346 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1820 . before we were so annoyed by their numbers as 
June"i2. had been the case during the last voyage. 
Our crew, after they had returned the stores 
and fitted the standing rigging, were paid their 
wages; when, with only two exceptions, they 
were at their own wish discharged, and it was 
some time before a new crew was collected. 
Whilst we were repairing the defects, H. M. 
store-ship Dromedary arrived from England, 
and brought us a selection of stores, for the want 
of which we should otherwise have been detained 
many months. 
By this ship orders were received from the 
Admiralty to rig the cutter with rope manu- 
factured from the New Zealand hemp ( phor - 
mium tenax), but there was a considerable diffi- 
culty in procuring enough even for a boom-sheet. 
This specimen was prepared by a rope-maker of 
the colony, and the result of the trial has fully 
justified the good opinion previously formed of 
its valuable qualities. 
In my communication to the Admiralty in June, 
1818, from Timor, I had mentioned the necessity 
of a medical man being attached to the vessel ; 
and upon my last return I found one had arrived 
with an appointment to the Mermaid ; but, to my 
great mortification, he was unable to join, from 
being afflicted with mental derangement, which 
