sengers, #):. ex e rt. themselves in the duties of :meni
From the information’ ofjja young Gentleman,* one of the pas»-
'seng'efs,) whose relations I am acquainted with, and- the (testimony
of others on board, I am enabled to state, that owing -to
the persevering example of.thq,Captain, and his; good;« seainan-
ship, he extricated his, vessel* from many dangers; an d ;.b rig h t
her. safe „into Table Bay. The Wellesley, extra; ship>/com-'
manded by Captain Peter-Gordon, in h e r. p.as^sage,. put, ^as
•parted from1 the convoy, nearly in- the. latitude-'of Rio Janeiro,
and soon after chased by a French ship of mupfe|uperior force
in guns, and weight n f metaL Finding it impossibly(t§.fes;eape,
he determined to hazard an action, which accordingly-took
place, and lasted above an hour, when the .Frenchman shpefced
off. The Wellesley was mostly manned with Lascars ;s but-the
Officers of.the ship were gallantly supported by-the passengers.
The number o f souls on board did not .exqeedjninyty, ahd .th^
guns were nine-pounders; whilst the enemy was^falTof men^,
and from the weight of some of the shot afterwards taken oukof
t h i e , s ^ ^ } t h e Wellesley, she had; t^elwe-ppttnders. a
man was, killed .on board |of Captain ,Gordon s r ship.; -.^--jThe
Frenchman continued in sight for two days, but. did'not think
proper to renew th e , engagement, probably from: the circumstance
of his having suffered much} The capture. of the Wel*
lesley would have been a very serious loss do the Cape, as/she
was laden with Government stores. The conduct of the gallant;
Captain and those on board, weak as they were, is the more de-;
serving notice and praise, . By this ship I received orders from
his Grace the Duke of Portland, one of his Majesty’s Principal
Secretaries of State, to search for the Strait which separates Van
Dieman’s Land from New Holland, and to make my passage,
if possible, through it. The fortunate prosecution of which will
be seen* hereafter, m
As
( > -
r As the time-efor my.depar|Tare; drew, near, I was often teazed
with- grpun4Je%,%ars and.ap prehensions t fpMqpd- jay idle .people,
onkthe;apGQuqt|Qf th©$spai^h.ichl so smali and singnlarlynon-
§truc£e,d 5a mine ;had tp^ek||)tinter in „the -run from
Capd^o^New. Molded, -.Hp^pvgT^the, inter pasjsagq we had
aj-ready made yu&h- soi*npi$hs safety,
- enter tained‘pf’ the .Lady $ , and th ^ d e tp p nm a -
tipn npffito quit pie^rc tught us many; visitors, and nupiJ^gj^of
y*pl unfep^^om (different sh%|;in the Bay.!, Bukas I„.conopived
mytierfW sufficient,, with : | ^ ^ 4ditiop;.o|(^ . e ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ & car-
pentet' (wipm.-I procured,ffiespi), I ;dt|^nfed all farther offers,^ tq
thp.ctisappoindent p f m a n p I was still under th ^ ^ ^ s if e y o f
accepting an addition, wliich I waujtd mthevhaye^^pea^^^^th^
in^thovperson.of a Dane,, gigantic in his
bpen boatswain pft.pne^Pf the .extra ships arrived I
a statj^of* mutiny. He hadt^been tried a n d ^ t r a p s -
portatipn;4p /New^South {;Wales. .p ^ e ^ p q u e s t ^ f p r ^ ^ t ^ in g
this; man on lpoard Jpming,.ffiom'Xdffiir^L.^r4% g ^% r r i s ^ I
epu}^ not' as I felt m y ^ l^ ^ q g h ^ i^ d ^ ^ ^ P ^
for.his polife ^ttentionJ.tomyself, and
completion;Qfjevery thing the Lady-Kelson required-' jjT ^m a n
w;as sent on .board in. irons, which I liberated, him from,T; and1
fpund him afterwards M be an,, excellent.sp^man^-a||^| wib
ling, and occasioning no trouble. Thisgjnducpd me ^0|tJ^,com-
mend his case to the Governor of Jgew Sjo.uth Wales, and herpb-
tainpd his emancipation soon after my .arriyal. -
Before taking leave of the C a p |^ I begjhe indulgeMg^aG^I
ffinowledging my obligation^ to-the; Commandant o^Simons
Town, Major .'Stephen Collins, of the; 81&t^egm$»ti' and his
Family, and the Office^cpmposing^the .Garrison,j| during my
stay thgre, fqr their greatattention and hospitality^] tp^.Doctor
Pattison, Surgeon, to the Naval Department, Messrs. Smith,
” .... ' ■ | • Mould,.