Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

536 • CASE OF THE VKNILIA. NoV. the law, and said that he would not regard the law. We then became more resolute : the governor said to the chiefs, ' Friends, chiefs of the land, we must have a meeting.' The chiefs assem- bled on the twenty-second day of December 1831. The go- vernor ordered a man to go for the captain of the ship. When he had arrived on shore, the governor appointed a man to be speaker for him. The speaker said to the captain of the ship, ' Friend, here are your men, take them, and put them on board of your ship ; it is not agreeable to us that they should remain upon our land.' The captain said, ' I will not by any means receive them again: no, not on any account whatever!' The governor again told his speaker to say, ' Take your men, and put them on board your ship, we shall enforce our laws.' The captain strongly objected to this, saying, ' I will not, on any account, again receive these bad men, these mutineers.' We then said, ' It is by no means agreeable to us for these men to live on shore : if they are disturbers of the peace on board the ship, they will disturb the peace on shore.' Captain Hill, who has long been a captain belonging to Britain, spoke to the cap- tain of the ship : this is what he said to him : ' It is not at all agreeable to the laws of Britain that you should discharge, or in any manner turn away your men in a foreign land.' This is another thing Captain Hill said, ' you should write a docu- ment, stating clearly the crime for which these men have been turned on shore ; that the governor and chiefs may know how to act towards them, and that they may render you any assist- ance.' But this was not agreeable to the captain ; he would not write a document. The governor then said to the captain, ' If you will not take your men on boai'd again, give us the money, as expressed in the law.' The captain said, ' I will not give the money, neither will I again take the men : no, not on any terms whatever ; and if you attempt to put them on board the ship, I will resist, even unto death.' The governor then said, ' We shall continue to be firm ; if you will not give the money, according to the law, we shall put your men on board the ship, and should you die, your death will be de- served.' When the captain perceived that we were determined