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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE 
 
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 Ex Libris 
 ISAAC FOOT
 
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 / Troipic o£ Ciancer 
 
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 Slanfonii Grog'Ettaif' hn
 
 NOTES 
 
 FROM 
 
 MY 
 
 SOUTH SEA 
 
 LOG
 
 Crozvn Svo, cloth gilt, 6j. 
 
 SIX WOMEN 
 
 By Victoria Cross 
 
 RED O' THE FEUD 
 
 By Haluvvell Sutcliffe 
 
 LADY JIM OF CURZON STREET 
 By Fergus Hume 
 
 PLAYING THE KNAVE 
 
 By Florence Warden 
 
 A LINDSAY'S LOVE 
 
 By Charles Lowe 
 
 CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG MAN 
 
 By George Moore 
 
 THE BELL AND THE ARROW 
 
 By Nora Hopper 
 
 THE COST 
 
 By David Graham Phillips
 
 NOTES FROM 
 
 MY 
 
 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUIS BECKE 
 
 AUTHOR OF ' BY REEF AND PALM,' ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 T. WERNER LAURIE 
 
 CLIFFORD'S INN
 
 ^^3 
 
 Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, 
 
 bread street hill, e.c., and 
 
 bungay, suffolk.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 BAY O FUNDY DAYS 
 
 I 
 
 THE POOL THE 'GREENBACKS' HAUNT 
 
 30 
 
 NIGHT. .... 
 
 • 37 
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 
 
 42 
 
 THE GENTLE CHINAMAN. 
 
 • 53 
 
 MAUDIE ..... 
 
 59 
 
 BY ORDER OF THE KING 
 
 . 66 
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 
 
 73 
 
 THE DEADLY OAP 
 
 . 87 
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR 
 
 94 
 
 SALOME, THE SHAMELESS 
 
 . 105 
 
 KATAFA ..... 
 
 118 
 
 JAGER ..... 
 
 . 125 
 
 DALEY ..... 
 
 130 
 
 A TRANSFORMATION 
 
 . 142 
 
 SAUNDERSON AND THE DEVIL-FISH 
 
 146 
 
 THE SOUL SNARERS 
 
 . 163 
 
 YACOB AND PIG . 
 
 167 
 
 THE DESERTED ATOLL . 
 
 . 179 
 
 THE PALA ..... 
 
 184 
 
 WATERS, THE LOAFER . 
 
 192
 
 vi CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN .... 208 
 
 ABOUT SHARKS ...... 223 
 
 THE SWAMP ..... 237 
 
 BIG JIM ...... 24I 
 
 SHIPWRECK MEMORIES— 
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, AIANA .... 247 
 
 FRANK, THE TRADER . • . . . 259 
 
 BILL GARDE ...... 279 
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP .... 305 
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY ..... 34O
 
 NOTES 
 
 FROM 
 
 MY SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 "BAY O' FUNDY DAYS" 
 
 I 
 
 The schoolroom in which we were taught our 
 lessons overlooked the sea, for the old house 
 stood high on the summit of a great, grassy bluff, 
 which seemed to spring from out the grey 
 monotony of the Australian bush and thrust itself 
 into the blue bosom of the sunlit Pacific. Forty 
 years before, when the colony was young, and ten 
 years before Oueen Victoria came to the throne, 
 the house on the bluff had been built by convict 
 hands as a residence for the military governor of 
 the settlement and his family, and now, after nearly 
 half a century, it was about the only substantial 
 remaining building of any size in the decayed, 
 broken-hearted little township, with the exception 
 of the great red brick church with its squat 
 tower and the ruinous barracks. But grey, grim 
 I
 
 2 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 and gaunt as it was, with its weather-beaten walls 
 stained deeply with the salty spume of the sea, 
 and its old-fashioned windows — mostly Windless 
 — staring pathetically out upon the ocean, the 
 place was to us boys a palace of joy, and the long, 
 long lines of curving beach and wooded bay and 
 rocky cape and headland were still dearer to our 
 hearts, and were with us in our dreams when, at 
 times, the savage '* black north-easters " darkened 
 the deep blue of ocean into a dull inky shade, and 
 the leaping spray shot high up in air, and fell in 
 drenching showers on the sea face of the bluff as 
 the crested legions of the sea thundered and broke 
 at its base. 
 
 The township (the apathetic survival of the 
 vigorous '* settlement ") was three miles away, and 
 there was no inhabited dwelling between it and 
 the house on the bluff, except the lighthouse on 
 Stark Point, though there were the ruins of many, 
 many stone cottages all along the old Government 
 road running near to the verge of the cliffs — 
 cottages which had been built and had been 
 tenanted by people in the far back black days of 
 the chain gang and the lash, and to which, when 
 the settlement went to decay, kindly Nature had 
 stretched out her loving hand. Slowly but surely, 
 year by year, the wild honeysuckle and convol-
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 3 
 
 vulus, and other native vines and creepers, 
 enveloped the walls, and then the dense jungle of 
 the coastal scrub followed, and one by one these 
 relics of a dreadful time were swallowed up in the 
 " bush " and only their verdure-hidden stones 
 remained to tell of the sorrowful days of the past 
 — Nature had covered up everything with a living, 
 loving green. 
 
 Our tutor was to us one of the most wonderful 
 and heroic men in the world, for he had been 
 through the first Maori War, and had been 
 wounded in one of Colonel Despard's mad 
 attempts to storm the famous pah at Ohaeawae, 
 when the British soldiers and sailors were sent to 
 slaughter time after time by their impetuous and 
 foolish commander who, madly impatient that no 
 breach had been made by his poor little six- 
 pounder guns, ordered assault after assault upon 
 an almost impregnable position. The naval con- 
 tingent who aided the soldiers were, curiously 
 enough, looked upon with great favour by the 
 defenders of the pah^ although they were first in 
 Despard's storming parties, and their uniforms 
 often ensured their lives being spared when any 
 of them were captured, though the red-coated 
 soldiers who were made prisoners were slaughtered 
 with the most relentless savagery. Poor Guy —
 
 4 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 such was our tutor's name — was a junior lieutenant, 
 and had twice led a company of gallant blue- 
 jackets to the assault, only to be defeated. On 
 the third occasion, as he and his sailors were 
 trying to force an entrance into the pah^ two of 
 the stockade posts were suddenly removed by the 
 Maori defenders, and Guy and two blue-jackets 
 were seized by some of them, and dragged inside. 
 
 " You are a great toa''^'^ said a chief named Te 
 Atua Wera to Guy, " but although we in the pah 
 know that you sailor-men wish to avenge the 
 victory we gained over you at Kororareka, we 
 cannot let such brave men as you be a danger to 
 us, else the land for which we fight will become 
 lost to us, and the pakeha ^ will rule, and I, Te 
 Atua Wera, may become a slave. Now if you 
 will do as I wish I shall let you and these two 
 men go away, but you must lead no more assaults, 
 and when you get back to the mad chief of the 
 soldiers you must tell him that we are very strong 
 men here, and that his cannons are foolish things. 
 They are too small to make a breach in this pah, 
 and we are men who do not fear to die. His 
 cannons are very little and very foolish, but they 
 are not so foolish and little as he." 
 
 Then the chief, taking up one of the captured 
 
 1 Warrior. - Foreigner.
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 5 
 
 seamen's cutlasses which was heavier than Guy's 
 sword, felt its edge and then fixed his keen eyes 
 on the young officer's face. 
 
 " I shall not harm these two men of yours," he 
 said slowly, " they shall go back safely to your 
 lines if " He paused, and a grim smile dis- 
 torted his tattooed face. 
 
 " If what ^ " asked Guy calmly. 
 
 *' If you will stretch out your right hand so 
 that I may cut it off at the wrist, swiftly, no 
 further harm shall come to you, and you too shall 
 go free." 
 
 " Will you keep your word ? " 
 
 *' Aye, I, Te Atua Wera, am no liar." 
 
 Guy nodded, quietly took off his coat, and held 
 out his left hand. 
 
 " Strike," he said. 
 
 The chief again smiled. " Thou art as cunning 
 as thou art brave. I said the right hand." 
 
 Guy let fall his left and extended his right arm. 
 Te Atua Wera stepped back a pace, raised the 
 cutlass — and struck the point of it into the ground. 
 Then he bent forward and gravely rubbed noses 
 with Guy. 
 
 *' Go," he said, " but come back no more." 
 And Guy and the two sailors were allowed to 
 return to Despard's lines unharmed.
 
 6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 It was winter, and although the climate of 
 Northern New Zealand is mild, the troops suffered 
 considerable hardships, and poor Guy almost 
 succumbed to a severe pulmonary attack and had 
 to be invalided out of the service. He was ill for 
 a long time in New Zealand, but refused to return 
 to England, for he had but few friends there, and 
 thought he might get employment in the Colonial 
 mercantile marine. But he failed to do so. 
 
 Twelve months afterwards he found himself in 
 Sydney vainly endeavouring to obtain employment, 
 and a casual meeting with my father resulted in 
 his being engaged as our tutor at a salary of £^o 
 a year. We went to meet him at the wharf, and 
 the moment we saw him standing on the little 
 steamer's paddle-box, waving his hand to us, we 
 knew we should like him. And in less than six 
 months he had gained not only the respect and 
 esteem, but the affection of everyone in the big 
 lonely house — from my father and mother, down to 
 little Toby, the sooty-hued ten-year old son of 
 " Duke," our aboriginal stockman. 
 
 Our lessons began at nine in the morning, and 
 lasted until noon, the rest of the day and night we 
 had to ourselves — my father being very much 
 averse to over-study. Yet, lazy as we were, 
 we made some progress, for Guy was a highly-
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 7 
 
 educated and well-travelled man, a proficient 
 linguist, and a good navigator. Then, too, he gave 
 us practical instruction in seamanship by taking us 
 on short cruises along the coast in a small ketch 
 of 60 tons, owned by my father and a Major Ross. 
 She was occasionally employed in carrying stores 
 between Sydney and the little township, and was, 
 though very old, a remarkably fast vessel. On 
 one occasion the vessel was chartered by the 
 Government to carry the mail to Lord Howe's 
 Island, four hundred miles to the eastward, and 
 returned with a cargo of onions to Brisbane, where 
 Guy sold them on behalf of my father and Major 
 Ross at a very satisfactory figure, the market at 
 the time being denuded of the odorous vegetable, 
 and the Lord Howe's Island onions were always 
 in great request in Australia. On this voyage the 
 ketch's complement consisted of Guy (in command), 
 Lewis, the Shetlander mate, one A. B. and my two 
 brothers, " Toby " and myself, who were *' ordinary 
 seamen " and cooks — each of us taking a day in 
 the galley in turn. It was a delightful voyage. 
 Every morning Guy would give us an hour's 
 lesson in navigation, then followed knotting and 
 splicing, and oh, greatest joy of all, caulking, for 
 the ketch's decks leaked, and in the course of a 
 week we had caulked her from end to end. I
 
 8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 think, however, we enjoyed doing cook's work 
 best of all, and the quantity of food that was eaten 
 on that trip was something astonishing, for it was 
 in the month of June that we sailed, and the days, 
 though bright with sunshine, were sharp and keen, 
 and everyone on board seemed to be abnormally 
 hungry. We had amongst our provisions over a 
 hundred fowls and ducks, which were put in the 
 hold — the vessel was in ballast — four pigs and a 
 two-year old bull calf. The latter was my especial 
 property, and I was taking it to Lord Howe's 
 Island in the hope that I could sell it to one of the 
 settlers there, for it was a well-bred animal. His 
 name was " Jenkins " and he was the source of 
 infinite amusement to everyone on board, for as 
 soon as he got his sea legs, we took him out of 
 his pen and let him roam around the deck. He 
 had one great enemy — a cattle dog belonging to 
 my brother Will, who delighted to seize the hairy 
 tuft on the end of his tail, and then "back water" 
 and let poor "Jenkins" race round and round 
 the deck, bellowing with fury, and every now 
 and then slewing round and trying to butt his 
 tormentor. 
 
