hing
he stood in need of for his voyage; and it must be remembered, that
though this man, during his stay in this port, had constantly said that
every sort of refreshment was to be procured at Timor, yet when Captain
Hunter, while at sea, proposed to steer for that island, he declared that
nothing was to be got there, and so prevented that officer from going
thither. There cannot be a doubt that, expecting to find his friends at
Timor, he did not choose either to endanger them, or risk a discovery of
the part he had acted in aiding their escape.

Had it not been for the fortunate discovery and subsequent delivery of
these people to a captain of a British man of war, the evident
practicability of reaching Timor in an open boat might have operated with
others to make the attempt, and to carry off boats from the settlements;
which, during the absence of the king's ships belonging to the station,
was never difficult; and it was now hoped, that the certainty of every
boat which should reach that or any other Dutch settlement under similar
circumstances being suspected and received accordingly, would have its
due effect here.

The supply of provisions received by the Atlantic being confined to
grain, it became necessary to reduce the ration of salt meat. It was
therefore ordered on the 21st, that after the Friday following only two
pounds of pork should be issued in lieu of four. The allowance of one
pound and a half of flour and four pounds of maize was continued, but one
pound of rice and one quart of peas were added.

The general order given out on this occasion stated,

That the arrival of ships with further supplies of provisions might be
daily looked for; but as it was possible that some unforeseen accident
might have happened to the ships which were expected to have sailed from
England shortly after the departure of the _Pitt_, it became necessary to
reduce the ration of provisions then issued, in order that the quantity
in store might hold out till the arrival of those ships, which might be
supposed to have sailed for this country about the months of January or
February last; it having been the intention of government that ships
should sail from England for this colony twice in every year. And as all
deficiencies in the ration were to be made good hereafter, the following
extract from the instructions which fixed the ration for the colony was
inserted, viz

Ration for each marine and male convict for seven days s