Transactions at Batavia, and an Account of the Passage from thence to the Cape of Good Hope. We found here fourteen sail of Dutch East-India ships, a great number of small vessels, and his majesty's ship the Falmouth, lying upon the mud in a rotten condition.
I sent an officer on shore, to acquaint the governor of our arrival, to obtain his permission to purchase refreshments, and to tell him that I would salute him, if he would engage to return an equal number of guns. The governor readily agreed; and at sun-rise, on Tuesday the 1st of December, I saluted him with thirteen guns, which he returned with fourteen from the fort. Soon after, the purser sent off some fresh beef, and plenty of vegetables, which I ordered to be served immediately; at the same time I called the ship's company together, and told them that I would not suffer any liquor to come on board, and would severely punish those who should attempt to bring any: And I took some pains to reconcile them to this regulation, by assuring them that in this country, intemperance would inevitably destroy them. As a further preservative, I suffered not a man to go on shore, except those who were upon duty; and took care that none even of these straggled into the town.
On the 2d, I sent the boatswain and the carpenter, with the carpenter of the Falmouth, to look at such of her stores as had been landed at Onrust, with orders, that if any were fit for our use they should be bought. At their return, they informed me that all the stores they had seen were rotten, and unfit for use, except one pair of tacks, which they brought with them: The masts, yards, and cables were all dropping to pieces, and even the iron work was so rusty that it was worth nothing. They also went on board the Falmouth to examine her hulk, and found her in so shattered a condition, that in their opinion she could not be kept together during the next monsoon. Many of her ports were washed into one, the stern-post was quite decayed, and there was no place in her where a man could be sheltered from the weather. The few people who belonged to her were in as bad a state as their vessel, being quite broken and worn down, and expecting to be drowned as soon as the monsoon should set in.
Among other necessaries, we were in want of an anchor, having lost two, and of three-inch rope for rounding the cables; but the officers whom I had sent to procure these articles, reported, that the price which had been demanded for them was so exorbitant, that they had not agreed to give it. On Saturday the 5th, therefore, I went on shore myself, for the first time, and visited the different storehouses and arsenals, but found it impossible to make a better bargain than my officers. I suspected that the dealers took advantage of our apparent necessity, and supposing that we could not sail without what we had offered to purchase, determined to extort from us more than four times its value. I was, however, resolved to make any shift rather than submit to what I thought a shameful imposition, and therefore told them that I should certainly sail on the next Tuesday; that if they would agree to my terms in the mean time, I would take the things I had treated for; if not, that I would sail without them.
Soon after I returned on board, I received a petition from the warrant-officers of the Falmouth, representing, that there was nothing for them to look after: That the gunner had been long dead, and his stores spoiled, particularly the powder, which, by order of the Dutch, had been thrown into the sea: That the boatswain, by vexation and distress, had lost his senses, and was then a deplorable object in a Dutch hospital: That all his stores had been long spoiled and rotten, the roof of the storehouse having fallen in during a wet monsoon, and left them exposed many months, all endeavours to procure another place to put them in being ineffectual: That the carpenter was in a dying condition, and the cook a wounded cripple. For these reasons they requested that I would take them home, or at least dismiss them from their charge. It was with the greatest regret and compassion that I told these unhappy people it was not in my power to relieve them, and that as they had received charge of stores, they must wait orders from home. They replied, that they had never received a single order from England since they had been left here, and earnestly entreated that I would make their distress known, that it might be relieved. They had, they said, ten years' pay due, in the expectation of which they were grown old, and which now they would be content to forfeit, and go home sweepers, rather than continue to suffer the miseries of their present situation, which were indeed very great. They were not suffered to spend a single night on shore, whatever was their condition, and when they were sick, no one visited them on board; they were, besides, robbed by the Malays, and in perpetual dread of being destroyed by them, as they had a short time before burnt the Siam prize. I assured them that I would do my utmost to procure them relief, and they left me with tears in their eyes.
As I heard nothing more of the anchor and rope for which I had been in treaty, I made all ready for sea. The ship's company had continued healthy and sober, and been served with fresh beef every day, from the time of our first coming to an anchor in the Road; we had also some beef, and a live ox, to carry out with us. We had now only one man upon the sick list, except a seaman, who had been afflicted with rheumatic pains ever since our leaving the Streight of Magellan: And at six o'clock in the morning, of Tuesday the 8th of December, after a stay of just one week, we set sail.
On the 11th, at noon, we were off a small island called the Cap, between the coasts of Sumatra and Java, and several of our people fell down with colds and fluxes. The next day, a Dutch boat came on board, and sold us some turtle, which was served to the ship's company. At night, being at the distance of about two miles from the Java shore, we saw an incredible number of lights upon the beach, which we supposed were intended to draw the fish near it, as we had seen the same appearance at other places.
On Monday the 14th, we anchored off Prince's Island, and began to take in wood and water. The next morning, the natives came in with turtle, poultry, and hog-deer, which we bought at a reasonable price. We continued here, fitting the ship for the sea, till the 19th, during which time many of the people began to complain of intermitting disorders, something like an ague. At six o'clock the next morning, having completed our wood, and taken on board seventy-six tons of water, we made sail.
While we lay here, one of the seamen fell from the mainyard into the barge, which lay along-side the ship. His body was dreadfully bruised, and many of his bones were broken: It happened also, that in his fall he struck two other men, one of whom was so much hurt that he continued speechless till the 24th, and then died, though the other had only one of his toes broken. We had now no less than sixteen upon the sick list, and by the 1st of January, the number was increased to forty; we had buried three, among whom was the quarter-master, George Lewis, who was a diligent, sober man, and the more useful, as he spoke both the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The diseases by which we suffered, were fluxes, and fevers of the putrid kind, which are always contagious, and, for that reason alone, would be more fatal on board a ship than any other. The surgeon's mate was very soon laid up, and those who were appointed to attend the sick, were always taken ill in a day or two after they had been upon that service. To remedy this evil, as much as it was in my power, I made a very large birth for the sick, by removing a great number of people from below to the half deck, which I hung with painted canvas, keeping it constantly clean, and directing it to be washed with vinegar, and fumigated once or twice a day. Our water was well tasted, and was kept constantly ventilated; a large piece of iron, also, used for the melting of tar, and called a loggerhead, was heated red-hot, and quenched in it before it was given out to be drank. The sick had also wine instead of grog, and salep or sago every morning for breakfast: Two days in a week they had mutton broth, and had a fowl or two given them on the intermediate days; they had, besides, plenty of rice and sugar, and frequently malt meshed; so that perhaps people in a sickly ship had never so many refreshments before: The surgeon also was indefatigable; yet, with all these advantages, the sickness on board gained ground. In the mean time, to aggravate our misfortune, the ship made more than three feet water in a watch; and all her upper works were very open and loose.
By the 10th of January, the sickness began, in some degree, to abate, but more than half the company were so feeble, that they could scarcely crawl about. On this day, being in latitude 22° 41' S., longitude, by account, 300° 47' W. we saw many tropic birds about the ship.