ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE ΤΟ INDIA, CHINA, &c. IN HIS MAJESTY's SHIP CAROLINE, PERFORMED IN THE YEARS 1903-4-5, INTERSPERSED WITH 30 DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES AND CURSORY REMARKS. BY AN OFFICER OF THE CAROLINE. " ERRANTI, PASSIMQUE OCULOS PER CUNCTA FERENTI," VIRG. LONDON: PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, 6, NEW BRIDGE STREET, By J. G. Barnard, 57, Snow-Hill. 1806. PREFACE. THE following pages having been written entirely for the author's own amusement, and to gratify the curiosity of a few of his friends, without the least. idea of their ever coming before the public; he thinks it necessary to apologize for the light manner in which he has passed over many of those subjects that occupy a great part of the narrative in most voyages. Never having been able himself, to derive much entertainment from reading accounts of the monotonous transactions of a ship at sea; such as, "P. M. ditto weather; employed occasionally;" he has, on that account, noticed only a very few of the principal occurrences on that element. With respect to the shore, he has confined himself to light descriptive sketches of the most picturesque scenes and curious objects which present themselves to the eye of the cursory visitor, without however diving into the history, politics, or commerce of the places touched at. These sketches therefore are merely topographical, and claim no pretension to extensive observation, learned disquisition, or deep investigation. In such a beaten tract as that to India and China, it may well be supposed, that many of the descriptions and observations have been anticipated by those who have gone before. Nevertheless, as these were copied from nature, not from books; and as different people see the same objects through different media, and consequently express themselves in a variety of ways; so these sketches may still afford some entertain |