Rear Admiral George Campbell Read had a distinguished naval career including service on the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) in the War of 1812, in the Barbary Wars, and in this Sumatra expedition as Commodore of the Columbia. I assume this is his book (OCLC catalogues it as his), but it is hard to tell since the author refers to Read in the third person, and to himself as one of the Professors. Whoever the author, he is a thoughtful, even elegant writer with a self-deprecating impulse not common among admirals or explorers.