y good health until about a week
before we were ready for sea, when they fell down fast with a
fever which had raged much at Batavia: this fever was, however,
in some of the seamen, brought on by a little intemperance. On
the 19th of October died Daniel Buddle, seaman.

On the 20th, we left the road and sailed to the island of
Onrust, where we anchored and received some stores for the use of
the ship. On the 22d, we sailed from Onrust, and the 26th cleared
the streight of Sunda: at this time Terence Burne, seaman, died,
and we had twenty-two down with the Batavia fever; it was of the
intermitting kind, and exceedingly obstinate and difficult to
remove; it reduced the patient to a very weakly state in a very
short time, and occasioned much sickness at the stomach, and a
loathing of every kind of food.

On the 30th, as we were steering south-west, we kept a good
lookout all night for the islands called Keelings, or Cocos
Islands; being uncertain whether their situation was well
ascertained: at noon on the 31st, the latitude observed was
12 deg. 10' south; this I supposed to be rather to the southward
of them, and altered the course to west-south-west: at three in
the afternoon, we discovered the islands under our lee, distant
about four leagues: there are three of them well covered with
wood, but they are very low and flat; there are several smaller
spots like rocks above water; the larger islands have sandy
beaches, and in many places there were very high breakers: the
latitude of the south side is 12 deg. 06' south; the longitude by
account from Java Head, but afterwards confirmed by observations
of is 98 deg. 03' east.

On the 14th of November, Robert Henderson, seaman, died; and
on the 11th of December died Edward Moore, seaman.

On the 15th we made Cape Lagullus, and the 17th anchored in
Table-Bay, at the Cape of Good Hope; but it blew so strong from
the south-east that we were not able to fetch the upper
anchorage: it continued to blow from the same quarter for several
days, and on the 20th, it blew so violent a gale, that the two
bower anchors would not hold the ship: finding in the evening
that the gale did not in the smallest degree abate, and that if I
continued to trust any longer to anchors, which it was plain were
too light for the ship, we should run a risk of being drove upon
the reef off Robbin's Island in the night, for every heavy gust
set the ship a-drift, we cut both the cables before dark, and