Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
pains to explain his crime, with all its aggravations, I ordered that he
should be whipped with nettles while he ran the gauntlet thrice round
the deck: my rhetoric, however, had very little effect, for most of the
crew being equally criminal with himself, he was handled so tenderly,
that others were rather encouraged to repeat the offence by the hope
of impunity, than deterred by the fear of punishment. To preserve the
ship, therefore, from being pulled to pieces, and the price of refresh-
ments from being raised so high as soon to exhaust our articles of
trade, I ordered that no man, except the wooders and waterers, with
their guard, should be permitted to go on shore.
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Wallis now decided to make haste to quit the island. A week
later (27 July), having thoroughly overhauled the ship and filled her
with all the water and fresh food she could hold, he gave the order
to weigh anchor.
Dolphin
pulled away from the shore amidst mani-
festations of great distress from the natives. Their feelings were, no
doubt, echoed by many aboard.
Wallis could well feel pleased with the progress of the expedi-
tion. He had added considerable information to the Pacific chart. Not
by nature an explorer, he doubtless felt that he had done all his su-
periors required of him. Accordingly, he set course for the Marianas
and the conventional route home. But, because the course he was
following lay for the most part to the south of that followed by earli-
er expeditions, he was able to put several more island discoveries
on the chart before he arrived at Tinian on 19 August. By this time
most of his men had recovered and a month spent completing their
recuperation and restocking the larder enabled him to leave with a
healthy ship.
Batavia changed all that. Though Wallis kept his visit as short as
possible, forty of his men went down with smallpox and dysentery.
Many died. Others were unfit for duty on the Indian Ocean cross-
ing. So the
Dolphin
was obliged to spend a month at Table Bay while