 We had on board an old six-pounder gun, and 
 one day, when it was very calm and windless, Mr. 
 Guy said he would let us have some target practice
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 9 
 
 with the ancient weapon, for which there were 
 about twenty round shot. Our powder was 
 blasting powder — a bag of which weighing 25 lbs. 
 had been given to us by a quarry proprietor in 
 return for our having recovered two of his horses, 
 which had strayed up into the ranges — for priming 
 we had a flask of ordinary treble F. powder. 
 
 The gun, though so old, was in good order, 
 and under Guy's supervision we soon had it loaded 
 and ready for firing. Meanwhile an empty barrel 
 had been dropped overboard and allowed to drift 
 away to a distance of three hundred yards or so. 
 Old Lewis sighted the gun and then the red hot 
 galley poker was applied to the vent. With a 
 flash and roar off she went, and to our delight the 
 ball struck the water about two feet in front of the 
 cask, then ricochetted two or three times on the 
 other side of it. 
 
 Now, at this time poor " Jenkins " had been, 
 with closed eyes, lying down aft on the little 
 monkey poop, contentedly chewing his cud, but 
 the astounding report of the gun so terrified him 
 that, with a snort of terror, he sprang to his feet, 
 and made a rush for'ard, but the main hatch being 
 open the unfortunate animal went headlong down, 
 broke a leg, and so seriously injured one of the 
 pigs on top of which he fell, that we had to kill
 
 lo SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 both animals, and so discontinued our target 
 practice for butchering operations. 
 
 After we had been out for nearly a week we 
 sighted the island and the remarkable peak called 
 Ball's Pyramid — a curious rocky cone about 4000 
 feet high. We passed within a mile of it, and 
 then the wind died away, and as we were on 
 soundings, Mr. Guy anchored for the night in 25 
 fathoms, for he was afraid of the current setting 
 us on to the Pyramid. We had on board with us 
 an ample supply of splendid deep-sea fishing tackle, 
 and no sooner had we made everything snug, than 
 we baited our small lines with pieces of poor 
 *' Jenkins," and before my line had got half-way to 
 the bottom, the bait was seized by an eight-pounder 
 yellow-tail, which I succeeded in getting on deck 
 safely. 
 
 " Hurrah," cried the mate, " there's bait enough 
 for us all now. Haul in those small lines, boys, 
 and get out your best and strongest, and you'll 
 see the sort of fish there are at Lord Howe's." 
 (He knew the place well.) 
 
 But each of my brothers had hooked a fish — 
 one a yellow-tail as large as mine, and the other a 
 fine sea-bream weighing quite 5 lbs. He was a 
 beautiful fish, and being no use for bait, was 
 thrown to Toby to scale and clean for supper.
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' ii 
 
 Then we set to work with our big lines, baiting 
 the thick 4-in. hooks with strips of yellow-tail, and 
 then we had the most glorious fishing imaginable. 
 The water seemed to be alive with yellow-tail, red 
 schnapper, jew-fish, and sea-bream, and in less 
 than a quarter of an hour there were several score 
 of all sorts kicking and jumping about on the deck. 
 So plentiful were they that we could see them only 
 a few fathoms down, so instead of lowering to the 
 bottom, we cut off our heavy lead sinkers (as the 
 hook and bait were weight enough) and used only 
 about six fathoms of line instead of five-and-twenty. 
 Every time one of us hooked a fish and hauled it 
 to the surface, it would be followed to the top by 
 hundreds and hundreds of others all equally 
 ravenous. Some of the yellow-tail were of such 
 size that we had to strike the grains into them to 
 lift them on board, low as was our little vessel's 
 freeboard. One that old Lewis caught weighed 
 92 lbs., and another 71 lbs., whilst the schnappers 
 — the most prized of all Australian fish — were so 
 large — 10 lbs. to 15 lbs. — that it was quite ex- 
 hausting work getting them over the side. Two 
 hours passed away so quickly that we were sur- 
 prised to see the sun low down on the western 
 horizon, and then Mr. Guy cried " Enough, boys, 
 Tm too tired to lift another fish. Knock off now
 
 12 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 for supper, and we'll go at it again if you like after 
 we have eaten something." 
 
 By this time the main deck was literally covered 
 with beautiful fish, and my hands ,were cut and 
 bleeding, for my line, though very strong, was 
 altogether too thin for a 15-lb. or even lo-lb. 
 schnapper — a fish which for its size is the most 
 powerful of which I know- 
 After supper — boiled fish and potatoes and tea 
 — we again began, but as it was now dark, we 
 caught no more yellow-tail or schnapper, but the 
 mate told us to lower to the bottom, as we should 
 be sure to get flathead. He was quite right, for in 
 an hour we caught a dozen of these delicious fish. 
 Then we knocked off entirely, and after the usual 
 drink of tea, set to work to clean such of the fish 
 as we wanted, leaving the others for the settlers 
 on the island. 
 
 At daylight we got under way, and a few 
 hours later had again dropped anchor on the S.W. 
 side of the island, near the settlement. The 
 inhabitants, of whom there were about 100, treated 
 us most hospitably, and, indeed, were delighted to 
 see us. Mr. Guy took us on shore, and we each 
 went to a different family. My host was an old 
 ex-Hobart Town whaling skipper with a numer- 
 ous family of stalwart sons and pleasant-faced
 
 *BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 13 
 
 daughters. He had settled on the island twenty 
 years previously, and was full of its praises, and 
 said that, though he was not making a fortune, 
 he was doing quite well enough, and would never 
 leave the place. And I did not wonder at his 
 resolution, for I thought it a beautiful spot — lovely 
 scenery, a good climate, no fever, and a paradise 
 for a boy fond of fishing, shooting and mountain 
 climbing, and botany. 
 
 We remained on shore a week, for good-natured 
 Mr. Guy said he wanted us to enjoy ourselves all 
 we could. The inhabitants would not let anyone 
 belonging to the ketch do any work — they insisted 
 not only in loading the vessel from their own 
 boats, but also stowed the cargo. Nearly all the 
 older male inhabitants were Americans or EnMish- 
 men, and had been either masters or mates of 
 whaleships, and had settled down in this lonely 
 spot to become farmers, though in the " season " 
 they did shore-whaling. The whales (mostly 
 *' humpbacks ") were of course " cut-in " and 
 " tried-out " on the shore, and the oil shipped to 
 Sydney once a year, and during our stay there I 
 simply "soaked in " all the information I could get 
 about whaling, for the subject fascinated me ; and, 
 some years later, when I made my first four 
 months' cruise in a New Bedford sperm whaler.
 
 14 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 the theoretical knowledge I had gained on Lord 
 Howe's Island proved very useful to me — it at 
 least served to prevent my being called a " green- 
 horn." 
 
 The young people on the island I liked very 
 much. They were rough and uneducated, but 
 honest, good-natured and very venturesome. We 
 had one Sunday service on shore ; it was held in 
 the open air under a huge fig tree, and Mr. Guy, 
 who was the " minister " by request, read the 
 service and then talked — not preached to the con- 
 gregation — for about half-an-hour. 
 
 When he had finished an American named Jim 
 Leigh, who had been a mate of a whaler, made 
 everyone smile by rising up and saying — 
 
 " Go on, boss. Give us some more." 
 
 II 
 
 On our return home from this cruise we had to 
 make up for lost time by working harder, for my 
 father, though very lenient to us as a rule, told 
 Mr. Guy to make us toe the mark, and not let us 
 think that cruising about and shooting and fishing 
 were the be-all and end-all of existence. But we 
 were all too fond of our tutor, as well as of our
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 15 
 
 father, to cause either of them any disappointment, 
 and went to work with a zest, and the remaining 
 winter months passed by pretty quickly. We 
 were all early risers in the house on the bluff, 
 winter and summer, and we had to do men's work. 
 For instance, every week or ten days a bullock 
 had to be killed, and we had to first round up a 
 mob of cattle, perhaps twenty miles away from 
 home, pick out the particular beast we wanted, 
 and drive it and a few cows and calves (to keep it 
 company) home. This was work which we always 
 enjoyed, for it often meant that we had to camp 
 out for a night or two among the ranges, or on 
 the margin of some swamp or lagoon, where we 
 could be sure of good duck-shooting. In those 
 days breech-loading guns were unknown — at least 
 I never saw one in that part of Australia — and we 
 used either single or double-barrelled muzzle- 
 loaders, and made very good shooting with them 
 too. 
 
 Duke, the black stockman, who was always 
 sent in charge, was not only a great shot, but a 
 wonderfully clever trapper as well, and wc learnt 
 much trom him. He showed us how to catch 
 black duck and wood duck by burying lines under 
 the sand on the margin of a lagoon, or out on a 
 sandbank, and baiting small hooks with little green
 
 1 6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 fish about an inch long, and making the ends of 
 the lines fast to a stone or stake ; and how to get 
 fresh-water fish out of rather big waterholes by- 
 kneading ripe wild apples into a pulp, and throwing 
 lumps of the rich purple stuff into the water, and 
 then so disturbing it that the fish became stupefied 
 and came to the surface. 
 
 Sometimes Mr. Guy would come with us. He 
 was not only a good rider, but, like most sailors, a 
 daring one ; and then, too, he loved the bush as 
 much as he loved the sea, and was especially fond 
 of visiting any aboriginal camps we came across, 
 and talking to these poor savages, for whom he 
 had an intense pity. Duke had a great respect 
 for him, because he, in the course of five years, had 
 learnt to "yabba " ^ quite fluently to the blacks in 
 their own language. ■ 
 
 On these bullock-getting trips we generally took 
 with us to carry our blankets, guns, and provisions, 
 a knowing old packhorse called " Paddy," who 
 always jogged on ahead of us. He had formerly 
 belonged to Major Ross, who was a man very fond 
 of shooting, and whenever we were riding through 
 open grass country, and Paddy came to a dead 
 stop and turned his head and looked at us, we 
 knew that a wild turkey was near, that Paddy had 
 
 1 Speak.
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 17 
 
 seen It, and expected us to shoot. I have seen 
 him stop quite twenty times in a few hours, and, 
 although we had shot all the turkeys we wanted, 
 he would become very dissatisfied and sulky it we 
 did not fire at every one he saw. These birds are 
 very difficult to get within range if anyone is on 
 foot, but on horseback one can ride up to within a 
 few yards of them before they rise. 
 
 Once we had found the mob of cattle for which 
 we were seeking, we would round them up on the 
 nearest cattle camp and cut out half-a-dozen head, 
 including the particular beast we wanted to kill. 
 We sometimes would come across " cleanskins," 
 i.e.^ unbranded beasts, which we knew belonged to 
 either my father or a neighbouring squatter, whose 
 station was a hundred miles distant, and these we 
 used every endeavour to drive home, where they 
 were branded, some with our own brand, and some 
 with that of our neighbour, who observed the same 
 practice with '* cleanskins " found on his own run. 
 This was a very satisfactory and amicable arrange- 
 ment. Mr. James Thorburn knew that he could 
 trust my father, and my father knew that he could 
 trust him. On such occasions my father would 
 write to Mr. Thorburn in this manner : " Dear 
 Jim, Duke has brought in four of your clean- 
 skins from Stony River, two two-year old roan 
 2
 
 1 8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 heifers, a black bull calf, and a red and white steer. 
 Have branded them J over T." 
 
