6th to 10th November 1770

[Heaving down at Batavia]

6th. In the A.M. the officers of the Yard took the Ship in hand, and sent on board a number of Carpenters, Caulkers, Riggers, Slaves, etc., to make ready to heave down.

7th. Employ'd getting ready to heave down in the P.M. We had the misfortune to loose Mr. Monkhouse, the Surgeon, who died at Batavia of a Fever after a short illness, of which disease and others several of our people are daily taken ill, which will make his loss be the more severely felt; he was succeeded by Mr. Perry, his mate, who is equally as well skilled in his profession. 8th. In the night had much Thunder, Lightning, and Rain; during the day fair weather, which gave us time to get everything in readiness for heaving down.

9th. In the P.M. hove the Larboard side of the Ship, Kiel out, and found her bottom to be in a far worse condition than we expected; the false kiel was gone to within 20 feet of the Stern post, the main Kiel wounded in many places very considerably, a great quantity of Sheathing off, and several planks much damaged, especially under the Main Channell near the Kiel, where 2 planks and a 1/2, near 6 feet in length, were within 1/8th of an inch of being cutt through; and here the worms had made their way quite into the timbers, so that it was a matter of surprise to every one who saw her bottom how we had kept her above water, and yet in this condition we had sailed some hundreds of Leagues, in as dangerous a Navigation as in any part of the World, happy in being ignorant of the continual danger we were in.

In the evening righted the Ship, having only time to patch up some of the worst places to prevent the water getting in in large quantitys for the present. In the morning hove her down again, and most of the Carpenters and Caulkers in the Yard (which are not a few) were set to work upon her Bottom, and at the same time a number of Slaves were employ'd bailing the water out of the Hold. Our people, altho' they attend, were seldom called upon; indeed, by this time we were so weakned by sickness that we could not muster above 20 Men and Officers that were able to do duty, so little should we have been able to have hove her down and repair'd her ourselves, as I at one time thought us capable of.

10th. In the P.M. we were obliged to righten the ship before night, by reason of her making water in her upper works faster than we could free; it made it necessary to have her weather works inside and out caulked, which before was thought unnecessary.

Joseph Banks Journal

7th. Dr Solander attended his funeral, and I should certainly have done the same had I not been confind to my bed by my fever. Our case now became melancholy, neither of my Servants were able to help me no more than I was them, and the Malay Slaves who alone we depended upon, naturaly the worst attendants in nature, were render'd less carefull by our incapacity of scolding them on account of our ignorance of the language. When we became so sick that we could not help ourselves, they would get out of Call, so we were oblig'd to lie still till able to get up and go in search of them.

9th. This day we receivd the disagreable news of the death of Tayeto, and that his death had so much affected Tupia that there was little hopes of his surviving him many days.

10th. Dr Solander and myself still grew worse and worse, and the Physician who attended us declard that the countrey air was necessary for our recovery, so we began to look out for a countrey house, tho with a heavy heart as we knew that we must there commit ourselves intirely to the care of the Malays, whose behavior to sick people we had all the reason in the world to find fault with. For this reason we resolvd to buy each of us a Malay Woman to Nurse us, hoping that the tenderness of the sex would prevail even here, which indeed we found it to do for they turnd out by no means bad nurses.

Sydney Parkinson Journal 

At this place our ship was examined; and we found that many of her planks; and her keel, were much damaged; one part of her not being above one-eighth of an inch thick, which was luckily be-fore one of the timbers, or, in all probability, she would have sunk long before we reached the bay of Batavia.