Captain Cheap, by the application of Mr Bulkely, which book he saw me
reading one day in my tent, they immediately upon perusing it, concluded
upon making their voyage home by the Straits of Magellan. This plan was
proposed to the captain, who by no means approved of it, his design being
to go northwards, with a view of seizing a ship of the enemy's, by which
means he might join the commodore: at-present, therefore, here it rested.
But the men were in high spirits from the prospect they had of getting off
in the long-boat, overlooking all the difficulties and hazards of a voyage
almost impracticable, and caressing the carpenter, who indeed was an
excellent workman, and deserved all the encouragement they could give him.
The Indians having left us, and the weather continuing tempestuous and
rainy, the distresses of the people for want of food became insupportable.
Our number, which was at first 145, was now reduced to 100, and chiefly by
famine, which put the rest upon all shifts and devices to support
themselves.

One day, when I was at home in my hut with my Indian dog, a party came to
my door, and told me their necessities were such, that they must eat the
creature or starve.

Though their plea was urgent, I could not help using some arguments to
endeavour to dissuade them from killing him, as his faithful services and
fondness deserved it at my hands; but, without weighing my arguments, they
took him away by force and killed him; upon which, thinking that I had at
least as good a right to a share as the rest, I sat down with them and
partook of their repast. Three weeks after that I was glad to make a meal
of his paws and skin, which, upon recollecting the spot where they had
killed him, I found thrown aside and rotten. The pressing calls of hunger
drove our men to their wit's end, and put them upon a variety of devices to
satisfy it. Among the ingenious this way, one Phipps, a boatswain's mate,
having got a water puncheon, scuttled it; then lashing two logs, one on
each side, set out in quest of adventures in this extraordinary and
original piece of embarkation. By this means he would frequently, when all
the rest were starving, provide himself with wild-fowl; and it must have
been very bad weather indeed which could deter him from putting out to sea
when his occasions required. Sometimes he would venture far out in the
offing, and be absent the whole day; at last, it was his misfortune, at a
great distance from sh