 Ah, those good old days, those bright, bright 
 days of happy youth, when bush and beach and 
 sea and sky talked to our boyish hearts, and made 
 us feel it was joy to live, and work, and sleep, and 
 rise eager for another day. 
 
 Well, we would get our doomed bullock home 
 — sometimes the " bullock " was a fat cow — and 
 Duke, seated on the topmost rail of the killing 
 yard with a Terry rifle in his hand, would drop 
 the poor beast with a bullet through its brain. 
 And then my father, pipe in mouth, silent but 
 observant, would watch us boys and Duke hoist 
 the carcase on the rude windmill " gallows " and 
 see us skin and clean it. Then we had to peg 
 out the hide in one of the yards, cover it with 
 wood ashes, wash ourselves, and go to the house. 
 
 Father would be at his table in his combined 
 study, office and storeroom, pencil in hand. 
 
 " Nice beast, boys ^ " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " What weight, about ? " 
 
 " Seven hundred, sir." 
 
 " Too little. You will have to get another to- 
 morrow. Why didn't you get that big brindled 
 bullock on Bangalow camp .'' "
 
 ^BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 19 
 
 '* Could not find him, sir." 
 
 " Duck-shooting, I suppose ? " 
 
 No answer, but considerable shuffling of feet. 
 
 "Well, get some supper and turn in. I want 
 you to cut up one hind quarter of that beast for 
 use here, and salt the rest. Send a piece of about 
 twenty pounds to the lighthouse, and six each of 
 five pounds to the pilot boat's people." 
 
 The lighthouse keeper had a huge family, whom 
 he tried to support on a salary of ^9 a month, 
 and the six members of the pilot boat's crew had 
 numerous olive branches. My father never missed 
 sending them some beef every two or three weeks. 
 He had done so for many years, and I daresay 
 they were grateful, but if he had suddenly discon- 
 tinued the practice no doubt they would have felt 
 aggrieved. In those days cattle were cheap, and 
 thousands were sent to the boiling-down works 
 for their tallow. 
 
 At daylight in the morning, we would rise and 
 carry the carcase from the gallows from where it 
 was suspended to a shed, where we would cut it up, 
 salt all that portion that was not required for 
 immediate use, stack it on slatted shelves to drain, 
 clean up the shed, and then with Mr. Guy, Duke 
 and Toby, go for our morning bathe in the surf at 
 the northern side of the bluff.
 
 20 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Duke, with his white, pearly teeth gleaming 
 under his black-moustached lip, would throw him- 
 self into the surging rollers with a childish cry 
 of delight, though he was a man of forty 
 years of age or more, and diving underneath each 
 cresting billow, emerge on the other side, shaking 
 his dark locks, leaping hand over hand towards 
 the next billow, as a startled seal leaps and dives 
 and skims the surface of the water like a huge 
 flying-fish. 
 
 Then, as old Pepys would say, *' home to break- 
 fast," a good substantial repast of yellow maize- 
 meal porridge and fried fish, or grilled steaks with 
 oysters from the mouth of the creek which de- 
 bouched into the ocean on the northern side of the 
 bluff. Our father certainly made us work, but he 
 gave us all the food we wanted — and we wanted a 
 good deal. As soon as breakfast was over we 
 became Mr. Guy's " bondmen " as he called us, 
 and not even my father would venture into the 
 schoolroom until the heavy old grandfather's clock 
 at the foot of the stairs struck twelve. 
 
 There were, however, occasions when this rule 
 was relaxed. This was on " Bay o' Fundy Days " 
 — and " Bay o' Fundy Days " came perhaps eight 
 or ten times in the year, and were eagerly looked 
 forward to weeks beforehand, and due preparations
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 21 
 
 made, for not only was it a day of delight, but also 
 one of profit, as I shall presently explain. 
 
 The lighthouse keeper, who was a native of 
 Nova Scotia and an old sailor, had told us of the 
 wonderful tides in the Bay of Fundy, where there 
 is a rise and fall of 70 feet ; and so whenever there 
 was an especially low tide and a reef which was two 
 miles away from the bluff showed high and dry, we 
 called it a " Bay o' Fundy " day, and were given 
 a holiday to fish and explore the reef for aliotis 
 shells, a beautiful univalve which we called 
 " Illiokus," much to Guy's amusement. These 
 shells we used to clean externally with muriatic 
 acid, until they became as wonderfully and as 
 beautifully iridiscent as the pearly interior. When 
 cleaned we sent them to Sydney, where a curio 
 dealer gave us <\s. to 5^. a pair for shells as large 
 as a saucer, and 2s. to 2s, 6d. a pair for the smaller 
 ones. But the exciting part of the work of getting 
 aliotis shells (I don't know even now if it is aliotis 
 or haliotis) was the knowledge that in the very old 
 and " humpybacked " ones we could always be 
 sure of finding from one to half-a-dozen small 
 pearls of such a beautiful lustre that the curio 
 dealer would always give us 5j"., and sometimes as 
 much as loj-., each for them. I have no doubt 
 they were worth a great deal more, but as we did
 
 22 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 not know their real value, we were quite content. 
 The very small seed pearls we used to keep until 
 we had a match-box full, and then we were paid 
 so much per ounce — I think it was _^ 3. (Speaking 
 of match-boxes reminds me of the antiquated 
 style of matches in those early days ; they were 
 made of wood, rounded, and tipped with a com- 
 pound, which, when ignited, emitted streams of 
 atrociously-smelling smoke. Each box of 100 
 matches were enclosed in either a scarlet or green 
 paper box, in which was a flaming picture of the 
 Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava.) 
 
 We discovered the value of these aliotii — 
 locally called " mutton-fish " — through a China- 
 man named Ah Yam, who, with a fellow-country- 
 man, was living at the mouth of a lagoon about ten 
 miles away from the house on the bluff. They were 
 fishermen, and caught and smoked great numbers 
 of mullet and whiting, which they sent to Sydney 
 every month or so. One day we noticed them 
 carrying up a large basket filled with mutton-fish, 
 and Ah Yam informed us that they extracted the 
 " fish " from the shell and put them in a brine 
 pickle for a few days ; after that they were dried in 
 the sun, and packed in cases or casks, and sent to 
 Sydney, where they were much relished by the 
 Chinese community. The beautiful shells they
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 23 
 
 regarded as of no value, and after this occasion 
 always let us take them away. 
 
 One day poor Ah Yam had the misfortune to 
 have his right leg broken. He was felling an 
 ironbark tree, and one of the branches caught him 
 as he was running from under it. The bone was 
 badly shattered, and for over three months he 
 was unable to get about. My mother took good 
 care of him and visited him frequently, for the 
 doctor who had set the limb lived forty miles 
 away and only came to see him twice or three 
 times at long intervals. When he had recovered, 
 his gratitude was unbounded, and he and his 
 countryman insisted upon bringing us fish, cray- 
 fish and vegetables two or three times a week. My 
 mother always accepted them, for although we 
 caught all the fish required, and our own garden was 
 amply stocked with vegetables, the two Chinamen 
 would have been hurt if we had not taken their 
 gifts. 
 
 One Sunday afternoon — about six months after 
 his leg had been broken — Ah Yam called to see 
 us, and, somewhat to our astonishment, asked to 
 speak to my father and mother in private. He 
 was taken into my father's office, and remained 
 there talking to our parents for quite half-an- 
 hour. Then my mother called us in.
 
 24 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " Boys," she said, " you will all be very sorry to 
 hear that Ah Yam and his mate are going home to 
 China, and after next Thursday we shall see them 
 no more. Now, Ah Yam has brought me a very, 
 very beautiful present " 
 
 *' No, no, missee, not welly beautiful," protested 
 Ah Yam smilingly, " but I want to show you, 
 missee, that I like you all welly much, and I welly 
 solly to go home China, and see you no more. 
 Ah, you all welly kind — boy, girl, Mr. Guy, all 
 people in your house kind to Ah Yam and Gee 
 ioy. 
 
 My father, black-bearded, rough and stern, put 
 his huge leg-of-mutton fist on the Chinaman's 
 shoulder. 
 
 *' The boys all like you. Ah Yam, and I am 
 sorry you are going away. And I am glad to 
 hear that you have done so well ; " then turning to 
 my mother, he said, " Show the boys your 
 present, mother." 
 
 My mother opened her hand, and showed us 
 nine really beautiful pearls, each one the size of a 
 small pea. 
 
 " Boys, these pearls are from aliotii shells, and 
 Ah Yam has been telling us a secret — a secret that 
 will be of great value, for now you boys can make 
 quite a nice little sum of money, whenever there is
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 25 
 
 a ' Bay o' Fundy day,' " and our mother smiled, for 
 we were none too prosperous in those days, when 
 cattle were sold to the boiling-down places — and 
 our family was a large one. 
 
 Then Ah Yam told us that when we went to 
 collect aliotii shells, we should always look for 
 those which presented the appearance of age, were 
 deformed in shape, and covered with a coral 
 growth, and that we could always count upon 
 finding pearls in a curious appendix to the intes- 
 tines. Sometimes the pearls — if of unusual size — 
 would be encrusted on to the inner side of the 
 shell itself, but generally they would be found 
 loose in the appendix. 
 
 And then to our astonishment we learned that 
 he and Gee Toy had received no less than two 
 hundred and seventy pounds from the Chinese 
 company in Sydney for the pearls they had found 
 during a period of three years. 
 
 After that, as I have said, a " Bay o' Fundy 
 day " was always a profitable one to us, and we 
 would run great risks in diving underneath the reef, 
 and prizing off the great univalves with our blunt 
 chisels ; for, under the dark overhanging ledges 
 the oldest shells were to be found, and many a 
 time we would come to the surface with cut heads 
 and hands, and our bodies bleeding from contact
 
 26 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 with the jagged coral. But we took little heed of 
 such things in those days. 
 
 On one occasion, just as we were returning 
 home from one of the excursions, we met two 
 blacks, descending the bluff to the beach. They 
 were big stalwart fellows, and each carried three or 
 four very long and beautifully made spears. They 
 stopped and chatted with us awhile, and then asked 
 us to come and see them spear '*big feller jew- 
 fish." Of course we were only too glad, and 
 retraced our steps until we came to a peculiar 
 cluster of rocks which formed one side of a deep 
 little bay, the bottom of which was of pure white 
 sand interspersed with a few round boulders of a 
 bluish-grey colour. The summit of the rocks was 
 about sixty feet above the water, and were covered 
 with coarse grass, and an esculent saline plant 
 called " pig-face." Our black friends led the way 
 to the top, and then they scanned the water 
 intently. Presently one of them, named Yarra, 
 uttered an exclamation of satisfaction, and pointed 
 towards the beach end of the bay, and there, in 
 quite shallow water, we saw two noble specimens 
 of jew-fish lazily swimming to and fro on the look- 
 out for mullet. Each was over five feet in length, 
 and their beautiful bodies gleamed like polished 
 silver as they now and then rolled to the motion of
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 27 
 
 the slight swell which was lazily coming up the 
 little bay. 
 
 " Look down here, too," said Yarra's mate, who 
 possessed the magnificent English name of " Lord 
 Howard," and he pointed to the centre of the bay, 
 and we saw the indistinct form of many scores of 
 jew-fish, some large, some small. 
 
