Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/185

] assistance; when seeing him swim away, without speaking a word, we had no doubt but it was a thief making off with his booty. He was pursued immediately, frequently escaped by diving, and was not taken at last till he had been wounded in the thigh with a boat-hook, which was employed to catch hold of him. As soon as he was brought on board, he was secured upon deck, where he remained all night. He confessed that, having taken several things out of our launch, he had conveyed them to the canoe, which was in waiting for them near our buoy, and had made off without delay. In half an hour afterwards, we fancied we saw her slowly approaching our ship astern, in search of the native whom we had seized. The men in our yawl immediately pulled away toward her, and when they came up with her, they found in her only one man and two paddles: but they soon discovered that she had brought us another thief, who had roamed about the ship till the arrival of another canoe, that came to convey him ashore. As soon as our people got sight of her, they gave her chace, but the natives in her paddled away with such speed, that it was impossible to overtake them.

4th. At three o'clock in the morning Citizen Beaupré returned with Tonga, after having ex-