thing should transpire of a character likely to interfere with our
plans."

On the evening of the following day, upon my return to the settlement
from the scene of the surveying operations, I found awaiting me a formal
intimation from the council of its determination forthwith to complete
the loading of the _Mercury_ and dispatch her to sea at the earliest
possible moment; and I was instructed to deliver over all documents and
papers of every kind relating to the survey of the island to my
coadjutor, Meadows, who would henceforth have sole charge of the survey;
also, I was to proceed on board the ship on the following morning,
accompanied by the men--former members of the crew--named in the margin,
for the purpose of submitting the hull, spars, sails, and rigging to a
thorough overhaul, in order to ensure that the ship was fit and ready in
all respects to undertake a voyage to China; and to prepare an inventory
of such provisions and stores as might be required for the voyage. And,
lastly, when these orders had been carried out, I was to report in
person to the council and receive my final instructions relative to the
voyage.

I found that my crew was to consist of twenty men, all told, namely,
eighteen seamen, one cook, and a cabin steward; and of the eighteen
seamen Gurney was to act in the capacity of chief mate, and Tudsbery,
the carpenter, as second. Gurney, being a member of the council, was
excused from participation in the overhauling operations, Polson--who
was also a member of the council--being sent in his stead. I could not,
at the time, quite understand the reason for this somewhat singular
arrangement; for I did not for an instant accept the official
explanation that Polson, from his former association with the ship as
boatswain, was considered to possess a more intimate knowledge than
Gurney of the minutiae of the ship's equipment. However, it was all
made clear to me afterwards.

With these twenty men, then, I proceeded on board the _Mercury_ on a
certain morning, and proceeded to give her and all her gear a thorough
overhaul, although I knew it to be simply a waste of time and energy,
the overhaul having already been made, all defective or doubtful gear
replaced, and the sails loosed and aired once every week since. Still,
I did not in the least object, for it was all to my personal advantage
that if perchance any trifling defect had been thus far overlooked, it
should now be made good. While t