122 TJic Home of tJie Wolverene ami Beaver. 



the clerks forward to mess with the seamen, a 

 proceeding that was quite contrary to the terms of 

 their engagement ; at the same time he treated the 

 voyageurs and mechanics as though they had been 

 dogs, abusing them as idle riff-raff, and compelhng 

 them to work night and day. It was in vain that 

 the parties expostulated, for the captain vowed to 

 blow out the brains of the first man who ventured 

 to disobey his orders. Such was the commence- 

 ment of the voyage, and as the time went on matters 

 became worse and worse, until the people on board 

 the good ship Touquiji were divided into two 

 parties, and a hatred was engendered between the 

 captain and the passengers that only terminated 

 with the arrival of the vessel at her destination, 



" At length the Falkland Islands were sighted, 

 and the Tonquin came to an anchor, for the 

 purpose of replenishing the almost exhausted 

 water-casks. Here one of the sailors strolled 

 away for a short time, whereupon the captain 

 ordered the anchor to be weighed, being re- 

 solved to leave the man to his fate — starvation. 

 With difficulty he was induced to delay his de- 

 parture for an hour, during which a party went in 

 search of the absentee. He was found enjoying a 

 comfortable nap, the first one probably that his 

 brutal commander had permitted him to indulge in 



