Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/495

] expressing the least hope of finding our unhappy associate.

Deschamps, upon whom those arguments had the desired effect, espoused the opinion of the Captain, and seconded his proposition for sailing, by declaring that it could not be dissembled, that we could now do nothing more than lament the loss of our friend.

Those probabilities had not the same weight with me. But it was necessary for me to persuade the sailors; and I employed what I thought the most proper argument for that purpose, by citing, in support of my opinion, an instance taken from the voyages of the most celebrated of navigators. I reminded them that, in December 1777, two sailors strayed from Captain Cook, into the island of Noel, one of whom was absent a whole day, and the other eight and forty hours; that Cook had ordered several detachments to search for them with the greatest care; that Noel, however, was but a little low island, scarcely covered with shrubs, whereas New Holland, where Riche had lost himself, was an immense region. I requested, therefore, that the same time should be allowed to search for our unhappy friend, as Captain Cook had employed in seeking one of his sailors.

This reasoning produced all the effect which I could desire. A boat