the sand bank,
on the morning after our disaster, and must have known that the reef was
not all connected, since it is spoken of by him as lying in patches; but
he did not seek to ascertain whether any of the openings were passable
for the Bridgewater, and might enable him to take those on board who had
escaped drowning. He bore away round all; and whilst the two hapless
vessels were still visible from the mast head, passed the leeward
extremity of the reef, and hove to for the night. The apprehension of
danger to himself must then have ceased; but he neither attempted to work
up in the smooth water, nor sent any of his boats to see whether some
unfortunate individuals were not clinging to the wrecks, whom he might
snatch from the sharks or save from a more lingering death; it was safer,
in his estimation, to continue on his voyage and publish that we were all
lost, as he did not fail to do on his arrival in India.*

[* Against a British seaman filling a respectable situation, these are
heavy charges; but Mr. Palmer is himself the authority. The following
extracts from his account are taken from a Calcutta paper, the _Orphan_
of Feb. 3, 1804.

The Bridgewater, he says, "was just beginning to draw off, when the
Porpoise was scarcely a ship's length to leeward, settling with her head
towards us, and her broadside upon the reef; her foremast was gone and
the sea breaking over her. At this moment we perceived the Cato within
half a cable's length, standing stem on for us. I hailed to put their
helm a-starboard, by which means she just cleared us, and luffed up under
our stern; had she fallen on board of us the consequences must have been
dreadful indeed." On the 18th, "When the day was broke, we had the
mortification to perceive the Cato had shared the fate of the Porpoise;
the bow and bow sprit of the latter only at intervals appearing through
the surf. (The Porpoise and Cato were mistaken for each other.) The
latter lay with her bottom exposed to the sea, which broke with
tremendous fury over her; not a mast standing. Finding we could not
weather the reef, and that _it was too late had it been in our power to
give any assistance_; and still fearing that we might be embayed or
entangled by the supposed chain or patches; all therefore that remained
for us to do was either by dint of carrying sail to weather the reef to
the southward, (meaning the Cato's Bank,) or, if failing in that, to push
to leeward and endeavour to fi