received, and the stock of bread being thus reserved, grog was served out instead.

"The weather still continuing fine, a few days afterwards the cheeses were brought up to air, when, on opening the casks, two were missed by Mr. Bligh, who declared that they had been stolen. The cooper stated that the cask had been opened while the ship was in the river, and the cheeses ordered to be taken on shore. Mr. Bligh, without making any further inquiry into the matter, ordered the allowance of cheese to be stopped from officers and men till the deficiency should be made good, and told the cooper he would give him a good flogging if he said any more about it. These orders were strictly obeyed by Mr. Samuel, who was both clerk and steward, and on the next banyan-day* butter only was issued. This the seamen refused, alleging that their acceptance of the butter without cheese would be tacitly acknowledging the supposed theft; and John Williams declared that he had carried the cheeses to Mr. Bligh's house, with a cask of vinegar, and some other things which went up in the boat from Long Reach.

"As the ship approached the equator, the pumpkins began to spoil, and, being generally too large for the cabin use, they were issued to the ship's company in lieu of bread. The crew, being desirous of knowing at what rate the exchange was to be, inquired of Mr. Samuel, the steward, who informed them that they were to have one pound of pumpkins instead of two pounds of bread. This was refused by the men, and, on Mr. Bligh being informed of it, he came on deck in a violent passion, and called all hands, telling Mr. Samuel to summon the first man of every mess, and let him see who would dare to refuse it, or any thing else that he should order to be served; adding, ‘I'll make you eat grass, or any thing you can catch, before I have done with you.' The order being thus enforced, every one took the pumpkins, officers not

*An Indian term for a fast-day.

excepted; yet, having a good private stock of potatoes laid in at Spithead, they did not immediately feel the ef fects of such a reduction of their bread. As the pumpkins were always served at one pound per man, it was frequently thrown together by the seamen, and the cooks of the different messes drew lots for the whole. The pumpkins were issued every other day, till expended. In all probability the grievance would have ended there, but private stock began to decrease also, and the beef and pork to appear very light; and as these had never yet been weighed when opened, it was supposed that the casks were short of their weight; for which reason, the people applied to the master, and begged that he would examine into the affair and procure them redress.

"The master making this complaint known to Mr. Bligh, he ordered all hands aft, and informed them that every thing relative to the provisions was transacted by his orders. It was, therefore, needless for them to make any complaint; they would obtain no redress, as he was the fittest judge of what was right or wrong. He added that he would flog the first man severely who should dare to make any complaint in future, and dismissed them with severe threats.

"The seamen, seeing that no redress could be had before the end of the voyage, determined to bear it with patience, and neither murmured nor complained afterwards. However, the officers were not so easily satisfied; they frequently murmured among themselves about the smallness of their allowance, and could not be reconciled to such unfair proceedings. But they made no open complaint, perceiving that the men were silent on the subject. Whenever a cask was broached, they saw with regret all the prime pieces taken out for the cabin table, while they were forced to take their chance of what remained in common with the men; without the satisfaction of knowing whether they had their weight or not, being obliged to take it as marked. This circumstance, while it increased their distress, and excited angry feelings towards the au

thor of it in private, helped to reconcile the men, as they saw that all shared alike. Nor were they, as the seaphrase expresses it, able or calculated to 'stand the wrangle in the gale,' about their peas and oatmeal, which were served to them in very sparing quantities-so sparing, that there was never any of either left for the pigs, which must have been starved, but for bread, and Indian corn purchased for the poultry.

"The usual allowance of peas was seven quarts for the whole complement, of which none failed to partake; and of oatmeal, nine quarts each banyan-day. With the peas were frequently boiled four cakes of portable beef broth; and some sour-krout (salted cabbage). The butter and cheese being expended, oil and sugar were served instead, in the proportion of half a gill of oil and one ounce of sugar per man each banyan-day.

"Near the line we had heavy rain, and filled several casks of water, both for ourselves and stock; and carried a fair wind and fair weather (except at intervals) with us till we made Terra del Fuego on the 23d of March. The weather being fine, we were all in high spirits, and hoped soon to get round the Cape.

