A Sailor-Boy's Log-Book from Portsmouth to the Peiho by Walter White

The Pratta Shoal -- The Wreck -- The Pirates -- Another Wreck -- Prospect of Hong-Kong -- Wantchee Dinner -- Up the River -- Bocca Tigris -- Getting it properly -- A Chinese Landscape -- Plenty of Swamp-seed -- Our Anchorage -- Boats to Fatsan -- A Dose for the Long-tails -- A dark Watch -- Capture of Chuenpee -- Trophies: unboiled Goat and boiled Rice -- Chasing a Pirate -- Bird-scarers -- Alarm of Fire -- Inspection by Admiral Sir Michael Seymour -- The Growlers pacified -- Crickets and Bullfrogs -- Theatrical Amusement -- Discontent -- Drop down the River -- A Funeral -- Hong-Kong, and a Run on Shore -- A Prospect -- The old Anchorage again -- Flogging and Tail-lopping -- Rowing Guard-boat -- Cooking and Story-telling -- A Sanpan of Thieves -- Prizes without Profit -- A Grumble -- See-no-more's Fund.

Glad enough we all were to get to the end of our voyage. I had not had any dinner when the hands were ‘turned up,' but I had devoured all my letters. We were not long idle, for the next day we received orders to weigh and proceed to the Pratta Shoal to relieve an English merchant ship which had struck there, and remained wedged upon the reef. We found her in this position, abandoned, and with all her sails flying loose. She was totally lost, as she had broken her back, and the first gale of wind would wash her off the reef, and she would go down in deep water. We took from her all kinds of gear likely to be useful, and then left her to the mercy of the Chinese pirates, whose junks were hovering about. The principal token of the luckless _Annie_ which we brought away was her figure-head, and it was preserved in the ship for years afterwards, and its end was, I believe, fuel for the furnaces. Our next expedition was to Macao, where we had to get old stores out of the wreck of the _Raleigh_.