position ascribed, on the general chart, to that island; but, although the evening was clear, we could not discern any appearance of land. It may, therefore, be safely presumed, that it does not exist.
We made Timor on Saturday, the 5th of September, and on Sunday morning, at seven, A. M., we entered the Straits of Semao. At half-past ten, the ship struck on a ledge of coral rocks, and remained there, hard and fast. After various ineffectual endeavours, we succeeded in getting her off at noon, and were glad to find that she made no more water than she did before the accident[1].
At two, P. M., we arrived at, and anchored off, Coupang, when Captain Barker and I went on shore, to wait on the Resident and Secretary. We were informed, that Mr. Hazaart, the Resident, had proceeded on his expedition into the interior, accompanied by the Geologist, to search for the gold mines, said to exist in the mountains;—and, to repel the anticipated hostile attacks of the mountaineers[2], he was accompanied by upwards of 1000 men, armed and equipped in the manner already related[3].
The Dutch brig Merkus, in which my friend Captain Young had proceeded to Batavia, had returned to this
