Thursday, February 28, 1754

Jean Marin Le Roy did not enter any information in the log for this day, but Captain Bellet must have initiated an investigation into Jacques Philippe's disappearance. The desertion of a fisherman, or even an apprentice, implied certain costs, starting with the registration of the complaint at the admiralty registry. And that was only the beginning; such matters sometimes dragged on forever. Aside from the fact that the apprentice defied authority and broke the contract he had with his master, what must have really aggravated the captain was the loss of the cash advance and the bonus. The bonus was non-refundable and paid unconditionally when the employment contract was signed. Before the ship sailed, the mates, fishermen and apprentices also received a cash advance, sort of like a loan against their wages, which in Honfleur consisted of a third of the net profit. However, upon their return, if the profits were insufficient to cover the cash advances, the men had to pay back some of the money to cover the deficit, ⁵¹ and even pay interest on it. If one of them deserted before the expedition got underway, the captain lost his money.

Friday, March 1, 1754

Around 3 p.m., the captain went ashore in the shallop with 4 men to look for a pilot to take us down the Seudre. He returned with an inshore pilot around 7 p.m.