"We passed thro' the Strait of Macassar, and arrived at Batavia on
the 27th of September, after a most tedious and destressing
passage of twenty-six weeks, during a great part of which time we
had been upon a very small ration of provision. We buried on the
passage Lieutenant George William Maxwell and one seaman of the
_Sirius_, with one belonging to the _snow_. My transactions at
Batavia will be fully seen in the narrative. I left that place on
the 20th October, and arrived at the Cape on the 17th December,
but being unable to reach the proper anchorage, I was on the 20th
driven to sea again, with the loss of two anchors and cables. On
the 22nd we again reached the bay, with a signal of distress
flying, and thro' the exertions of Captain Bligh, who was there in
the _Providence_, we were got into safety, and receiv'd anchors
and cables from the shore. My people being very sickly, the
effects of that destructive place Batavia, their slow progress in
recovery detained me at the Cape longer than I intended to have
staid. I sailed from Table Bay 18th January, but left five sick
behind me; anchored at St. Helena 4th February, to complete our
water, left that island the 13th, and arrived here late last
night."

On the way home the _Waaksamheyd_ got into trouble with the natives of
Mindanao, one of the Dutch Archipelago. The rajah of the place would not
supply refreshment to the vessel, and her master threatened to fire upon
the native canoes, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Hunter. In the
course of the dispute the rajah lost his temper and attacked the
shipmaster, whose life was saved by Hunter, but the quarrel resulted in a
regular engagement between the natives and people on the ship, in which
the crew of the _Sirius_, for their own safety, were compelled to take