190 



porter's journal* 



lowing night, at 10 o'clock, with order? to say, in case <rf 

 being haiied, ihnt they catne to borrow an hour-glass. She 

 had no sooner arrived alongside of tlie Seringapatam, than 

 midshipmen FeUus and Clapp. who had concealed them- 

 seivc? ni the stern-sheets, s - > dijg on board ; and finding the 

 watt'ii exlrenielj aiarnied, they rusned immediately into 

 the cabin, where they saw three females in the act of jump- 

 ing out of the windows, one with a hirge bundle of bread 

 uiidei' lier arm. Having secured them properly, the mid- 

 shipmen next visited the Sir Andrew Hammond; and aU 

 though no fair intruders were found on board, there was 

 every reason to suspect ihat they had first landed from her; 

 the boat having been discovered by the crew of this ship, 

 as she was passing to the Seringapatam. This done, tlie 

 boat returned to the Greenwicli, and lieut. Gamble con- 

 ceived it to be his duty not only to chastise the men, and 

 3top their grog, but also to inflict a little punishment upon 

 the female intruders. Let not my fair readers impute a 

 want of gallantry, and perhaps of humanity, to lieut. Gam- 

 ble, for having, on this occasion, inflicted a slight punish- 

 ment upon three of the most abandoned females of the 

 island. He is not that man. If they reflect for a moment, 

 that he was placed with a set of lazy, thoughtless fellows^ 

 who would sooner risk a general massacre, than arouse 

 from their stupid apathy, in the midst of forty thousand 

 savages, all anxiously waiting for the first relaxation of vi- 

 gilance, to take advantage of Ins weakness, they will see the 

 propriety of preventing, by all possible means, the visits of 

 those females, who could not but discern and report that 

 weakness. To my mind it appears perfectly clear, that, 

 had it not been for these clandt stine visits, the sad disaster 

 which afterwards happened, would not have taken place, 

 But to prevent, as far as practicable, the occurrence of a 

 similar scene, midshipmen Feltusand Clapp were directed 

 to send on board the Greenwich, from the two other ships, 

 all the harpoons, lances, and pieces of iron ; and to take an 

 accurate inventory of all the stores, provisions, and other 

 articles on board. 



For several days the rain had descended in frequent 

 showers, attended with violent squalls of wind. The 

 hands of the Greenwich were employed, on the 22d, in 

 digging up ground for another garden ; and those of the 



