CONQUERING THE GREAT SOUTH SEA - A Brief History of the Circumnavigators - page 194

trying to involve the English in their struggle against the Dutch. But
Carteret's xenophobia and persecution mania were easily aroused.
He had the Swallow ostentatiously guarded. He sent angry letters to
the local officials and threatened reprisals at the highest diplomat-
ic levels when he returned to England. The governor, genuinely sur-
prised and alarmed, demanded evidence for Carteret's allegations
but the Englishman refused. By the time the expedition put to sea
again on 22 May relations with the Dutch had been well and truly
soured and Carteret's reputation had gone ahead of him to Batavia.
This involved more delays and acrimonious exchanges before Swal-
low could be repaired and reprovisioned for the journey home. The
captain was not sorry to get away from Batavia on 15 September.
Many of his men were sick with the inevitable malaria or dysentery
and the Dutch eastern capital was, in his words, a place where 'noth-
ing else reigns but pride, haughtiness, insolence, jealousy, suspicion
and mistrust.' 35
At his last anchorage before setting out to cross the Indian
Ocean Carteret noted further evidence of what he regarded as the
tyrannical rule of the arrogant Dutch. This was at the south-east
corner of Java. Although it was far from any colonial settlement, the
people did not flock out in their canoes to sell local produce to trav-
ellers as they had done in time past 'for fear of being seen by any
of the guard boats which the Dutch keep here in the straits to speak
to all shipping that go through'. 36 Only under cover of darkness did
some of the Javanese venture to trade with the Englishmen.
During the two month crossing of the Indian Ocean (25 Septem-
ber-28 November) the Swallow still had to be manned by a sickness-
depleted crew, despite the fact that numbers had been augmented by
twenty-five sailors pressed by the Dutch who took the opportunity
of escaping back to England. Seven more mariners died before Swal-
low reached the Cape. However, with the wind on her port beam or
quarter most of the way, she did not require heavy handling. At Cape