the attempts of the ſavages, that every one of our company ſhould underſtand the uſe of ſuch arms as we had on board.
The captain of the Eſperance having ordered an half of a very fine tunny to be tied to a buoy and thrown into the water, as a preſent to our Commander; it did not float near enough to our veſſel to enable us to take it up, when one of the ſailors plunged into the ſea in order to ſwim after it, although it was known that a ſhark had been caught that very morning by the crew of the Eſperance; and the calmneſs of the weather afforded an additional ground of apprehenſion, leſt one of our beſt ſeamen might fall a prey to another of theſe animals.
Notwithſtanding we had already reached the thirty-third degree of ſouth lat., being in 5° F. long., the bonitos ſtill continued to follow us in as numerous ſhoals as ever; though they are ſeldom known to abound at ſo high a degree of latitude. The north winds were probably the occaſion of their leaving their uſual haunts.
I muſt do the crew of our ſhips the juſtice to remark, that if they were leſs ſkilled in fiſhing than the crew of the Eſperance, they alſo laboured under certain diſadvantages which the others did not. It was the buſineſs of the boatſwain to furniſh the ſailors with lines, which ours diſtri-
buted
