The Chief had now recourse to signs, which he used ever
afterwards; He was in great spirits, and seemed entertained
with the efforts which were made tó pleáse him. He asked to
look a t a mirror which had caught his attention; when it was
p u t into his hands, he seemed very well satisfied with the
figure which it presented, and continued for some time pulling
his beard from side to side with an air of perfect complacency.
One of the attendants thought there could be no
harm in looking at the mirror likewise, but the Chief was of
á different opinion, and 1 1 0 sooner observe'd what he was
doing, than he very angrily made him put down the glass and
leave the cabin. The secretary too fell under his.displeasure,
and was reprimanded with much acrimony for overlooking bur
paper when we were writing. Scarcely five minutes elapsed,
in short, during his stay, without his finding some cause of
complaint against his people; but we could not determine
whether this arose from mere Captiousness, or was done to
give us a higher notion of his consequence, because, in the
intervals, he. was all cheerfulness and good humour. He
was offered tea and cherry brandy,, which he took along
with us, and appeared a t his ease in every respect. We
thought that he made signs, implying a wish for us to visit
him on shore; to this we cheerfully assented, and an arrangement
for landing in the morning was made accord,-
“ nation (are you) ? On account of what business do you come hither ? In the
“ ship are there any literary men who thoroughly understand, and can explain
51 what is written ?”
ingly by means of similar signs, with which the Chief appeared
much pleased, and rose to go away.
He had not got much beyond the cabin-door, however,
before the serenity of his temper was once more overturned.
On passing the gun-room sky-light, he heard the voices of
some of his people whom the officers had taken below, and
who were enjoying themselves very merrily amongst their
new acquaintance. The old Chief looked down, and observing
them drinking and making a noise, he called to them in a
loud passionate voice, which made them leave their glasses,
and run up the ladder in great terror. From thence the
alarm spread along the lower deck, to the midshipmen’s
birth, where another party was carousing. The grog and
wine with which they had been entertained was too potent
for this party, as they did not seem to care much for the old
Chief, who, posting himself a t the hatchway, ascertained,
by personal examination, who the offenders were. On this
occasion, his little rod of office was of much use; he pushed
the people about with it to make them speak, and used it
to turn them round, in order to discover their faces. One
man watching his opportunity when the Chief was punching
away a t somebody who had just come up, slipped past and
ran off; but the quick eye of the old man was not so easily
deceived, and he set off in chase of him round the quarter