Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/140

120 settlers, and prevent hostile attacks from the natives. One of the vessels should occasionally visit the Friendly, Society, and Feejee Islands, for the encouragement and protection of British subjects engaged in commercial pursuits, and for the purpose of strengthening the now existing friendly disposition of their inhabitants towards Great Britain. Frequent disputes occur between the masters and crews of whaling and other merchant ships in those remote regions, where an appeal to the captain of a man-of-war would be generally more effectual, and more satisfactory to both parties, than the interference of the civil authority, for which seamen, in general, have very little respect or fear, especially in the newly-established colonies, where there is seldom sufficient power to enforce the laws, and where there is usually a great dislike to meddle in nautical matters, which are generally but little understood.

In the various groups of islands of the Pacific, mutinies, piracies, and other disgraceful proceedings are but of too frequent occurrence, to the degradation of our national character, which even the expected arrival of a man-of-war would sometimes prevent, and her presence would always check or rectify such reprehensible irregularities. In the course of our voyage, I had several times occasion to put matters to rights between the master and the crew of merchant vessels, and restore harmony and good feeling, which could not have been accomplished by any other means,