e party upon the ground that
he was the originator of the scheme which had brought us all to the
island; and as I saw no particular reason for resisting this demand, I
allowed it to pass unchallenged, merely insisting that Polson should be
the leader of the expedition; while four others would necessarily have
to be seamen, in order to handle the boat and bring her quickly back to
the ship in the event of anything in the nature of a hasty retreat
becoming advisable. Thus five of the twelve explorers were seamen, and
the whole of these I personally nominated, being careful to choose the
most steady and reliable for so important a service, while the remaining
six were chosen by lot from among the unmarried male emigrants. This
point being at length settled, a packet of refreshments, consisting of
cold meat and ship's bread, was served out to each member of the
expedition; the largest of the quarter boats was lowered and brought to
the gangway, and the whole party bundled down the side into her and
pushed off amid the half-envious cheers of the rest. Just before they
started I drew Polson aside and gave him my views upon the manner in
which I considered that the exploration ought to be conducted, and
impressed upon him the fact that he was the leader of the expedition and
must exact the strictest obedience from every member of it; and this he
promised to do.

I allowed the exploring party to get fairly away from the ship, and
then, causing the second quarter boat to be lowered, sent four hands
down into her with the lead-line, followed them myself, and then headed
after the first boat toward the harbour which I suspected to exist
inside the two headlands first discovered by Polson, my object being to
make a rough survey of this harbour before attempting to take the ship
into it. The fact that I would allow only four seamen to accompany me
occasioned some further discontent among the number who were obliged to
remain aboard the ship; but I cared nothing for this. I was quite
determined that no unnecessary risks of any kind should be run; and
since these people appeared unable to think for themselves, and Wilde
seemed to have as little idea as the rest of them of what precautions
ought to be observed, I just resolved to think for them, at least until
they were all safely ashore and I could feel that I was no longer
responsible for their safety. After that they might take as many risks
as they pleased.

As we in the se