CHAPTER XVII
_Voyage eastward--The Baron introduces a friend who never deceivedhim: wins a hundred guineas by pinning his faith upon that friend'snose--Game started at sea--Some other circumstances which will, it ishoped, afford the reader no small degree of amusement._
In a voyage which I made to the East Indies with Captain Hamilton, Itook a favourite pointer with me; he was, to use a common phrase, worthhis weight in gold, for he never deceived me. One day when we were, bythe best observations we could make, at least three hundred leagues fromland, my dog pointed; I observed him for near an hour with astonishment,and mentioned the circumstance to the captain and every officer onboard, asserting that we must be near land, for my dog smelt game. Thisoccasioned a general laugh; but that did not alter in the least the goodopinion I had of my dog. After much conversation pro and con, I boldlytold the captain I placed more confidence in Tray's nose than I did inthe eyes of every seaman on board, and therefore proposed laying the sumI had agreed to pay for my passage (viz., one hundred guineas) thatwe should find game within half an hour. The captain (a good, heartyfellow) laughed again, desired Mr. Crowford the surgeon, who wasprepared, to feel my pulse; he did so, and reported me in perfecthealth. The following dialogue between them took place; I overheard it,though spoken low, and at some distance.
CAPTAIN His brain is turned; I cannot with honour accept his wager.
SURGEON I am of a different opinion; he is quite sane, and depends moreupon the scent of his dog than he will upon the judgment of all theofficers on board; he will certainly lose, and he richly merits it.
CAPTAIN Such a wager cannot be fair on my side; however, I'll take himup, if I return his money afterwards.
During the above conversation Tray continued in the same situation, andconfirmed me still more in my former opinion. I proposed the wager asecond time, it was then accepted.
Done! and done! were scarcely said on both sides, when some sailors whowere fishing in the long-boat, which was made fast to the stern of theship, harpooned an exceeding large shark, which they brought on boardand began to cut up for the purpose of barrelling the oil, when, behold,they found no less than _six brace of live partridges_ in this animal'sstomach!
They had been so long in that situation, that one of the hens wassitting upon four eggs, and a fifth was hatching when the shark wasopened!!! This young bird we brought up by placing it with a litter ofkittens that came into the world a few minutes before! The old cat wasas fond of it as of any of her own four-legged progeny, and made herselfvery unhappy, when it flew out of her reach, till it returned again. Asto the other partridges, there were four hens amongst them; one or morewere, during the voyage, constantly sitting, and consequently we hadplenty of game at the captain's table; and in gratitude to poor Tray(for being a means of winning one hundred guineas) I ordered him thebones daily, and sometimes a whole bird.