CHAPTER XVII

_Voyage eastward--The Baron introduces a friend who never deceived
him: wins a hundred guineas by pinning his faith upon that friend's
nose--Game started at sea--Some other circumstances which will, it is
hoped, afford the reader no small degree of amusement._

In a voyage which I made to the East Indies with Captain Hamilton, I
took a favourite pointer with me; he was, to use a common phrase, worth
his weight in gold, for he never deceived me. One day when we were, by
the best observations we could make, at least three hundred leagues from
land, my dog pointed; I observed him for near an hour with astonishment,
and mentioned the circumstance to the captain and every officer on
board, asserting that we must be near land, for my dog smelt game. This
occasioned a general laugh; but that did not alter in the least the good
opinion I had of my dog. After much conversation pro and con, I boldly
told the captain I placed more confidence in Tray's nose than I did in
the eyes of every seaman on board, and therefore proposed laying the sum
I had agreed to pay for my passage (viz., one hundred guineas) that
we should find game within half an hour. The captain (a good, hearty
fellow) laughed again, desired Mr. Crowford the surgeon, who was
prepared, to feel my pulse; he did so, and reported me in perfect
health. 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 more
upon the scent of his dog than he will upon the judgment of all the