When the expedition reached Tahiti, Pitt was flogged for trying to trade a piece of broken barrel-hoop for the romantic favours of an island woman.

Vancouver had given strict orders against romancing the natives, since such escapades had played a major role in the Mutiny on the Bounty; in addition, any captain was required to punish pilferage.

No-one on the expedition could have known that Pitt had become a member of the House of Lords after his father had died on 19 June 1793, but his subsequent conduct leaves no doubt that he resented being disciplined by the 'low-born' Vancouver.

When HMS Daedalus left the expedition to return home in 1793, Vancouver sent Pitt with her, along with a letter to Evan Nepean complaining of his conduct.

However Thomas Pitt took a more direct role; on 29 August 1796 he sent Vancouver a letter heaping many insults on the head of his former captain, and challenging him to a duel.

Vancouver gravely replied that he was unable "in a private capacity to answer for his public conduct in his official duty" and offered instead to submit to formal examination by flag officers.

Charges and counter-charges flew in the press, with the wealthy Camelford faction having the greater firepower until Vancouver, ailing from his long naval service, died.

Pitt was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 7 April 1797 and was appointed acting commander of HMS Favourite over the head of her first-lieutenant, Charles Peterson, who was his senior.

A contemporary account describes Pitt as being of eccentric appearance during this period of his life; dressing in a shabby lieutenant's uniform with buttons turned green with verdigris, topped by an oversized gold-laced hat.

The following morning, they met again at a coffee house and Best asked Pitt to withdraw his remarks based upon their former friendship; he refused, possibly knowing that Best's famous skill with the pistol would leave him open to accusations of cowardice.

The then owner of the house, Lord Holland, erected an antique Roman altar on the spot where Camelford fell, inscribed with the legend "HOC DIS MAN.

His will had directed that his body be buried on the island St. Pierre, Lake Biel, in Switzerland, a place dear to his childhood, but the war delayed this.

[10] When a full-length biography of Pitt was published in 1978, author Nikolai Tolstoy gave it the title The Half-Mad Lord in reference to this characteristic.

[7] When Camelford died, three whalers that he owned or part-owned – Cambridge, Wilding (or Willding), and Caerwent – passed to Lord Grenville, a relative by marriage, who sold them when they returned from their voyages.