On the 17th of September 1809, the Honourable Company's ship Marquis of Ely anchored under the Island of _Sam Chow_, in China, about twelve English miles from Macao, where I was ordered to proceed in one of our cutters to procure a pilot, and also to land the purser with the packet. I left the ship at 5 P.M. with seven men under my command, well armed. It blew a fresh gale from the N. E. We arrived at Macao at 9 P.M., where I delivered the packet to Mr. Roberts, and sent the men with the boat's-sails to sleep under the Company's Factory, and left the boat in charge of one of the Compradore's men; during the night the gale increased.--At half-past three in the morning I went to the beach, and found the boat on shore half-filled with water, in consequence of the man having left her. I called the people, and baled her out; found she was considerably damaged, and very leaky. At half-past 5 A.M., the ebb-tide making, we left Macao with vegetables for the ship. One of the Compradore's men who spoke English went with us for the purpose of piloting the ship to _Lintin_, as the Mandarines, in consequence of a late disturbance at Macao, would not grant chops for the regular pilots. I had every reason to expect the ship in the roads, as she was preparing to get under weigh when we left her; but on our rounding Cabaretta-Point, we saw her five or six miles to leeward, under weigh, standing on the starboard-tack: it was then blowing fresh at N. E. Bore up, and stood towards her; when about a cable's-length to windward of her, she tacked; we hauled our wind and stood after her. A hard squall then coming on, with a strong tide and heavy swell against us, we drifted fast to leeward, and the weather being hazy, we soon lost sight of the ship. Struck our masts, and endeavoured to pull; finding our efforts useless, set a reefed foresail and mizen, and stood towards a country-ship at anchor under the land to leeward of Cabaretta-Point. When within a quarter of a mile of her she weighed and made sail, leaving us in a very critical situation, having no anchor, and drifting bodily on the rocks to leeward. Struck the masts: after four or five hours hard pulling, succeeded in clearing them.