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commanders.
service at the batteries, during this arduous campaign, had not spared the crew of this vessel more than those of the other ships of the squadron; and out of a complement of 120 men, there remained only eighty or ninety, fifty of whom were at this time in the hospital, or on the sick list, on board.
“Shortly after the departure of the admiral from the island, a report was brought from Europe by a vessel just arrived, that a squadron of French frigates had left Brest, bound, as was supposed, for the relief of Java. The British naval officer left in command, immediately made the necessary arrangements for their reception, in the event of their finding their way into these seas; and I received orders to proceed with H.M. sloop under my command, to the Straits of Bali, to watch well their southern entrance. I received on board some few convalescents from the hospital, and immediately repaired to Balambuan, in the Straits above mentioned. While at anchor there, I had the misfortune to lose the only experienced officer on board, who sank under the effect of the marshes of Batavia; his loss was great, and, to me, irreparable. While taking in our water at this anchorage, the westerly monsoon had set in with its usual violence, and though perfectly secure where we lay, the offing held out no very agreeable prospects; and the extreme severity of the weather, accompanied with torrents of rain, of which scarcely an idea can be formed in a northern temperate latitude, made me sometimes hesitate on the propriety of proceeding to sea. But the system of naval discipline is founded on the same principle as that of the ancient Roman armies; and with us, as with them, the highest virtue is obedience without calculation. I determined to run all risk, and having completed the supply of water, stood to sea early one morning in the beginning of December, with the intention of returning to the anchorage in the evening, if I should find upon trial that the severity of the weather, or strength of currents outside, should render it necessary. In half an hour from the time of our quitting the Straits, an extremely heavy squall came on, which entirely hid the land from my view. I stood on for a few hours and then tacked, in the expectation of reaching the anchorage in the Straits before dark. The weather during the whole day had been so extremely thick, that we were never once enabled to see more that half a mile distant. About four o’clock p.m. I calculated that we were at the mouth of the Straits. The weather, as we approached in shore, became more moderate, and the land was discovered at no very great distance. I stood in with full confidence, when to our no little astonishment, the face and form of the Straits had entirely changed their character, and we soon discovered that it was in vain to search for our old friendly anchorage here; in short, I now comprehended, that the easterly current, for which it was impossible to calculate, during the thick weather of the day, had driven us in spite of every endeavour to keep to windward, into the Straits of Lombo, which are formed by the island of Bali, and that of Lombo. I endeavoured to gain the offing, as
