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Updated: May 14, 2025
As the formation of this island is similar to Pa-tchu-san, it would be but repetition to describe it minutely, but it is worthy of remark that it is indented with numerous deep bays, in each of which there is sufficient water for a ship of the line.
On the following day we sighted the land, and late in the evening anchored off the coast. This island is low, compared with the other islands of the group. The following morning the captain landed and presented a letter of introduction given him by the mandarins of Pa-tchu-san.
On the 17th of December, having completed our survey of Pa-tchu-san, we returned to the ship: on the 22d we left our anchorage, which was christened Port Providence, and ran round to Kuchee Bay on the opposite side of the island. This noble bay was called Port Haddington, in honour of the late first lord of the Admiralty.
The master in the second cutter left the ship, with a week's provisions, to survey the island, while we made sail for our former anchorage at Pa-tchu-san, to obtain water. On the 8th of June we arrived at Pa-tchu-san, where we were received by our friends, the chiefs, who appeared delighted to see us again.
We received every attention from the hospitable and inoffensive natives, who supplied us with pigs, fowls, and vegetables, refusing to accept any thing in return. We returned to Pa-tchu-san to rate our chronometers, and sailed on the same day. The next morning we landed on Hoa-pen, an island, but the cloudy weather prevented us from obtaining the latitude.
On the afternoon of the 1st of December land was discovered ahead, and a few hours afterwards we anchored in a narrow passage, surrounded by reefs on every side. We were anchored off the island of Pa-tchu-san, one of the group: it was very mountainous. On the following morning the captain and some of the officers went on shore.
We were again visited by the mandarins, who came to bid us farewell: they quitted us with many expressions of good will, and expressed a wish that we would return again, and as individuals, I had no doubt of their sincerity. On the 18th of January we sailed for Ty-ping-san, which is situated about seventy miles north of Pa-tchu-san.
The glare of the torches brought them all down to us, both men and horses anxious for rest after the arduous toil of the day. Just as I was dropping off to sleep, one of my messmates said to another, "I say, Jemmy, I wonder whether your mother has any idea that you are sleeping in the temple of Fo, on the island of Pa-tchu-san?"
A loud snore was the only reply, proving that the party addressed was unconscious of the island Pa-tchu-san, the temple of Fo, or of his mother, and the bells ringing for church. Pa-tchu-san, as I have before observed, is very mountainous and exceedingly picturesque. A high ridge covered with trees extends the whole length of the island, north and south.
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