He Was Further Informed
That We Were Much Disappointed In Not Receiving Any Dried Meat From Him,
An Article Indispensable
For our summer voyage and which he had led us to
believe there was no difficulty in procuring, and that
In fact his
complaints were so groundless in comparison with the real injury we
sustained from the want of supplies that we were led to believe they were
preferred solely for the purpose of cloaking his own want of attention to
the terms of his engagement. He then shifted his ground and stated that
if we endeavoured to make a voyage along the sea-coast we should
inevitably perish, and he advised us strongly against persisting in the
attempt. This part of his harangue, being an exact transcript of the
sentiments formerly expressed by our interpreters, induced us to conclude
that they had prompted his present line of conduct by telling him that we
had goods or rum concealed. He afterwards received a portion of our
dinner in the manner he had been accustomed to do, and seemed inclined to
make up matters with us in the course of the evening, provided we added
to the present offered to him. Being told however that this was
impossible since we had already offered him all the rum we had and every
article of goods we could spare from our own equipment his obstinacy was
a little shaken, and he made some concessions but deferred giving a final
answer until the arrival of Humpy his elder brother.
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