officers, because they did not go in search of water on the neighbouring islands; and they represented the necessity of this to Captain Pelsart, who yielded to their remonstrances, but told them that before he went, he wished to communicate this resolution to the rest of the people. It was with difficulty that he gained their consent to this, for the master was afraid that the other party would keep the captain with them. At length they consented, but not till the captain had declared, that without the consent of the company on the large island that he should go in search of water, he would, rather than leave them, perish on board his ship. When he got near to the island, he who commanded the boat told the captain, that if he had anything to say, he must call out to the people; for that they would not suffer him to go out of the boat. The captain then attempted to throw himself overboard, in order to swim to the island; but he was prevented, and the order given to pull off from the shore. Thus he was obliged to return, having first left these words written on a leaf of a tablet, that he was gone in the skiff to look for water in the nearest country or islands that he could find.
They first sought along the coasts of the islands, and certainly found water in the holes of the rocks, but the sea had dashed into it, and rendered it unfit for use; they therefore determined to seek farther on. They made a deck to their boat, as it would have been impracticable to navigate those seas in an open vessel. A few more of the crew joined themselves to the company for the same purpose; and after the captain had obtained the signature of his people to that resolution, they immediately put to sea, having first taken an observation, by which they found themselves in latitude 28° 13' south. A short time afterwards, they had sight of the continent, which appeared, according to their estimation, to lie about sixteen miles north by west from the place where they had suffered shipwreck. They found the water