 Now, to my certain knowledge, we had visited 
 that bay at least twice a week for six months past 
 to fish for sea-bream, which were very plentiful, 
 but never had we seen more than one or two jew- 
 fish there, and those only small ones — half the size 
 of a full grown salmon. We asked Yarra how it 
 was that he and his mate knew they would find so 
 many here at this particular time, and he told us 
 that as soon as the young sea-mullet left the 
 spawning grounds on the various rivers and creeks 
 for the sea, they were always followed by the jew- 
 fish, which chased them into the bays, or into deep 
 pools, and that it was now the third day since the 
 mullet had come out on the bar. Here was 
 another bit of knowledge for us ! 
 
 Bidding us keep quiet, the two black fellows 
 divested themselves of their ragged pants, and 
 crept down the rocks till they were within thirty 
 feet of the two big fish, and then, rising erect, 
 they threw their spears simultaneously, and with
 
 2 8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 so true an aim, that both of the "jews" were 
 transfixed through their bodies by the long, slender 
 spears. It was so beautifully done that we could 
 not resist shouting out " Hurrah ! " as our two 
 sable friends leapt into the water, and each of them 
 seized a fish by thrusting a hand through the gills, 
 and dragged it ashore on to the firm, hard sand. 
 
 We got down from the rocks, and ran over to 
 have a close inspection, and whilst we were each in 
 turn trying to lift the heavier of the two fish, our 
 black friends were joined by their gins ^ and 
 piccaninnies, who were camped somewhere up the 
 creek. We walked there with them, as Yarra 
 insisted upon giving us a piece of fish weighing 
 about 20 lbs. to take home, and told one of the 
 gins to hurry and make a cane basket in which to 
 carry it. 
 
 We frequently met parties of these aboriginals 
 fishing on the coast and in the rivers, and, in their 
 way, they were always very hospitable to us. For 
 Mr. Guy, as I have said, they always showed a 
 great respect, and one day a number of them came 
 to the house, and presented him with a large 
 bundle of beautifully cured skins of the duck- 
 billed platypus — a really valuable gift. We boys 
 were, of course, all well known to all the blacks 
 
 1 Wives.
 
 'BAY O' FUNDY DAYS' 29 
 
 for quite fifty miles north and south from the 
 settlement, and they always addressed us by our 
 Christian names. Every Queen's birthday they 
 gathered into a camp just outside the township to 
 receive the annual dole of one Government blanket 
 each for an adult, and one for every two picca- 
 ninnies. All these blankets were branded in the 
 centre with a crown and the letters V.R., and 
 there was a penalty of £^ attached for their 
 being found in the possession of any white person ; 
 but the poor blacks would often sell them for a 
 shilling or two to unscrupulous settlers, who 
 would cut them across, remove the Crown marks, 
 and then sew the halves together again. 
 
 Ours was indeed a happy boyhood, and our 
 greatest sorrow was when one day there came a 
 letter for our tutor, informing him that a small 
 estate had been bequeathed to him by a brother 
 in England. He went home with the intention 
 of realising upon the property, and returning to 
 Australia, but succumbed to an illness contracted 
 in the Red Sea. But we have never forgotten 
 him.
 
 THE POOL THE "GREENBACKS" 
 HAUNT 
 
 Just where the river broadens out into the 
 open bar with its serried lines of creamy breakers 
 stretching two long miles from point to point, 
 there is a deep sandy pool within a stone's-throw 
 of the hard, white beach. It was formed twenty 
 years ago by what you take to be at first sight a 
 low black rock covered with streaming kelp, 
 which rises and falls to the tide with a slow heavy 
 movement like the lifting of a funeral pall to the 
 breeze. It is not a rock, but the iron hull of a 
 coasting steamer, which took the ground on the 
 current-swept bar one wild wintry day in June, 
 and, capsized by a mighty roller, was washed in 
 by successive seas to where she now lies, settled 
 firmly in the sand. If the tide is low, you may, 
 by skirting the pool, walk out to her, and look 
 down into the dark, hollow hull, gutted of every- 
 thing but the two Scotch boilers and the oyster- 
 covered iron beams and girders. Try not to 
 
 30
 
 POOL THE * GREENBACKS' HAUNT 31 
 
 explore therein with naked feet and seize some of 
 the hundreds of great crayfish you will see moving 
 about, feeding upon the rich red and green sea- 
 weed growing to the steamer's inside plates, for 
 there, too, lurks the savage octopus — sometimes 
 with tentacles a full fathom in length, and strong 
 enough to seriously injure or drown a man were 
 he alone in that darkening spot. And, if you are 
 in doubt as to their existence, lower a baited hook 
 from one of the bent and twisted girders, and 
 suspend it half-way to the bottom of the hold. 
 Out from the sea-weed covered sides, or up 
 from the bottom itself, comes a thin wavering 
 " thing," which curls itself around the bait, and 
 gently but swiftly draws it away into the darkness 
 — Into that devilish parrot-shaped bill and the 
 hideous squirming body with its loathly tentacles 
 of marbled grey and black, and the soft bulbous 
 head with the cruel, grey-green eyes. If your 
 line is very strong, and the hook stout enough to 
 hold a 50-lb. fish, and you want to try the 
 strength of this horror of the sea, wait a few 
 seconds until the creature has fully enveloped the 
 bait with its tentacles, and shapened itself into the 
 form of a cottage loaf, then give a sharp jerk — 
 and see what you can do ! It may take you half- 
 an-hour or more ere you can drag the creature
 
 32 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 away from whatever it may have attached itself, and 
 lift it from the once clear water it has fouled and 
 blackened by its inky discharges. Sometimes — 
 so the aborigines say, if the octopus is not hooked 
 through the centre part of its body, whence the 
 cupping tentacles radiate, but through a single 
 tentacle only — it will sever it with its beak. And 
 I believe it ; for I have seen an Australian native 
 cat when one of its feet has been caught in a trap, 
 turn, and deliberately gnaw off the end of the 
 imprisoned limb, so as to free itself. 
 
 But let us leave the wreck, and return to the 
 pool — the pool which the greenbacks haunt. 
 ***** 
 
 The 2:reat sea-bream of the Australian eastern 
 seaboard has many local names — " greenbacks," 
 "greenies," " schnapper-bream," but on this part 
 of the coast of which I write the noble fish is 
 known as the " green-backed sea-bream." They 
 run up to five pounds — sometimes eight pounds, 
 and are of a very handsome appearance — a bold 
 head, widely-forked tail tipped with yellow, and a 
 shapely body, covered, except on the back, with 
 large silvery scales ; on the back they assume a green 
 colour, varying in hue according to the age and size 
 of the fish. It is of shy habits, and does not often 
 enter harbours or rivers, preferring the surf-dis-
 
 POOL THE 'GREENBACKS' HAUNT 33 
 
 turbed waters along the beaches, especially at the 
 bases of rocks, where the sand is continually kept 
 in suspension by the action of either the current or 
 the surf. If the sun is very bright, the sea calm, 
 and water clear and undisturbed, they will seldom 
 take a bait, no matter how tempting, but shoot out 
 to sea the instant the line is cast. Strong grey 
 silk twist was always my tackle, and a young mullet 
 or gar-fish the bait. 
 
 ***** 
 This particular pool was my favourite spot. 
 It was unknown to anyone in the sleepy little 
 town near the bar, and I had discovered it by acci- 
 dent when visiting the wreck in search of crayfish. 
 From where I stood when fishing, there was a 
 clear view of a mile along the beach towards the 
 town, and whenever I saw anyone approaching me, 
 I hurriedly wound up my line, and then, after 
 removing as well as I could all traces of bait, fish 
 scales, etc., I, like the Arabs in the poem, silently 
 stole away, for I hated the idea of anyone else 
 discovering that treasured and sacred pool. But 
 one day it was found by the local schoolmaster, 
 who imparted his secret to me — in confidence, I 
 thought. Alas ! he had told his numerous family 
 of six boys and three girls, all ardent fisher-folk, 
 and they boastfully " gave it away " to other 
 
 3
 
 34 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 people, and then the glory of that pool had departed 
 — for me, at any rate — and a silent rage possessed 
 my heart when one Saturday afternoon, as I stood 
 on an overlookhig bluff, I saw a mob of heathens, 
 led by some sinful official without a soul who came 
 from the New South Wales Marine Board steamer, 
 sweeping it with a net ! I say " someone " only. 
 After many years I have almost forgiven him, so 
 will not further harrow my feelings by writing his 
 name, as by now he is probably dead and being 
 punished. 
 
 No matter how stood the tide in those first 
 glorious days, you could always get " greenbacks " 
 there. If it was on the ebb, the discoloured 
 current from the river mingled with the cloudy 
 white sand as it rose in eddying volumes from the 
 sides and centre ; if on the flood, the swirling little 
 foam-crested breakers that were " tailed-in " by the 
 stern of the wrecked steamer gave the desired 
 factor for success, and all one had to do was to 
 flake out fifty or sixty yards of line on the hard 
 beach, bait the two stout 2-in. Kirbys with a mullet, 
 gar or piece of octopus, and then cast. And then 
 almost before the 2-oz. sinker touched the bottom, 
 and you had time to take a turn of the line around 
 the palm of your hand, it tautened out like a 
 piece of steel wire, and you felt that delightful,
 
 POOL THE ^GREENBACKS' HAUNT 35 
 
 wonderful, enchanting thrill through your veins, 
 known only to the true fisherman, as the fish began 
 to fight for his life. He never wriggled and shook 
 your hand except when he came to the end of the 
 wild semi-circles he made, but kept on a steady 
 strain, and the silk hummed and sent out tiny 
 globules of water as an incoming wave wetted the 
 near end of the tautened line. Ha, now you have 
 him, head on, and haul in as quickly as your two 
 hands can reach out and grasp the slender threads ; 
 and then comes a sudden tug, and you know that 
 another fish is fast to the second hook, and is 
 trying to run to starboard — as the first one now 
 makes a dart to port. With two such strong 
 fish on you cannot tolerate any divergence of 
 courses, although you must put up with — and 
 watch with delight — their gymnastics as their strong 
 spiny lower fins touch the sand, and they make a 
 last game struggle. Then, as you draw them into 
 but a few inches of water, and they are fairly 
 aground, you begin to properly feel their weight as 
 they cant over on their sides with angry, erect 
 dorsal fins, and wildly flapping tails, shaking off the 
 sand from their bodies of shining silver. 
 
 Ah, it is good to handle them at last, unhook 
 and place them in the deep hole in the sand you 
 have made, and cover them up, so as to prevent
 
 36 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 their beauties from being spoiled by the hot 
 Australian sun — if it is summer-time, or the cold 
 wind if it be winter. 
 
 Behind you, on the summit of the treeless, 
 grassy bluff which overlooks the wreck and the 
 sacred pool, you may, as you turn to make 
 another cast, see some people of the town sitting 
 on half-a-dozen square tombs, erected to the 
 memory of officers and soldiers of the old convict 
 days. They are — like the tombs — always there, as 
 they have nothing to do but bask in the sunshine, 
 and they wonder why you are fishing on the beach, 
 when, about the wharves of the decaying little town 
 two miles away, you could catch all the fish you 
 wanted, especially if you went to the boiling-down 
 works, where, when the tide was low, you would 
 find them — mullet, whiting, flathead and gar- 
 fish — packed together in the muddy depressions 
 of the great sandbank stretching half-way across 
 the harbour towards the North Sand Spit.
 
