Pulo Bata, One Of These Islands, Is Low Land, And
Is Full Of Trees Or Bushes At The S.W. End.
A little before noon on the 29th, we perceived the colour of the water
a-head of the ship to change very much, by which observation we escaped
an imminent danger.
This shoal seemed of a triangular shape, the S.W.
end being the sharpest, and is not far from the entrance into the
straits of China-bata. At noon our latitude was 4 deg. 6' N. At eight p.m.
we came to anchor in seven fathoms, the weather threatening to be foul
in the night, the place very full of shoals, and our experience little
or nothing. Before our anchor took hold, we had six 1/4, five 1/2, six,
and then seven fathoms, soft sandy ground.
In the morning of the 30th we spoke the Darling, then bound for
Coromandel, her company consisting of twenty-one English and nine
blacks. By her we first learnt of the death of Sir Henry Middleton, the
loss of the Trades-increase, and other incidents that had occurred
during our voyage to Japan. In the night of the 30th God mercifully
delivered us from imminent danger, as we passed under full sail close by
a sunken ledge of rocks, the top of which was only just above water
within a stone's throw of our ship; and had not the noise of the
breakers awakened us, we had not cleared our ship.
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