66

1788. March 23d.-One of the sheep dying this morning, Lieutenant Bligh ordered it to be issued in lieu of the day's allowance of pork and peas, declaring that it would make a delicious meal, and that it weighed upwards of fif ty pounds. It was divided, but most part of it thrown overboard, and some dried shark supplied its place for a Sunday's dinner, for it was nothing but skin and bone.

"The day continued fine, and we stood along the land, crossing the Strait of Le Maire. As soon as we were clear of Staten Land, it set in bad weather. We got the topgallant masts down, and made every thing ready for it. The appearance of the country is rugged and barren. We saw here vast numbers of seals, penguins, shags, and white and black albatrosses-some of the white we caught, which made an excellent meal. Some of them measured upwards of eight feet from tip to tip of their wings. The

black ones we called padres, but never caught any of them. We tried for fish, but without success.

"The weather becoming very sharp as we stood to the southward, the people requested that they might have their rum without water. This was readily agreed to, as the water was saved by it, and the allowance of water was now reduced to three pints per day. This allowance, in such weather as we had, was more than sufficient, for we had no method of using it otherwise than as drink, and this indulgence was not lost on the seamen, whose spirits seemed to have an additional flow from it. They thought nothing of hardship, and, notwithstanding fatigue and increasing bad weather, they carried on the duty with alacrity and cheerfulness, anticipating the pleasure and profit they hoped to reap by the success of the voyage.

"Wheat and barley were now boiled every morning for breakfast instead of burgoo, but the quantity was so small that it was no uncommon thing for four men in a mess to draw lots for the breakfast, and to divide their bread by the well-known method of' Who shall have this?'

"The quantity of wheat boiled was one gallon for fortyfour men, of which they all partook, and of barley two pounds for the like number. The division of this scanty allowance caused frequent broils in the galley, and in the present bad weather they were sometimes attended with serious consequences. In one of these disputes the cook, Thomas Hall, got two of his ribs broken; and at another time Charles Churchill's hand was scalded; and it became at last necessary to have the master's mate of the watch to superintend the division of the food. The weather continued to grow worse daily; hail, rain, sleet, and snowor rather large flakes of half-formed ice-alternately following each other in heavy squalls, which often reduced us to bare poles and battened hatches, as the sea made fair breaches over us. The surgeon and three men were very much injured by being thrown into the cockpit, as the vessel rolled so terribly. Yet, notwithstanding the severity and inclemency of the season, the continued gales

and repeated squalls, such was the alacrity and carefulness of officers and men that we never lost a spar or a yard of canvas, though frequently forced to take the sails in after loosing them, before the tacks could be hauled on board or the sheets aft.

"Sweetwort was now made from malt, and a pint a man served hot every day, which was very acceptable and nourishing in our present condition. But the intense cold, and being continually wet, the hard duty and continual fatigue, the rigorous season, together with the uncomfortable condition of the men between decks (always filled with smoke), and the hatches battened down, soon began to attack our constitutions, and several fell sick. The straining of the ship (though perfectly sound), and the hammocks being always wet, made it very uncomfortable not only for the sick but also for those in health.

"As the people began to fall sick the duty became heavier on those who were well, but was still carried on with alacrity and spirit; and the behavior of the seamen in this trying situation was such as merited the entire approbation of the officers, and Mr. Bligh's public thanks.

"After a fatiguing and ineffectual trial, it was found that the passage round Cape Horn was not practicable at this season of the year. Though we had reached the 62d degree of S. latitude and 79th of W. longitude, yet we found that we lost ground, although the ship was an excellent sea-boat.

"On the 18th of April Mr. Bligh ordered the hands aft, and after returning them his thanks for their unremitting attention to their duty, informed them of his intention to bear away for the Cape of Good Hope, as it appeared to him an impossibility to get round Cape Horn. This was received with great joy, and the ship was instantly put before the wind.

"In the evening the wind veered to the north-west, which induced Lieutenant Bligh to haul up on the starboard tack and try again to get round Cape Horn, although we had run nearly 120 miles to the eastward.