 " NIGHT " 
 
 For ten miles I had walked along a hard beach 
 of grey sand without, to my joy, meeting a single 
 person, and towards sunset I came to a creek 
 which debouched into the Pacific between two low 
 bluffs, covered with thick scrub, and here I decided 
 to camp for the night, for the sun was behind the 
 purpling range, and I was tired, very tired. 
 
 I had left the little seaport (twelve miles distant) 
 soon after breakfast, determined to get away from 
 it and its hideous Sunday — a Sunday there was 
 always a horror to me, for I was suffering from 
 malarial fever, and there was a church bell there 
 that I regarded as a personal enemy. It was a 
 noisy, clacking, clamorous monster of a thing, 
 and began its torturing, brain-racking persecution 
 at eight in the morning, and then had several 
 other outbursts during the day. In the day-time 
 its infernal din was bad enough — at night-time it 
 was (to me at least) an agony and a curse. 
 
 And so on this Saturday morning I had left to 
 
 escape it. 
 
 37
 
 38 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Putting my fishing lines, together with some 
 pepper, salt, tea and sugar into my shooting bag, 
 and carrying my billy can slung over my gun, I 
 left the one hotel in the place, and walked through 
 the scandalised street, over the downs beyond the 
 town, and then descended to the beach, where I 
 was greeted by the cool southerly breeze, the glint 
 of the sun-lit sea and the quavering hum of the 
 beating surf. How different from the hot, stuffy 
 town, with its red, treeless streets, shabby houses, 
 and general air of indolent decay and unutterable 
 dulness. I have often thought that that town only 
 wanted a small cathedral, and a cathedral " set " to 
 make it, facile princeps, the dullest and most God- 
 forsaken hole on the whole Australian continent. 
 It was built by convict hands in the days of the 
 cruel System, and nothing but an earthquake or a 
 big fire will ever improve it. 
 
 But once away from this squalid remnant of the 
 old colonial times you are with Nature — with the 
 forest of lofty gums and ironbarks, and clumps of 
 graceful bangalow palms, with tiny, brawling streams 
 and the sweet notes of birds, and the rustle of the 
 swaying canopy of green overhead is answered by 
 the call of the sea. 
 
 I had walked but leisurely along the beach, 
 although I wanted to walk fast — the fever poison
 
 'NIGHT' 39 
 
 already was leaving my veins, and that strange 
 haunting fear of meeting people, dying away. I 
 loved these long, lonely tramps along the coast and 
 through the silent bush, and, weak as I had been 
 for a month past, had " footed " it from the 
 Bellinger River to the Hastings — 80 miles — 
 stopping sometimes under a roof, but more often 
 lying in the warm scrub under the shining stars. 
 
 -tP ^ ^ 'K TT 
 
 Lighting my camp fire in the midst of a clump 
 of honeysuckles that stood on the side of the bluff, 
 I quickly made my bed of coarse grass, walked a 
 short distance up the creek bank, where the water 
 was quite fresh, filled my billy can, and returned to 
 cook my supper — one of two green-backed bream 
 caught an hour before in the surf. In a few 
 moments the fish was grilling on the glowing 
 coals — and the billy beginning to sing ; a strip 
 of ti-tree bark made a fine, clean plate for the 
 fish and salt, and another for the bread, and 
 appetite made a good sauce. Then, after that, a 
 heavenly smoke. 
 
 Fifty yards from the foot of the bluff were the 
 undulating creeper-covered dunes of soft sand 
 denoting high-water mark ; from there the beach 
 shelved quickly to the water's edge — a glorious 
 beach of smooth, hard sand, delightful to the
 
 40 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 naked foot now that the sun was gone. The tide 
 was at full flood, the wind had died away, and 
 only the gentlest, swishing ripples came in from the 
 sea. Three miles out a small top-sail schooner lay 
 becalmed. From the forest behind a mopoke gave 
 cry, a 'possum or two squealed, and some mullet 
 leapt out of the quiet waters at the mouth of the 
 creek and fell back with a splashing noise. And 
 then I heard a sudden rush of scurrying feet over 
 the dry carpet of leaves and knew that an iguana 
 was giving chase to some luckless bandicoot. 
 
 As I sat there and looked at the shimmering 
 water beneath, there was a sudden commotion 
 therein, and a swarm of small fry leapt out and 
 dropped back again — some on the sand — in a 
 shower of silver — they were being chased by several 
 big " trevalli " — noble fish dear to the heart of the 
 man who has once felt the singing hum of the line 
 when a ten-pounder is at one end of it. But 
 although I knew that I had but to bait my line 
 and cast it, sinkerless, into the water to land one 
 of the shining beauties on the sand, I did not want 
 any more fish. In the bush at the back of the 
 blufF were fat, bronze-winged pigeons and gill- 
 birds, and on the morrow I should have game for 
 my food. How the man who is recovering from 
 fever gloats over the thought of what he is going
 
 * NIGHT' 41 
 
 to eat ! It occupies his thoughts more than his 
 hope of salvation. 
 
 But the beach called — and I went — just to lave 
 my feet in the water, and watch the shadowy- 
 phosphorescent outlines of the fish — the preyers 
 and the preyed upon. And more and more of the 
 myriad stars came out until sky and sea and sleeping 
 mountain forest and shining beach made the world 
 very beautiful and sweet, and the drifting schooner 
 out beyond and myself were the only things to 
 make a blot — a blot of human life — upon it. 
 
 Back to the camp, to sleep. And there I find 
 company have arrived — a mare and foal. 
 
 ***** 
 
 They arc standing side by side near the fire, 
 and, as I draw near, the long-legged, woolly-tailed 
 offspring sidles closer up to his mother, who lifts 
 her head and gives a whinnying, inquiring snort as 
 I stroke her nose. 
 
 " Man," she says, " who are you ? I am a lame 
 old stock mare, turned out to shift for myself. 
 And my son and I saw your camp fire, and came 
 to see who you were." 
 
 And then because I gave her half a loaf of bread, 
 she and woolly-tail stayed with me till the morn, 
 when the southerly came to life, and the surf began 
 to thunder once more.
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 
 
 (from a micronesian point of view) 
 
 Sru, the One-Eyed, was pounding the White 
 Man a drink of green kava in a hollowed stone 
 for a mortar, using for a pestle a short, heavy- 
 piece of toa wood. Beside him, holding a gourd 
 of water, was his niece Sipi, a quiet, sad-faced 
 " woman " of seventeen, the mother of twins. 
 Sru, hardened, shameless, and unconverted, had 
 but a ragged mat wrapped around his tattooed 
 loins, and smoked a stumpy clay pipe ; Sipi, as 
 became a communicant and the mother of children, 
 was clothed in a gown, and her long, jet black locks 
 were plaited a la Suisse^ which the missionaries 
 allowed. But her delicate little nostrils were 
 twitching, as now and again the delicious smoke 
 from the pipe of Uncle Sru was wafted across her 
 pretty Semitic nose. Far below the harbour of 
 Jakoits lay as a lake of molten silver under the 
 
 last rays of the sun, and above the branches of the 
 
 42
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 43 
 
 plumed coco-palms hung hot, limp and motionless, 
 awaiting the evening breeze. 
 
 Suddenly there came the rasping clamour of the 
 mission bell, and Sipi moved uneasily and looked 
 appealingly at the White Man. 
 
 " There be a fine of one dollar if I be not in my 
 place at church," she half-whispered. 
 
 Old Sru turned upon her fiercely. " Sit thee 
 quiet, little fool. What is a dollar ! Something for 
 the crawling worm, the sexless, shrunken-chested 
 pig and son of a pig of a Nanu the teacher; he 
 who, because he weareth a white shirt and a black 
 tie, and carrieth about a Bible that weigheth as 
 much as this stone kava bowl, thinketh he is some- 
 one great ! May he die and go to that pit of ever- 
 lasting fire to which he has condemned me, because 
 I, being a man, smote him in the face and sent 
 many of his teeth down into his stomach when he 
 had me fined for mending my nets upon a Sunday. 
 What is Sunday ^ Who is Nanu ? What is 
 Miriamu, his wife ^ How comes it that when 
 white men come to his house the godly Nanu 
 goeth away for a time ' to see a sick man ' ? " and 
 the old fellow grinned sardonically as he dealt the 
 kava root another blow. " Always is there a sick 
 man to visit when a stranger with money in his 
 pockets comes to Nanu's house — never a sick
 
 44 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 woman whom Miriamu should hasten to visit. 
 Ah, the pious Miriamu ! She stayeth in the house 
 with the white visitor — to pray," and he chuckled. 
 *' More water, child. Trouble not about the 
 dollar." 
 
 " Aye," said the White Man, " I will give thee 
 the dollar for the fine, Sipi." 
 
 " Ha, child, see that ! This, our friend, is as one 
 of the white men of the old times — the good, 
 brave times. Thou art a widow and landless, and 
 only I, old Sru, with the mata punie ^ am left to 
 thee to find food for thee and thy brats. Thy 
 husband was a fool. Did not our good friend here 
 warn him that it was an ill thing for a man of 
 Ponape to wear heavy clothes once a week, and 
 then wear but a girdle for the other six days. 
 And he being a fool, and in terror of the white 
 missionary — who is but another money-eater like 
 Nanu — took no heed, and died of the cough and 
 the rotting away of the chest, as two hundred other 
 men have died in Ponape ! And to pay the Ameri- 
 can missionary thirty silver dollars for the clothes, 
 he sold his land to the German trader Schwartz. 
 Did not Schwartz tell him he was a fool } " 
 
 " Aye," repHed the meek Sipi, as she handed the 
 White Man a coconut cup full to the brim of 
 
 ^ One eye.
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 45 
 
 strong green kava, " but yet had he to dress like a 
 Christian, or be fined heavily." 
 
 Old Sru waited till the White Man had drunk, 
 and then his niece filled the shell for her dis- 
 reputable relative. He drained it off, smacked his 
 lips, and then turned his surviving optic on his 
 guest — the other had been lost by a spear thrust 
 in the " good old times." 
 
 " How much, good friend, were the clothes of 
 this foolish woman's dead husband worth in thy 
 land of England, or in the land of Schwartz ^ 
 Five dollars for the three garments, and two 
 dollars for the shoes and the long black hat, shaped 
 like a cannon ! So said Schwartz. And the white 
 missionary maketh every man pay thirty ! May 
 the cave-god Jijil seize him when he dies and 
 grind his bones into paste ! Ah, in the old times, 
 when one man robbed another, there was blood 
 atonement to be made ; so, too, was there when a 
 wife was unfaithful, or when a man trespassed on 
 the land of another. Now, since we have become 
 Christians it is a matter of money, and if a married 
 woman is unchaste she payeth her dollar or two 
 dollars to the missionary, and must not com- 
 municate for eight Sundays till she is purged of 
 her offence. Is that any punishment .'' Didst 
 ever hear of the white man Kapitan Tanielu,^ he 
 
 ^ Captain Daniels.
 
 46 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 \yho lies buried on the little island yonder, and how 
 he had blood atonement for wrong. Ah, he was 
 a great man — brave, good and generous to those 
 he loved, and a terror to those he did not like. 
 There are few white men like him now, A great 
 man — a truly great man ! " 
 
 " Tell me," said the White Man. " But first 
 let Sipi smoke, thou thoughtless old fellow. Hast 
 no heart for her, when her nostrils scent the smoke 
 from thy pipe } '' 
 
 The old man chuckled. " True. I be a 
 garrulous mafa punie. Here, child, make thyself a 
 cigarette," and he gave her a piece of twist tobacco. 
 " Then bring me another piece of kava. Wilt 
 drink more, friend ^ " 
 
 *' Aye, another bowl with thee, old Sru." 
 
