The man who had met with
the supercargo was sent in the whale boat, and they proceeded to the spot
which Mr. Clarke had described as that where they had lost sight of their
companions; but, after a long search, they could only find some trifling
articles, which were known to have been in their possession; and, these
being bloody, it was conjectured that they had been killed in this very
helpless condition by the natives, whom, in the course of their long
march, they had found frequently very kind, and at other times extremely
savage. To add to the probability of this having been their end, Mr.
Clarke mentioned the morose, unfeeling disposition of the carpenter, who
often, when some friendly natives had presented him with a few fish,
growled that they had not given him all, and insisted, that because they
were black fellows, it would be right to take it by force. By some
illiberal and intemperate act of this nature, there was too much reason
to believe he had brought on himself, and his ill-fated companion, the
mate (a man cast in a gentler mould), a painful and premature death.
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