Page:Extracts from the letters and journals of George Fletcher Moore.djvu/304

 278 sheep which James had in his charge, and he attributes the loss to the natives; but I have no clue to the truth: the native dogs prowl about like wolves, and might easily carry off a straggler from such a guardian as James. If the natives had been the delinquents, they would have taken more than one, in my opinion.

It may strike you as singular, that my servants do not send letters home. It arises partly from our knowing nothing of the sailing of the ships until it is too late, and greatly (I am sorry to say) from their being too fond of playing cards, carousing, and singing, which makes them inattentive to any of their duties. I often ask them to write, yet they forget to do so; I am obliged to say they seem to have very little care or solicitude about my affairs, and I have proportionably lost my interest for them: for the satisfaction of their friends, I will tell you how they live; and let them judge between us. At early morning, they get a breakfast of bread and tea, with sugar and milk; at midday, bread and meat, with flour pudding, and potatoes, or other vegetables, without restriction; at evening, bread and tea—without limitation of allowance at this or any meal. They now get two glasses of wine, and one of rum, in the day, and they have abundance of clothing from head to foot. If this be not improvement in their condition, I know not what their condition was; and yet they are dissatisfied. * * *