, >76?-; defpondency was reflected from one countenance to another,
■ - — '< efpecially among thofe who were not able to come upon the
deck. In this deplorable fituation we continued till the
Thurfdayio, iofh, and it is riot perhaps very erify for the mod fertile
imagination to conceive by what our danger and diilrefs
could pdffibly be iricreafed; yet debilitated, fick, and dying
as we were, in fight Of land that we could not reach, and
expofed to tempefts which we could not refill, we had the
additioiial misfortune to be attacked by a pirate: that this
unexpected mifchief might lofe none o f its force, it happened
at midnight, When the darkriefs that might almoft be
felt, could riot fail to co-operate with whatever tended to produce
confulion and terror. This fudden attack, however
father fouzed than deprefied us, and though our enemy
attempted to board us, before we could have the leaft appre-
henfion that an enemy was near, we defeated his purpofe:
he then plied us with what we fuppofed to be fwivel-guns,
and fmall arms, very brilk ly; but though he had the Hart
o f us, we foon returned his falute with fuch effect, that
Ihortly after he funk, and all the unhappy wretches on board
perilhed. It was a fmall veflel, but o f what country, or
how manned, it was impoflible for us to know. The Lieutenant,
and one o f the men, were wounded, though not
dangeroufly; part of our running rigging was cut, and we
received fome other flight damage. We knew this pirate to
be a veflel which we had feen in the dulk of the evening,
and we afterwards learnt that flie belonged to a freebooter,
who had more than thirty fitch vcflels odder his command.
The fmallnefs of our veflel encouraged the attack, and her
ftrength being fo much more than in proportion to her fize
fuppofirtg her a merchantman, rendered it fatal.
s«ardiy 11. C>n Saturday the 12th, We fell in With the dangerous
flioals called the Sfie'ra Motfdis, a‘nd had the mortification to
find
find that wefterly mopfoop was now fet in, againft
which, and the current, it was impoflible for any Ihip to — '
........ -• wJ • ! ' .* -.............. ' “SaturdayTa,
get as far weftward as Batavia. As it was now necepary to •
wait fill the return of the eaflprn monfoon, and the fluffing
o f the current; as we had buried thirteen of our crew, and
no lefs than thirty more were at the point o f death ; as all
the petty officers were among the lick, and the Lieutenant
and myfelf, who did all duties, in a feeble condition ; it was-
impoflible that we Ihould keep the fea, and we had no
chance of preferving thofe who were Hill alive, but by
getting on fliore at fome place, where reft and refrdhment
might be procured; I therefore determined that I would take
advantage' of our being fo far to the fouthward, and endeavour
to reach Macaifar, the principal fettlement o f the Dutch
upon the ifland of Celebes.
The next day, we made fome iflands which lie not far Sundays
from that place, and faw> what fonietinies we took for
flioals, and fometimcs for boats, with men on boards but
what afterwards appeared to be trees, and other drift floating,
about, with birds fitting upon th em ; we fuddenly found
Qurfelv.es twenty miles farther to tfle fouthward than we-
expedited, for the current, which had for fome time fet us
to the northward, had fet us to the fouthward during the
night. We now hauled up ealt, and E. 4 N. intending to>
have gone to the northward of a flioal, which has no name-
in our Eaft India Pilot, but which the- Dutch call the Thumb:
by noon, however, we found ourfelves upon it, our water
fliallowing at once to four fathom, with rocky ground. We-
now hauled off to the fouth weft, and keeping the boac
a-head to found, ran round the weft fide of the flioal in tern
and twelve fathom; our water deepening when W e hmfleeb
off to the weft, and fliallowing when we hauled off eaft..
Cur.