It appeared that so soon as the Dort had parted company, the Admiral had immediately acted upon the advice that the Commodore had given him, and had run for the coast.  Not being so fortunate in a ruse as his second in command, he had landed an armed force from the four vessels, and had succeeded in obtaining several head of cattle, at the expense of an equal number of men killed and wounded.  But at the same time they had collected a large quantity of vegetables of one sort or another, which they had carried on board and distributed with great success to the sick, who were gradually recovering.

Immediately that the Admiral had anchored, he made the signal for the Commodore to repair on board, and taxed him with disobedience of orders in having left the fleet.  The Commodore did not deny that he had so done, but excused himself upon the plea of necessity, offering to lay the whole matter before the Court of Directors so soon as they returned; but the Admiral was vested with most extensive powers, not only of the trial, but the condemnation and punishment of any person guilty of mutiny and insubordination in his fleet.  In reply, he told the Commodore that he was a prisoner, and, to prove it, he confined him in irons under the half-deck.

A signal was then made for all the captains:  they went on board, and of course Philip was of the number.  On their arrival the Admiral held a summary court-martial, proving to them by his instructions that he was so warranted to do.  The result of the court-martial could be but one,—­condemnation for a breach of discipline, to which Philip was obliged reluctantly to sign his name.  The Admiral then gave Philip the appointment of second in command, and the Commodore’s pendant, much to the annoyance of the captains commanding the other vessels,—­but in this the Admiral proved his judgment, as there was no one of them so fit for the task as Philip.  Having so done, he dismissed them.  Philip would have spoken to the late Commodore, but the sentry opposed it, as against his orders; and with a friendly nod, Philip was obliged to leave him without the desired communication.

The fleet remained three weeks at the Falkland Islands, to recruit the ships’ companies.  Although there was no fresh beef, there was plenty of scurvy-grass and penguins.  These birds were in myriads on some parts of the island, which, from the propinquity of their nests, built of mud, went by the name of towns.  There they sat, close together (the whole area which they covered being bare of grass), hatching their eggs and rearing their young.  The men had but to select as many eggs and birds as they pleased, and so numerous were they, that, when they had supplied themselves, there was no apparent diminution of the numbers.  This food, although in a short time not very palatable to the seamen, had the effect of restoring them to health, and, before the fleet sailed, there was not a man who was afflicted with the scurvy.