1772.
November.
vides, viz. that they were supplied by contract, and therefore generally too short for our people. If we consider the distresses to which M. de Bougainville's crew were reduced for want of cloathing, we cannot help reflecting on the better fortune of English seamen, who, under an equitable government, may expect to be treated with peculiar care; and who, on perilous expeditions, are humanely and attentively supplied with necessaries to face the dangers of the sea, and support their spirits in adversity. A trying moment frequently occurs, where the despondence caused by ill-treatment and heavy sufferings, must have the most fatal consequences, since its direct opposite, an undaunted resolution is then most necessary; such a moment we experienced in this night. A petty officer in the forepart of the vessel, awaking suddenly, heard a noise of water streaming through his birth, and breaking itself against his own and his mess-mates chests; he leaped out of his bed, and found himself to the middle of the leg in water. He instantly acquainted the officer of the quarter-deck with this dreadful circumstance, and in a few moments almost every person in the ship was in motion; the pumps were employed, and the officers encouraged the seamen with an alarming gentleness, to persevere in their work; notwithstanding which the water seemed to gain upon us; every soul was filled with terror, encreased by the darkness of the night.
Ponto