of seeing
something more of the country. As Malays, or natives, are employed in
those hot climates to do the hard work on board ship, as Kroomen are on
the coast of Africa--such as wooding and watering--we had more leisure
time than we should otherwise have enjoyed. That evening a number of
us, among whom was Tom Knowles, were sitting on the forecastle spinning
yarns, when he told us what I did not know before--that he had served
aboard a man-of-war at the taking of Java.

"You must know, mates," he began, taking out his quid and stowing it
away in his waistcoat-pocket, "I belonged to a whaler which was lost out
here, when those of her crew who escaped were picked up by an Indiaman
and carried to Madras. I with others was there pressed on board the
_Caroline_ frigate. I didn't much like it at first; but when I had
shaken myself, and looked about me, and heard that the captain was a
fine sort of a fellow, I thought it was just as well to do my duty like
a man, and to make myself happy. Captain Cole, that was his name,
wasn't a chap to let the grass grow under the ship's bottom. Directly
after I joined, we were ordered off to Amboyna, in company with the
_Piemontaise_, Captain Foote; the 18-gun brig _Barracouta_; and
transport _Mandarin_, with a hundred European soldiers. We heard that
when the captain went to take his leave of the admiral--Drury was his
name--he asked leave just to knock up some of the Dutch settlements on
the way.

"`Well,' says the admiral, `there's no harm just frightening them a
little, and you may be able to surprise a port or two; but don't go and
get into mischief, now, and hurt yourselves. There are several
impregnable places, such as Banda, for instance, which it would be out
of the question for you to attack. Vast heaps of wealth are stored up
there, so the Dutch will take precious good care that you don't get into
the place.'

"`We'll see about that,' thought the captain to himself, winking with
the eye which was turned away from the admiral. `Of course, sir, we'll
do nothing rash,' says he. `It isn't the way of English sailors. We
are always steady, sure sort of fellows.'

"`That's right,' says the admiral; and away went the captain, having
made up his mind to a thing or two.

"We reached Palo-Penang on the 30th May, in the year 1810. There the
captain persuaded the governor to let him have about twenty
artillery-men and a lot of scaling-ladders; and having learned somethin