 " This Tanielu was the captain of a whaleship 
 that was cast away here on Ponape. He was a 
 rich man, and made friends with Nanakin the 
 king, who gave him land and built him a house, 
 and made much of him. He helped Nanakin in 
 his wars, and in one battle at Roan Kiti, he and his 
 sailors slew ninety-five men with their muskets. 
 
 *' He had many wives, and then one day he saw 
 a girl named Niniea. She was the daughter of the 
 chief of Matalanien, and he thought her very 
 beautiful, though to my mind she was but a little
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 47 
 
 rat of a thing — not tall and stout, but thin and 
 slender as the bamboo canes that grow on the 
 margin of the river. But she had witches' blood 
 in her (for her mother was a sorceress), and she 
 bewitched Tanielu, who became as a child in her 
 hands. It is an easy thing for even a very young 
 girl to turn a great man into a fool, and that is 
 what this Niniea did to the white man. 
 
 " He sent away all his wives — which was dis- 
 graceful — and Niniea alone ruled his house, and 
 spoke haughtily to even the wives of the great 
 chiefs, who feared to resent her rudeness, for she 
 could cause the death of any person by reason of 
 her witchcraft. But the white man every day 
 made more and more of her, and instead of 
 thinking of war and hunting, and all that is 
 manly, stayed inside his house with this rat of 
 a girl. 
 
 " Trouble soon came. 
 
 " One day a young man named Sikra, who was 
 of a good family, and had fought side by side with 
 Tanielu, was, with other young men, playing at 
 throwing the blunted lance on the sward in front 
 of the white man's house. Niniea, with her 
 women — for she was now such a great lady that 
 she had four attendants — was seated on a mat 
 watching the game, when by some mischance
 
 48 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Sikra's blunted lance went astray, and struck her 
 on the foot. She cried out with pain, and then 
 Tanielu, who saw what had happened, went into 
 his house, and came out with a sword and struck 
 Sikra with it across the back of his neck, so that 
 his head fell upon the ground ; for Sikra, knowing 
 that he had given such offence, had knelt and bent 
 his head in contrition. 
 
 " Now this thing greatly angered the family of 
 Sikra. They loved Tanielu, and knew that he 
 was bewitched, so bore no anger against him, but 
 they were hot for revenge upon Niniea. So one 
 night, when her husband was away visiting another 
 white man at a distant village, some women, with 
 many protestations of good-will — my own sister 
 was one — brought her a present of two red-backed 
 flying-fish, already cooked. Now these red-backed 
 flying-fish are very, very rare, and were, when 
 caught, always reserved for Nanakin the king, and 
 so Niniea, being puffed up with pride, took them 
 and ate. She did not know that they had been 
 cooked in the juice of the ' oap,' which sends 
 people into a dull slumber for a whole day and 
 night. In a little while she was in a sound slumber 
 — so sound that if she were struck in the face she 
 would not have heeded. 
 
 " Then the women said ' Now let us consult
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 49 
 
 Jikieru the priest. He is a wise man, and hates 
 Niniea even as we do ! ' So they went to Jikieru, 
 who said he would commune with the gods, and 
 tell them what to do in a little time. He shut 
 himself up in his house, and by-and-by he threw 
 open his door and sprang out, and he quivered 
 from head to foot, for the god Nanawit had 
 entered into him, and blood came from his nostrils, 
 and ran down his chest, which was dyed a bright 
 yellow with turmeric. And when he spoke, he 
 groaned, and spoke with the voice of Nanawit, 
 which is deep and hollow. 
 
 " * Bring this disturber of harmony and peace — 
 this faotane ^ — after me to the house of Parika the 
 Tokelau,' he said. 
 
 " The women hurried back to the house of 
 Tanielu, and lifting Niniea in their arms, they 
 carried her to the dwelling of Parika, which was 
 apart from the village. Now this Parika was a 
 young foreigner from Tokelau,^ and was a great 
 favourite with the unmarried women, who all 
 loved him, though he was a dissolute and quarrel- 
 some young man, and feared no one — not even 
 Jikieru, who therefore hated him, for Parika had 
 said that the priest was but a * lying old thief.' 
 
 ^ Succubus. 
 
 2 The Equatorial Islands of the Pacilic. 
 
 4
 
 50 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " ' Bring her inside,' said the priest. They 
 obeyed, and there by the light of a sn:iall fire they 
 saw the figure of Parika lying upon his best and 
 finest sleeping mat. He was very drunk with 
 green kava, and when Jikieru spurned him with 
 his foot, he made no sign. 
 
 " * Lay her beside him,' said the priest, * when 
 they die and then awaken their souls will travel 
 together.' 
 
 " So they laid Niniea's head upon the shoulder 
 of Parika, and taking his right hand, twined it 
 among her locks as do lovers ere they sink to 
 slumber. Then my sister Sa took a very fine mat 
 as soft as silk, and threw it over the two sleepers, 
 and then she, the priest, and the other women, 
 came away with a great joy in their hearts, although 
 they were sorry for Tanielu. 
 
 " Towards dawn our white man returned, ac- 
 companied by two others — Lawson and Petersen — 
 who had come to stay with him on a visit, and do 
 honour to Niniea, about whom Tanielu was for 
 ever speaking, and whom they had not yet 
 seen. 
 
 " * Why is my house in darkness ? ' he cried 
 angrily. ' Where is my wife .? Where are her 
 women .? Ho, people, come hither. Why all 
 this silence } Am I insulted in mine own town —
 
 THE GOOD OLD TIMES 51 
 
 I and my two friends ! What a sorry welcome is 
 this ? ' 
 
 " Then one by one the head men of the town 
 walked slowly towards him as he stood in his door- 
 way with the two other white men. They had all 
 been sitting on the ground behind trees, with their 
 faces blackened with dye and their heads covered 
 with mats as a sign of shame and grief. No one 
 of them spoke, but they all sat down in a row before 
 Tanielu. 
 
 " ' What is all this foolery ? ' cried Tanielu 
 fiercely, ' where is my wife ? Why is my house 
 darkened ? ' 
 
 " Then Pelita-sru — whose son Tanielu was by 
 adoption, rose, and, still covering his face with a 
 mat, put out his hand, and said, ' Come with us.' 
 
 " * Is my wife dead ? ' said Tanielu, and he 
 placed his hand upon his forehead. 
 
 " ' Nay, not dead,' replied Pelita-sru, * come 
 with us and see the dishonour put upon thee. To 
 thy hands have we left the punishment of wicked 
 and shameless people.' 
 
 *' And then, as the sound of a mighty breaker 
 upon the reef, came a roar from the people, ' Aye, 
 let Tanielu, our beloved, our white man, our 
 leader in war, wipe out the stain upon his honour ! ' 
 
 " Pelita-sru, with his arm around the waist of
 
 52 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Tanielu, led him to the house of Parika, and all 
 the people followed. When they came to the door, 
 Pelita stopped and said : 
 
 " ' Enter, and behold.' 
 
 "Tanielu pushed open the door, and went in. We 
 — there were many hundreds of people — waited. 
 
 " Presently he came outside and his face was the 
 face of a man who has seen a ghost. He went to 
 the white man Lawson, and his lips twitched, and 
 he choked and mumbled, and took the six-barrelled 
 little gun from his belt. Then he let it fall upon 
 the ground. 
 
 " ' I cannot do it,' he said to Pelita-sru and the 
 two white men, ' she is too young. Let it be some 
 one else.' And then he sobbed, and walked away, 
 staggeringly, into the forest. 
 
 " Then, at the bidding of Pelita-sru, four women 
 went into the house with thin strong cords, and put 
 them around the necks of Niniea and Parika — as is 
 done to the widows in Fiji. In a little while they 
 came out and said : ' It is done. They are dead.' 
 
 " Ah, Tanielu was a great man ; yet because of 
 this little rat of a girl he killed himself in the forest 
 that night, by thrusting a knife into his heart." 
 * * * * # 
 
 " Child, there were great white men in the good 
 old times."
 
 " THE GENTLE, PLODDING CHINA- 
 MAN " 
 
 Half-a-dozen of us were sitting on the 
 verandah of Manton's Hotel in Levuka, the 
 former "capital" of Fiji, talking of divers things, 
 when the Chinese labour question, as far as Fiji 
 was concerned, cropped up, and was followed by 
 stories of the Boxer rising, and then someone 
 spoke about the propriety of European nations 
 sending missionaries to Inland China — or any other 
 part of it. 
 
 " I am surprised to hear you say that, Captain," 
 
 said one of the company — a Mr. R ; " I have 
 
 been a subscriber to missions to the Chinese for 
 twenty years. They have achieved an enormous 
 amount of good, and I am convinced that in the 
 very near future we shall see thousands upon 
 thousands of Christianised Chinese offering them- 
 selves as missionaries, not only to the remote parts 
 of the vast Chinese Empire, but to darkest 
 Africa." 
 
 53
 
 54 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Captain O shook his head. " Not the kind 
 
 of Chinamen I have met with," he said. 
 
 '* Ah, you are a sailor, and, though you have 
 lived in China for so long, you don't know the 
 Chinaman as the missionaries know him." 
 
 *' Thank the Lord, I dont. I only know the 
 beast as many Europeans who have lived long 
 in China know him — cunning, unreliable and 
 treacherous, hating the foreign devil most fer- 
 vently in his innermost soul — a born liar, hypo- 
 crite, and thief, capable of the most appalling 
 cruelties when he can safely exercise his lust of 
 hatred upon the foreign barbarian — especially 
 when the barbarian is some hapless woman 
 missionary." 
 
 " That is a rather strong indictment," said some- 
 one with a laugh. 
 
 " Most unjust, Captain O — — ," protested Mr. 
 
 R ; " the average Chinaman, particularly of 
 
 the agricultural and fisherman class, is a gentle, 
 plodding creature, with a simple, child-like nature 
 — and, in spite of the iniquitous legislation against 
 him in the Australian Colonies, he has proved him- 
 self a great factor in the development of that 
 country. 
 
 O gasped. " Oh, Lord ! Has he ! He 
 
 has been a curse to Australia ever since he was let
 
 'GENTLE, PLODDING CHINAMAN' 55 
 
 into the country, and despite the present stringent 
 regulations, the yellow beast still manages to evade 
 the poll tax, and gets into the Southern Colonies 
 by way of the Northern Territory," 
 
 " It is an iniquitous and un-Christian thing to 
 deprive a fellow-man of the right to live in peace 
 on British soil." 
 
 " Not at all — it is only a just measure of self- 
 protection. You can't poll-tax — I wish it were 
 ' pole-axe ' — the brutes too heavily." 
 
 " Why do you hate the Chinese so much ? " 
 
 " Because I know something of them. I was 
 sixteen years in the China-Sydney trade, and in 
 that time carried many thousands of Chows to the 
 Colonies, landing them at ports along the coast from 
 Somerset to Melbourne, and got to know some- 
 thing of their habits. No language can describe their 
 filthiness and their loathly customs. And the 
 white woman who marries a Chinaman would mate 
 with an ape." 
 
 " But many white women have married China- 
 men in the Australian Colonies," triumphantly 
 asserted Mr. R . 
 
 " True, women of a certain profession — sunk so 
 low that their own former associates on the pave- 
 ment regard them with disgust. It makes me 
 sick to think of the hundreds of thousands of
 
 56 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 pounds annually chucked away by English people 
 on Chinese missions." 
 
