Light airs prevented our clearing the harbour till the morning of the 19th, and at 3 P.M. on the 20th, we made the land of Timor Laut; but from our ignorance of the coast, we were obliged to keep under easy sail during the night, which was squally with heavy rain. TIMOR LAUT PROAS. At daylight on the 21st, we made all sail to the northward, and about 10, observed two large proas, with Dutch colours flying, standing out from the land under sail; they were full of men, and for some time appeared to be in great doubt, whether they should come near us or not, as they shortened sail and consulted together several times; at last, however, they came under our stern, which was the only way in which they could approach, as their long outriggers, projecting 10 or 12 feet on each side of their narrow canoes, prevented them from coming close alongside. As soon as they got hold of the rope we gave them, they hauled close up, and a little thin shrivelled old man came scrambling over the taffrail: he was dressed in a long black serge coat, check shirt, and black trousers, and as soon as he had regained his breath, after the violent exertions he had made, presented me with a neat little basket containing some papers which he seemed very anxious I should examine. I took them up, rather to please him, than with any expectation of being able to understand them, but to my surprise and great interest, found carefully rolled up in several envelopes, two pieces of lead pencil, part of the leaf of a Norie's Navigation Tables, and some scraps of paper, on which, written in pencil, was a rough journal of the proceedings of the men who left the ill-fated Charles Eaton (soon after she was wrecked in Torres Strait) in one of her cutters, in which they reached this island, and after remaining for thirteen months got to Amboyna in a trading proa, and thence to Batavia, where they gave the following account of their misfortunes to the Resident, Mr. D.W. Pietermaat. WRECK OF THE CHARLES EATON. The Charles Eaton sailed from Sydney on the 26th July, 1834, and on the 15th of August, about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, during a fresh full sail breeze, the vessel struck on a reef called the Detached Reef, situated at the entrance of Torres Strait. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CREW. During the preceding night the Captain, as a measure of prudence, had ordered the first reef to be taken in the topsails, in order not to enter the passage before daylight. The ship struck on the reef so violently, that both keel and rudder were instantly knocked off and carried away, and the Captain declared the vessel to be totally lost; at the same time giving orders to get the boats ready and furnished with provisions, in order to endeavour to reach the island of Timor.