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commanders.
I proceeded to the government-house, and commenced the conversation by a recapitulation of the late events at Java, &c. and demanded again the immediate surrender of the settlement. He required to see my authority, and the written orders usually given on such occasions. I was obliged to be frank with him, and represented the truth; that accidental circumstances had brought me to Timor, where I expected to have found a British garrison, but that not being the case, it became my duty as a British officer, to haul down an enemy’s flag wherever I might find it; adding that if he did not think proper to surrender the island on the ground of its having been included in the capitulation by General Jansen, I now summoned him in my own name to surrender to me, as an enemy of superior force, stating, that I had on board 300 men, who waited only for my return, to come a-shore and commence an immediate attack. I warned him also that the blood which might be shed in this contest must rest on his head. He was considerably agitated, and undecided what part to take. To compel him to decision I drew out my watch, ‘Sir, I give you ten minutes for deliberation; if, at the expiration of that time, you are not decided, I am, and shall return on board, and you must abide the consequences of a bombardment.’ His inquietude increased; I saw that he was inclined to obey the summons, but the fear of committing himself would not allow him to act. I whispered to my Dutch interpreter to proceed to the fort, which was in sight from the portico of the government-house, where the conversation was held, and to endeavour, by feigning himself to be the bearer of orders to that effect, to haul down the flag. He executed his commission so well, that before ten minutes were expired, and while the governor was still hesitating, the flag of Holland was lowered, and the British ensign waved in its stead. It was now too late for him to retract; I thanked him for his promptitude, and immediately established him in due form, as vice-governor provisionally, till the ulterior orders of the British government were received; and I then promised him, that, provided he would answer for the fidelity of the colonists, I would not run the risk of disturbing the harmony which I hoped would reign in the settlement, by landing a single Englishman, excepting my own boat’s crew, as a body-guard to myself. He acquiesed entirely in my views, and you will easily conceive what were really the motives of my apparent delicacy; viz. the almost total impossibility of garrisoning the fort, not having more than thirty or forty efficient men, who were scarcely sufficient for the ordinary duty of the ship. Our measures were now all amicably arranged. I received and returned the official visits of the chief personages of Coupang. Fresh provisions, &c. were sent off to us in abundance, and I procured a pilot to place the ship in a secure anchorage, which I was glad to find was at a considerable distance from the place, as by that means, I should have less difficulty in preventing communication, and letting the real state of the case and of our small force be known, till my authority was securely established: my grand aim was to secure it by conciliation.