 " Ah, you don't approve of mission work 
 then ? " 
 
 ''Yes I do — but not in China. Poor Captain 
 
 S , of the Catterthun^ used to say that whenever 
 
 he took a party of missionaries from Sydney or 
 Melbourne to China, and there were young women 
 among them, he always offered up a fervent 
 prayer that the ignorant, meddlesome fools who 
 were sending them there would be damned to all 
 eternity for such a crime." 
 
 *' Is it a crime to preach the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ to a nation which hungers for it } " 
 
 '* They don't hunger for it, believe me. They 
 don't want it. And it is a crime for us to try and 
 ram Christianity down the throats of a race who 
 hate and despise us. Look at the Boxer rising ! 
 What was the cause of that awful tragedy but 
 resentment at the persistency of the missionaries. 
 Can anyone ever read of the unmentionable horrors 
 that have befallen European women at the hands of 
 your ' gentle, simple-minded creature' without 
 a shudder } At the massacre of the Australian 
 missionaries at Ku-ching (long before the Boxer 
 affair) such hideous tortures were perpetrated upon 
 women and children that were they described in
 
 'GENTLE, PLODDING CHINAMAN' 57 
 
 print — but they were not. For one reason no 
 man could write the story. Perhaps another reason 
 is that if any paper had given the whole hideous 
 tale, subscriptions for Missions to Inland China 
 would have fallen off 50 per cent." 
 
 *' Such men and women die a noble death." 
 
 " A pitiable, a useless death. I think it a 
 wicked, a cruel thing that women missionaries are 
 allowed to put foot anywhere outside the treaty 
 ports. As for the men, they deserve all they get." 
 
 " God forbid that many Englishmen should hold 
 your views on the subject." 
 
 " Hundreds of thousands do, and now English 
 people are beginning to understand why the white 
 Australian working man will not have his country 
 ruined, and himself and family reduced to starvation, 
 through the Colonies being flooded by an alien and 
 dangerous race." 
 
 *' Why ' dangerous ' } " 
 
 *' Dangerous because the employers of cheap 
 labour favour the Chow ; dangerous because the 
 Chinaman is imitative and adaptive ; dangerous 
 because of their degrading and filthy habits, their 
 opium and gambling dens, which have ruined, body 
 and soul, hundreds of young Australian boys and 
 girls ; and dangerous because that every ' new ' 
 country under the British flag may let the yellow
 
 58 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 hordes swarm in and oust the white mechanic and 
 
 labourer. For England is ever kind to the alien !" 
 
 * # * * * 
 
 " Ah, I could tell you some stories about the 
 simple, tractable Ah Sin. I once landed — after a 
 long passage— seven hundred Chinamen and nine 
 Chinese women at Cooktown — no, it will leave a 
 nasty taste in my mouth, so I'll say no more. Pass 
 that whisky along."
 
 " MAUDIE " 
 
 A Sydney collier was stranded on the reef near 
 Noumea in New Caledonia, and the boatswain came 
 ashore carrying a large, placid-faced goose. 
 
 *' I want to find shore lodgings and board for 
 her until we are ready for sea again," he explained. 
 " She has been with us for nearly five years, and 
 what she doesn't know about foreign travel ain't 
 worth knowing — eh ! Maudie, old girl ? " and he 
 pressed her feathered cheek to his. 
 
 I succeeded in finding suitable accommodation 
 for "Maudie " at a small charge, food included, for 
 one week with a daily lettuce as an " extra." 
 
 " She just loves them frizzy lettuce," said the 
 mariner, as after an affectionate farewell to his charge 
 he walked down the street with me ; " it does her 
 plumage good and keeps her from puttin' on too 
 much fat. She near died once at Tchio from a 
 sorter stummick apoplexy caused by eatin' some 
 nibs of raw garlic. The skipper near went outer 
 his mind — she belongs to him — and he cursed our 
 
 59
 
 6o SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Dago cook up hill and down dale for leaving it lyin' 
 about. She was bad for five days, and the old man 
 had her in his own bunk all the time, a-nursin' an' 
 dosin' her. It would make you laugh, sir, to see 
 that goose followin' him about the decks. When 
 we are at sea with the after-awnin' spread, and it is 
 hot weather, the old man sits there in a deck chair, 
 and Maudie sits beside him half-asleep. Once, 
 when we was off Yasawa during heavy weather, a 
 bit of a sea come aboard, and Maudie went over 
 the side. Lord ! you should ha' seen the skipper. 
 He's a little, fat chap, with bandy legs, but he just 
 flew up on the bridge, yellin' to the mate to clear 
 the boat, and nearly breakin' the engine-room 
 telegraph, swearin' at us and threatenin' to murder 
 us if we weren't slippy. It was no joke, sir, I can 
 tell you, for we was in ballast, and rollin' like an 
 empty cask, and the boat was nearly stove in before 
 we could unhook the falls, and all the time the old 
 man was yellin' and cussin' at us like a madman, 
 callin' us all the things he could lay his tongue to, 
 only stoppin' to look at the goose, which he could 
 see every now and then ridin' a-top of a sea. Lord ! 
 sir, he cursed enough to start the rivets in the 
 steamer's plates. At last we got away, some of us 
 laughin' and some swearin', and in about twenty 
 minutes we picked her up — not hurt a bit — and
 
 'MAUDIE' 6 1 
 
 was pullin' back to the ship. First of all we passed 
 her up to the old man, who carried her into his 
 own cabin and put her in his bunk to dry and get 
 her nerves back ; then he came up to us smilin' as 
 the boat was being hoisted up. 
 
 " ' Mr. Hogan,' he says to the second mate, 
 * that's about the smartest bit of work I've seen for 
 a long time, and you and the boat's crew are 
 deservin' of the greatest credit. Come into my 
 cabin, Mr. Hogan, and you, bo'sun, go and tell 
 the steward to give you a bottle o' Hollands for 
 yourself and the other three men,' And when we 
 got to Levuka he give me and the other chaps 
 thirty shillin's, and told us to go ashore and 
 spend it.' 
 
 " He must be fond of Maudie," I observed. 
 
 " Fond of her ! If it wasn't that he's so busy on 
 board he would have brought her ashore himself, 
 but he says to me, ' Bo'sun, I want you to take a 
 letter to the Consul, and you must take Maudie 
 and find lodgin's for her. I'm afeerd of her bein' 
 injoored by some of these clumsy, jabberin' long- 
 shoremen if she gets outer my cabin on to the deck, 
 with all that wreckin' tackle lyin' about !' Now, 
 sir, here is the Consul's office, and I'm much 
 obliged." 
 
 " Don't mention it. But go and deliver your
 
 62 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 letter and then come with me. There is a cafe 
 close by where they sell English beer." 
 
 When he returned we went to the Cafe Palais, 
 and over the sparkling Bass he told me something 
 further anent Maudie. 
 
 " You see, sir, I knows the true story of that 
 goose — I am the only one except the old man him- 
 self what does know it to rights. About five year 
 ago we took coals to Havannah Harbour. The 
 skipper had his wife and one child aboard — a little 
 girl about four-year old. One day the captain of 
 another steamer lyin' near us come aboard with a 
 young goose. 
 
 " ' Here, Sam,' says he to our skipper — they 
 were old shipmates — 'here's a pet goose for little 
 Rachel.' 
 
 " The child — she was a bright little thing — took 
 to the goose like anything, and the goose took to 
 her, follerin' her all over the deck and squawkin' 
 dismal when she missed her. On the way out from 
 Sydney the youngster had a big doll called 
 * Maudie,' but one day it fell from the bridge, 
 where she was nursing it, on to the iron deck, and 
 its chiny head was smashed to pieces. So when 
 she got the goose she called it * Maudie,' after the 
 doll, and really, sir, I believe that that bird actually 
 knew the child loved it, for it would let her do
 
 ' MAUDIE ' 63 
 
 most anything with it — carry it about, nurse it, put 
 dolly's hats on its head, and all sorts of things ; 
 and many's the time we used to laugh till we near 
 cried to see the child and the goose walkin' all 
 round the decks — ' goin' visitin',' she called it. 
 And the old man and his missus used to laugh too. 
 They was awful fond of little Rachel, because, 
 although they had been married for thirteen years, 
 she was the only child as was born alive. 
 
 " Our next trip was to Matupi, in New Britain. 
 We was a long time there discharging on account 
 o' the fever, and one night the captain's wife 
 got it, and was dead an' buried in a week 
 or so. 
 
 " We left that rotten hole of a Matupi two days 
 after, and we was hardly clear of the land when the 
 skipper comes to me with his face as white as a 
 sheet and crying like a child. 
 
 '* * My child — my little Rachel ! ' he says in a 
 whisper ; ' she's got it.' 
 
 " Did you ever see anyone die o' fever, sir ? It's 
 awful ; but, thank God, that poor little thing 
 didn't suffer long. 
 
 " Me and the carpenter sawed up a big piece of 
 cedar wood, and made and polished a regular coffin. 
 We worked at it all night, and the ship was as 
 quiet as the grave — no one hardly speakin', and
 
 64 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 only the thumps thumps of the enghies jarrin' on 
 your ears. 
 
 " At sunrise it was a dead calm, and all hands 
 mustered amidships, and the engines stopped, and 
 the old man — who couldn't do it himself, he was 
 too shaky— got the mate to read the service, and 
 the little coffin, weighted with fire-bars, was sHd 
 over the side. 
 
 " And then — as true as I am a livin' man, sir — 
 that there goose what you saw just now, whether 
 she did it o' purpose or not, I don't know, gives a 
 croak, opens her wings, and splashes down into 
 the water and swims round and round, puttin' her 
 bill into the bubbles that was comin' up — like as if 
 she was a-tryin' to find out where the little maid 
 had gone. 
 
 " The next thing was the old man jumps over- 
 board, too, and throws up his hands — like that," 
 and the seaman held up his arms ; " he meant to 
 drown hisself. But the second mate was after him 
 like a shot, and we got him aboard again — with the 
 goose as well. 
 
 " He was very ill for a long time, and had a 
 sorter delirium relapse like ; but when he come 
 round to his senses again he says to me quiet like, 
 ' Rogers,' says he, ' where is that goose ?' 
 
 " ' In the galley, sir,' says I.
 
 'MAUDIE' 65 
 
 " ' Bring her here to me,' he says softly. 
 
 " I brought her to him, and he took her up and 
 put her face against his cheek, his hands shakin,' 
 and stroked her back. ' Poor Maudie,' says he, 
 ' there's only you and me left now, but we'll be 
 shipmates for a long time.' "
 
 BY ORDER OF THE KING 
 
 When the late King Malietoa of Samoa was 
 experiencing his first trouble with Germany, and 
 the agents of that power were stirring his subjects 
 to rebellion, he was extremely anxious to thoroughly 
 arm his forces and cope with the rebels, who, it 
 was well known, were being secretly supplied with 
 arms and ammunition by the Hamburg house of 
 Godeffroy and Sohn, whose headquarters were in 
 Apia. This was in direct violation of the agree- 
 ment entered into by the consular representatives 
 of England, Germany, the United States and 
 France, that no subjects of those nationalities 
 residing in Samoa should sell arms or ammu- 
 nition to Malietoa and his followers, nor to the 
 rebel party. 
 
