Thistle would be lost before the other vessel joined. As
to the manner of his loss the magician refused to give any information.
My boat's crew, hearing what Mr. Thistle said, went to consult the wise
man, and after the prefatory information of a long voyage, they were
told that they would be shipwrecked, but not in the ship they were going
out in; whether they would escape and return to England, he was not
permitted to reveal. This tale Mr. Thistle often told at the mess-table;
and I remarked, with some pain, in a future part of the voyage, that
every time my boat's crew went to embark in the Lady Nelson, there was
some degree of apprehension amongst them, that the time of the predicted
shipwreck was arrived. I make no comment, (says Capt. Flinders,) upon
this story, but to recommend a commander, if possible, to prevent any of
his crew from consulting fortune-tellers."--It should be observed that,
strange as it may appear, every particular of these predictions came
exactly to pass, for the master and his boat's crew were lost before the
Investigator was joined by the Lady Nelson, from Port-Jackson; and when
the former ship was condemned, the people embarked with their commander
on board the Porpoise, which was wrecked on a coral reef, and nine of
the crew were lost.
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