1769' ROUND THE WORLD. J5 



this cuttle-fish we made one of the best soups we had 

 ever tasted. 



The albatrosses now began to leave us, and after 

 the 8th there was not one to be seen. We continued 

 our course without any memorable event till the 24th, 

 when some of the people who were upon the watch 

 in the night, reported that they saw a log of wood 

 pass by the ship ; and that the sea, which was rather 

 rough, became suddenly as smooth as a mill pond. 

 It was a general opinion that there was land to wind- 

 ward ; but I did not think myself at liberty to search 

 for what I was not sure to find : though I judged we 

 were not far from the islands that were discovered by 

 Quiros in 1606. Our latitude was 22° 11' S. and 

 longitude 127° 55' W. 



On the 25th, about noon, one of the marines, a 

 young fellow about twenty, was placed as centry at 

 the cabin-door ; while he was upon this duty, one of 

 my servants was at the same place preparing to cut 

 a piece of seal-skin into tobacco pouches : he had 

 promised one to several of the men, but had refused 

 one to this young fellow, though he had asked him 

 several times 5 upon which he jocularly threatened 

 to steal one, if it should be in his power. It hap- 

 pened that the servant being called hastily away, 

 gave the skin in charge to the centinel, without 

 regarding what had passed between them. The 

 centinel immediately secured a piece of the skin, 

 which the other missing at his return, grew angry ; 

 but after some altercation, contented himself with 

 taking it away, declaring that, for so trifling an afiair, 

 he would not complain of him to the officers. But 

 it happened that one of his fellow-soldiers, over-hear- 

 ing the dispute, came to the knowledge of what had 

 happened, and told it to the rest ; who, taking it 

 into their heads to stand up for the honour of their 

 corps, reproached the offender with great bitterness, 

 and reviled him in the most opprobrious terms ; they 

 exaggerated his offence into a crime of the deepest 



