That service we expected
and intended; so that we were obliged to take it all on shore here, where
it underwent another airing and cleaning, in which a good deal was found
wholly rotten and unfit to be eaten. We could not well account for this
decay in our bread, especially as it was packed in good casks, and stowed
in a dry part of the hold. We judged it was owing to the ice we so
frequently took in when to the southward, which made the hold damp and
cold, and to the great heat which succeeded when to the north. Be it this,
or any other cause, the loss was the same to us; it put us to a scanty
allowance of this article; and we had bad bread to eat too.
On the 4th, nothing worthy of note.
On the 5th, the king and several other great men, paid us a visit, and
brought with them, as usual, some hogs and fruit. In the afternoon, the
botanists set out for the mountains, and returned the following evening,
having made some new discoveries in their way.
On going ashore in the morning of the 7th, I found Otoo at the tents, and
took the opportunity to ask his leave to cut down some trees, for fuel.
