We were now very weak-handed; three men, besides Mr. Bedwell who was still an invalid, being ill, considerably reduced our strength; insomuch that being underweigh night and day, with only one spare man on the watch to relieve the masthead look-out, the lead, and the helm, there was great reason to fear the fatigue would very much increase the number of complaints. Since leaving Port Jackson we had never been free from sickness, but it was confined principally to two or three individuals who were not able to endure the very great heat. Upon the whole we thought ourselves very fortunate that, considering the frequency of illness on board and the violence of the diseases by which some of our people had been attacked, particularly in the cases of Mr. Bedwell and Mr. Cunningham, we had only lost one man; and this from a complaint which even medical assistance might not, perhaps, have cured; and by an accident which could not have been prevented, for our people were at the moment so busily employed in working the vessel through a dangerous navigation that the unfortunate man's situation was not known until the vital spark was nearly extinct, and too far gone for any human means to save his life. The thermometer now ranged between 80 and 87 degrees in the shade; and the fast approach of the sun (the declination of which was 3 degrees South) was daily felt. CHAPTER 8. Examination of the coast between Cape Londonderry and Cape Voltaire, containing the surveys of Sir Graham Moore's Islands, Eclipse Islands, Vansittart Bay, Admiralty Gulf, and Port Warrender. Encounter with the natives of Vansittart Bay. Leave the coast at Cassini Island for Coepang. Obliged to bear up for Savu. Anchor at Zeeba Bay, and interview with the rajah. Some account of the inhabitants. Disappointed in not finding water. Leave Zeeba Bay, and beat back against the monsoon to Coepang. Complete wood and water, and procure refreshments. Return to Port Jackson. Pass the latitude assigned to the Tryal Rocks. Arrival in Sydney Cove. 1819. October 1. We had now reached a part of the coast which, excepting a few of the islands that front it, the French expedition did not see: we should therefore have commenced its examination with more pleasure had we been in a state better fitted for the purpose; for we were rapidly consuming our stock of water without any prospect of finding a supply at this season; and this, added to the loss of our anchors, considerably lessened the satisfaction we should otherwise have felt in viewing the prospect before us.