“A party, detached from the seamen and marines under Colonel Wood, arrived last night, with nine waggons laden with money, and 30 prisoners, from the Bongas, a place half way between this and Carang Sambang, which they left in the morning at 6 o’clock, when our men were about to advance; and this morning the Brigade Major returned with intelligence that all the stores at the latter place, to a great amount[1], are given up to us, and that all the troops there are made prisoners of war: thus, every object for which the seamen and marines were advanced into the country, has been happily attained, and no one left in arms against us for a space of 35 miles.
“The last party of marines returned from Carang Sambang late last night, and were embarked on board the Nisus at one this morning. I have thus re-embarked every seaman and marine of the 330 whom I landed on the 4th instant, after having made about 700 prisoners, including 1 General, 2 Lieutenant-Colonels, 1 Major, 11 Captains, 42 Lieutenants, and about 180 Non-commissioned officers and European privates, the rest being Creoles and Malays, without having had a single man either killed or wounded, and, I am happy to say, with very few sick indeed, and those chiefly from great fatigue, whom, I trust, a few days will restore to their wonted vigour. Although it has not been our good fortune to have had it in our power to do any thing brilliant, yet, I hope, that having been able to secure so great a proportion of the enemy’s officers, and European troops, may contribute in some degree, to the speedy reduction of this important colony.”
Captain Hillyar sailed from Cheribon on the llth Sept. and the next day took possession of the fort at Taggall, together with the government stores about five miles distant from thence, which he found were capacious, and well filled with coffee, rice, and pepper. He then re-joined Rear-Admiral Stopford at Sauiarang, and proceeded with him to Sourabaya, where intelligence was received of the capitulation for the surrender of Java and its dependencies having been concluded on the 18th of the same month.
From this period we lose sight of Captain Hillyar till Mar. 1813, when he sailed from England for the purpose of destroying the Americans’ fur-establishment upon the banks of Columbia river, the execution of which service he found it necessary to entrust to another officer, in consequence of his receiving certain intelligence, at the island of Juan Fernandez, that the United States’ frigate Essex of 46 guns and 328 men
- ↑ The coffee alone, taken at Carang Sambang, was valued at 250,000 Spanish dollars.
