154 A THIEF CAUGHT. 



should proceed with goods suitable for the upper 

 country, and that I should follow in the Quorra 

 as soon as she floated, which we expected would 

 be in March. After a short stay on board, Mr. 

 Lander and Captain Hill returned to their ves- 

 sel, leaving a list of goods which they wished 

 to be sent after them. I wished very much that 

 they would go, as they were constantly having 

 some misunderstanding with the natives, which 

 I attributed to Mr. Lander's paying too much 

 attention to the stories that his own men Pas- 

 coe, Jowdie, and Mina were always bringing 

 him. I have ever found the natives peaceable 

 and well-disposed, and, with the exception of 

 their pilfering propensities, easily managed. 

 Stealing I have never overlooked, and, during 

 the time we were aground, I flogged above a 

 score of them for theft, both masters and slaves. 

 One fellow was caught so neatly in the very 

 act, that I cannot forbear relating the circum- 

 stance. Dr. Briggs was lying on one of the 

 sofas in the cabin, reading, when a woolly head 

 made its appearance at one of the side ports, 

 and a black paw seized upon my dressing-box, 

 which was lying within reach from the window. 

 The Doctor made a spring, caught the fellow by 



