1780.' -was preparing to march after us. He and his party had,
1_Jan"ary' ■ during our abfence, been profitably employed, in loading
¡the boat with the cabbage-palm, which abounds in this
bay. Our guides were made exceedingly happy, on our
prefenting them with a dollar each for their trouble, and
intruding to their care a bottle o f rum for the Mandarin.
One o f them chofe to accompany us on board.
At two in the afternoon we joined the ihips, and fcveral
o f our (hooting parties returned about the fame time from
the woods, ha vin g had little fuccefs, though they faw a
great variety o f birds and animals, fome o f which w ill be
hereafter noticed.
At five, a proa, with fix men, rowed up to the drip, from
the upper end o f the harbour, and a decent looking perfon-
age introduced him fe lf to Captain Gore with an eafe and
good breeding, which convinced us his time had been fpent
in other company than what this ifland afforded. He
brought with him the French paper above tranfcribed, and
faid he was the Mandarin mentioned in it. He fpoke a few
Portugueze words, but as none o f us were acquainted with
this language, we were obliged to have recourfe to a black
man on board, who could fpeak the Malay, which is the
general language o f thefe iflandefs, and was underftood by
the Mandarin. After a little previous converfation, he declared
to us, that he was a Chriftian, and had been baptized
b y the name o f L u c o ; that he had been fent hither in Au-
guft lad, from Sai-gon, the capital o f Cochin China, and
had fince waited in expedfation o f fome French ihips, which
h e was to pilot to a fafe port, not more than a day’s fail
hence, upon the coad o f Cochin China. We acquainted
him, that we were not French, but Engliih, and aiked him,
whether
whether he did not know, that thefe two nations were now 1780.
at war with one another. He made anfwer in the affirm a- L Ian“arr -,
tiv e ; but, at the fame time, fignified to us, that it was indifferent
to him to what nation the ihips he was indruifed to
wait for belonged, provided their objeft was to trade with
the people o f Cochin China. H e ,he re produced another
paper, which he defired us to read. This was a letter fealed,
and directed “ To the Captains o f any European veffels that
may touch at Condore.” Although we apprehended that
this letter was defigned for French ihips in particular, yet
as the diredtion included all European Captains, and as
Luco was defirous o f our perufing it, we broke the feal,
and found it to be written by the Biihop who wrote the certificate.
Its contents were as follows : “ That having rea-
fon to expe6t, by fome late intelligence from Europe, that a
veffel would foon come to Cochin China, he had, in confe-
quence o f this news, got the Court to fend a Mandarin (the
bearer) to Pulo Condore, to wait its a rriv a l; that i f the veflel
ffiould put in there, the Commander might either fend by
the bearer an account to him o f his arrival, or trud himfe lf
to the Mandarin, who would pilot him into a well-flicltered
port in Cochin China, not more than a day’s fail from Condore
; that ffiould he choofe to remain in Condore, till the
return o f the meffenger, proper interpreters would be fent
back, and any other affidance, which a letter ffiould point
out, be furniffied ; that it was unneceffary to be more particular,
o f which the Captain himfe lf mud be fenfible.”
This letter had the fame date as the certificate, and was returned
to Luco again, Without any copy being taken.
From this letter, and the whole o f Luco’s converfation,
there remained little doubt, that it was a French ihip he
was to e xp e ft; at the fame time we found he. would be glad
V o l . III. 3 N | not