"To prevent any misunderstanding," added he, "will
require your particular good management." His letter closed with an
injunction of wariness in his intercourse with the natives, a subject on
which Mr. Astor was justly sensible he could not be too earnest. "I must
recommend you," said he, "to be particularly careful on the coast, and
not to rely too much on the friendly disposition of the natives.
All accidents which have as yet happened there arose from too much
confidence in the Indians."
The reader will bear these instructions in mind, as events will
prove their wisdom and importance, and the disasters which ensued in
consequence of the neglect of them.
CHAPTER V.
Sailing of the Tonquin.--A Rigid Commander and a Reckless
Crew.--Landsmen on Shipboard.--Fresh-Water Sailors at Sea.--
Lubber Nests.--Ship Fare.--A Labrador Veteran--Literary
Clerks.-Curious Travellers.--Robinson Crusoe's Island.--
Quarter-Deck Quarrels.--Falkland Islands.--A Wild-Goose
Chase.--Port Egmont.-Epitaph Hunting.--Old Mortality--
Penguin Shooting.--Sportsmen Left in the Lurch.--A Hard
Pull.--Further Altercations.--Arrival at Owyhee.
ON the eighth of September, 1810, the Tonquin put to sea, where she was
soon joined by the frigate Constitution.
Pages:
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68