164 T H E S T R A I T O F S U N D A .
wooden monument to his memory bearing a suitable inscription,
of which, being a perishable material, the friends and
relatives of the deceased may not be displeased to see an
accurate representation.
On entering the strait we fell in with an homeward-bound
Indiaman, which had left at Batavia a dispatch from China,
addressed to Lord Macartney. This circumstance, added to
other considerations, made it expedient for the squadron to
proceed thither as soon as we should have completed the necessary
supply of wood, water, and refreshments. Nothing
could possibly be more delightful than the short passage between
North Island and Batavia, along the northern coast of
Java. The distance is about ninety miles; the sea is rarely
ruffled with a gust of wind, but is smooth as the serpentine
river in Hyde Park ; and the crowd of little islands rising out
of its surface is so immensely great,, that even the indefatigable
Dutch, who are accustomed to deal in detail, despairing
in this instance of being able to assign to each a distinct
name,,have given to the whole groupe the general appellation
of the Thousand Islands. Every one of these numerous
islets is completely clothed with an unvarying tint of the
more lively verdure ; and though their surfaces are flat and
little elevated above that of the sea, yet the tall trees which
grow on most of them appear, from a distance, just like so
many fleets of ships. Some of them are skirted by smooth
sandy beaches, where turtles in abundance resort ; but o.n
thé greater part, the branches and the roots of the trees
strike into the salt water.