fqualls,
with thunder and lightning, and hard rain ; but, as our
cables were good, we were in no danger, for in this place
the anchor is buried in a ftiff clay.
In the morning the current or tide fetto the S. E. at the Sunday 17.
rate o f three knots ; at five we weighed, with a moderate
gale at weft and hazey weather, and in the night the tide
fhifted, and ran as ftrongly to the N. W. ; fo that it ebbs and
flows here twelve hours.
Vol. I. S On