1778* THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 491 



ever, on board a ship, though ever so much to the ad- 

 vantage of seamen, is sure to meet with their highest 

 disapprobation. Both portable soup and sour krout 

 were, at first, condemned as stuff unfit for human 

 beings. Few commanders have introduced into their 

 ships morq novelties, as useful varieties of food and 

 drink, than I have done. Indeed few commanders 

 have had the same opportunities of trying such ex- 

 periments, or been driven to the same necessity of 

 trying them. It has, however, been in a great mea- 

 sure owing to various little deviations from estab- 

 lished practice, that I have been able to preserve 

 my people, generally speaking, from that dreadful 

 distemper, the scurvy, which has perhaps destroyed 

 more of our sailors, in their peaceful voyages, than 

 have fallen by the enemy in military expeditions. 



I kept at some distance from the coast, till the 

 13th, when I stood in again, six leagues farther to 

 windward than we had as yet reached ; and, after 

 having some trade with the natives who visited us, 

 returned to sea. I should have got near the shore 

 again on the 15th, for a supply of fruit or roots, 

 but the wind happening to be at south-east by south, 

 and south-south-east, I thought this a good time to 

 stretch to the eastward, in order to get round, or, at 

 least, to get a sight of the south-east end of the island. 

 The wind continued at south-east by south, most 

 part of the 16th. It was variable between south 

 and east on the 17th ; and on the 18th, it was con- 

 tinually veering from one quarter to another, blowing, 

 sometimes in hard squalls, and at other times, calm, 

 with thunder, lightning, and rain. In the afternoon, 

 we had the wind westerly for a few hours ; but in the 

 evening it shifted to east by south, and we stood to 

 the southward, close hauled, under an easy sail, as the 

 Discovery was at some distance astern. At tiiis time 

 the south-east point of the island bore south-west 

 by south, about five leagues distant ; and I made no 

 doubt that I should be able to weather it. But at 