 The latter were daily increasing in strength, and 
 
 boasted that before long they would capture and 
 
 loot Apia, and kill all Europeans who favoured 
 
 Malietoa. Matters were in a very critical state 
 
 when there one day sailed into Apia harbour a 
 
 66
 
 BY ORDER OF THE KING 67 
 
 barquentine of 500 tons, named the Venus^ and 
 in less than an hour the news spread like wildfire 
 that she had on board some hundreds of Snider 
 rifles and several cases of Winchesters, together 
 with an ample supply of ammunition, and ere long 
 the vessel was surrounded by canoes literally packed 
 together, and her decks filled with many hundreds 
 of excited natives, all eager to buy fana tatala 
 manava (breechloading rifles). But the Consuls 
 had been before them, and had warned the master 
 and supercargo of the Venus that if a single rifle 
 was sold they would seize the vessel and detain her 
 — she being a British ship — until the arrival of an 
 English ship of war. 
 
 The supercargo, who was a nice, pleasant-spoken 
 young man, frankly admitted that it was a great 
 and unexpected disappointment to him not to be 
 able to dispose of the arms, as he would now have 
 to carry them about over the Pacific for another 
 three or four months, as the ship was bound on 
 a long trading voyage throughout the Gilbert, 
 Marshall and Caroline Groups, and then finally 
 take them back to Sydney. 
 
 " And then I shall get into hot water with the 
 owners," he said ruefully, " as I don't suppose I 
 shall be able to sell more than a hundred or so of 
 the guns in the Gilberts and Marshalls." Then
 
 68 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 he asked the Consuls if they would be so good as 
 to clear the ship of the natives. " If you won't 
 let me sell my guns, gentlemen, you can at least 
 save me the annoyance of having the vessel's deck 
 filled with natives. Besides that, it is Sunday and 
 I'm going ashore to church." 
 
 The Consuls stared, for the young gentleman 
 had formerly resided for some years in Samoa, and 
 had by no means achieved distinction for his re- 
 ligious tendencies, which were regarded — no doubt 
 mistakenly — as being absolutely nil. 
 
 " I think," said the German consul, who was a 
 very wily and astute personage, " that the best 
 thing would be for a guard of the Municipal 
 police to remain on board until you sail." 
 
 " Just the very thing, Herr Weber," said Mr. 
 Supercargo effusively, and orders were sent on 
 shore for the police boat to come off, and the 
 German consul felt satisfied — Malietoa would get 
 no arms from the Venus at any rate. (I must 
 mention that the English and American resident 
 merchants were strongly in favour of King Malietoa, 
 and, had they dared, would have connived at his 
 being supplied with all the arms he wanted.) 
 
 This matter arranged, the Consuls inquired what 
 other cargo the Venus had under hatches, and 
 were all delighted to learn that the bulk of it was
 
 BY ORDER OF THE KING 69 
 
 provisions, for the town was very short of European 
 food, and the white men and their families had been 
 without such necessary articles as flour, sugar, beer 
 and whisky for two months. This was owing to 
 a large German ship named the Anna^ which was 
 loaded with stores, having been lost on the voyage 
 from Sydney to Apia. They all at once begged 
 the supercargo to quote his prices. He shook 
 his head and smiled — almost sadly. 
 
 " No, no, gentlemen. You must give me a 
 chance with my provisions if you won't with the 
 guns. I must first find out to-morrow how prices 
 are going on shore, and then we can talk business. 
 But not to-day. I've made a new rule of late not 
 to do business of any kind on Sundays." 
 
 The Consuls retired, feeling rather savage ; still 
 they could not blame the pleasant-mannered young 
 gentleman for looking after his own interests. 
 However, he was thoughtful enough to give them 
 a couple of cases of beer, a case of whisky, and 
 some delicacies from the cabin stores, to take ashore 
 with them. Then after they had gone he sat down 
 and wrote a note in Samoan to His Majesty King 
 Malietoa, making an appointment with him and 
 his chiefs at a little bush village named Tanua- 
 mamanono at eight o'clock that evening. At 
 10.30 he attended morning service in the little
 
 70 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Mission Church on Vaisigago Creek ; and an hour 
 after it was over he was strolling down to Matafele 
 — the German quarter of the town — to lunch at 
 the hotel there, when a little native girl overtook 
 him, and, as she walked past, quietly slipped a 
 note into his hand. 
 
 Late that night he returned on board the Venus. 
 The captain was awaiting him. 
 
 " Well .''" inquired the worthy mariner anxiously. 
 
 " Oh, it's all right. Malietoa has ^/^yoo in English 
 and American gold. I saw and counted it. And 
 he and his chiefs have given me their signed bond 
 to pay the balance of £s^o in twelve months 
 whether they come out on top or not." Then he 
 turned in. 
 
 ***** 
 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon he met the 
 three Consuls and several of the leading store- 
 keepers, by appointment, at the hotel, and at once 
 proceeded to business. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, I have an offer to make. 
 I'll put it in as few words as possible. You are 
 all very hard-up for provisions, and I have a 
 ship-load. I'll sell you the lot, or as much as you 
 want, at the usual 50 per cent, on Sydney invoice 
 price instead of asking you a hundred — which I'm 
 pretty well sure you would pay rather than go for
 
 BY ORDER OF THE KING 71 
 
 another month or two without European food. 
 But I'll do this on one condition only." 
 
 " What is it ?" 
 
 " That you, gentlemen," — and he looked at the 
 Consuls — " will allow me to land those confounded 
 arms and cartridges of mine and take charge of 
 them until I return from the north-west. I don't 
 want to have to cart them about the North Pacific 
 for three months or more when I want every 
 available inch of space for stowing copra, oil and 
 pearl-shell. And I don't want to waste time by 
 calling here for them on my way back ; but our 
 other vessel, the Susannah Booths will be here in 
 a few weeks, and you can have them put on board 
 her, and she can take them back to Sydney. And 
 I'll pay $100 to the municipal funds for storage, 
 but not a cent, more." 
 
 There was a brief consultation. Everyone, even 
 Herr Weber, was in favour of the suggestion, 
 and so an hour later the cases of Winchesters and 
 Sniders, and the ammunition therefor, were sent 
 on shore, and, after each case had been duly 
 sealed with the British and American Consulate 
 seals, placed in the building which was used as a 
 barracks for the incorruptible police, and also as 
 a jail. 
 
 Then the good church-going supercargo fulfilled
 
 72 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 his promise concerning the sale of the rest of his 
 cargo, and the Venus left Apia three days later, 
 nearly an empty ship. In the supercargo's cabin 
 were many bags of dollars and gold, but there 
 were none that he handled with such a pleased 
 smile as those which contained £joo^ which had 
 been brought on board at night, after the arms 
 had been taken on shore, and the police guard 
 
 had left the ship. 
 
 # * * * * 
 
 At daylight on the morning following the day 
 on which the Vemis sailed, it was discovered that 
 some time in the dead of night a number of 
 natives had burglarised the jail, and carried off 
 not only every single case of arms and cartridges, 
 but apparently the armed police guard as well, 
 for not one of them could be found. 
 
 But in King Malietoa's lines there was great 
 rejoicing towards dawn, as a hundred of his 
 stalwart warriors, with many women, appeared, 
 carrying the heavy cases, which were quickly 
 broken open, and their longed-for contents taken 
 out and distributed under His Majesty's personal 
 supervision.
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 
 
 In March, 1874, the brig Leonora^ of which 
 vessel the writer was supercargo, was wrecked on 
 Kusaie (Strong's Island), the eastern outlier of the 
 great Caroline Archipelago in the North Pacific. 
 The master and owner of the Leonora was the 
 notorious Captain " Bully " Hayes, with whom, 
 a few months after the brig was cast away, I had 
 a serious quarrel, which resulted in our parting 
 company. The " difference," I may mention, 
 arose out of Hayes's treatment of the natives ; 
 he and some of his numerous and ruffianly crew 
 acting so cruelly to them — I and a few others of 
 the ship's company (Samoan seamen) protesting. 
 
 During these four months I had made many 
 friends among the scanty population — less than 
 500 — of this beautiful and fertile island, and so 
 when Hayes and I parted in hot a'lger, I eagerly 
 accepted the invitation of a native named Kusis to 
 come and reside at his village, which was ten 
 miles distant. It was called Leasse, and was 
 
 73
 
 74 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 situated on the shores of a lovely little bay, one 
 of the many nooks of Coquille harbour. The 
 village, of which my friend Kusis was the head 
 man, consisted of less than a score of houses, 
 inhabited by some of the kindliest and most 
 amiable people I have ever known in the South 
 Seas, and here I spent some of the happiest 
 months of my existence, undisturbed by the 
 licence and bloodshed which was distracting that 
 portion of the island in which Hayes and the 
 majority of his ship's company had settled. 
 
 The household of my host consisted of himself, 
 his wife Tulpe, and their daughter Kinie — a charm- 
 ing, vivacious, and very handsome child of eleven 
 years of age, who was the mimic and life of the 
 village. She and I soon became fast comrades, 
 and in all my shooting and fishing excursions she 
 invariably accompanied me. Sometimes — especially 
 when I was bent on shooting wild pig in the 
 mountain forest — we would be joined by a sturdy 
 boy of fourteen, named Nan, and nothing gave 
 the two greater pleasure than for me to let them 
 have a shot at a pig with my much -prized 
 Winchester carbine — one of my few belongings 
 saved from the wreck. 
 
 The villagers had built and presented me with 
 a fishing canoe — a valuable piece of property on
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 75 
 
 Strong's Island — and in this canoe my host Kusis, 
 Kinie, Nan and I, would sometimes voyage right 
 round the island ; calling at each village (except 
 that in which Captain Hayes was located), spending 
 a night at each place, and returning to my beloved 
 Leasse after a three to five days' absence. Every- 
 where I was treated with the most unbounded 
 hospitality ; no one could do enough for me, 
 and the presents of food we received during our 
 trip would have laden a small cutter to her 
 waterways. 
 
 One evening in September, six months after the 
 loss of the Leonora^ the boy Nan, Kinie and I set 
 out for an all-night fishing excursion to a favourite 
 spot outside the barrier reef, and about three miles 
 from Cap Vauvillier, the western cape of the 
 island. Here at a depth of from 80 to 120 
 fathoms we used to catch on moonless nights 
 a huge nocturnal-feeding fish called " palu 
 (Ruvettus), much prized by the natives on account 
 of the valuable oil it yielded, apart from the rich- 
 ness of its flesh. We took with us a basketful 
 of cooked food, a piece of baked pork, a fowl, 
 one pineapple, ten young drinking coconuts, and 
 about half-a-dozen large sweet potatoes. 
 
 Just as we were about to start, Kusis and 
 Tulpe, who had been at work on their banana
 
 76 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 plantation for the day, came home, and called out 
 to us to be careful to keep well in under the lee of 
 Cap Vauvillier, as from the mountains they had 
 seen indications of heavy rain squalls coming from 
 the east or windward side of the island, and that 
 " it was an easy thing to be blown off the land." 
 
 Pushing off from the beach we paddled along 
 the shore for a couple of miles, under the light of 
 myriad stars, and over water as smooth as the 
 surface of a mirror ; then, bearing to the starboard 
 hand, we entered a narrow passage through the 
 reef, and gained the open sea ; and an hour later 
 were on the fishing ground and let go our stone 
 killick in sixty fathoms of water. 
 
 For an hour we fished without success, catching 
 only a few small fish of the groper species ; then 
 Nan hooked a fine " palu " of over 60 lbs., which, 
 after some trouble, we safely landed and placed in 
 the canoe amidships. 
 
 I had just refilled my pipe, and the boy and girl 
 had lit their cigarettes of black tobacco rolled in 
 dried banana leaf, when the sky rapidly became 
 overcast, and we saw the white wall of a heavy 
 rain squall coming down from the lofty heights of 
 Mont Crozer nearly three thousand feet above. 
 In ten minutes it was upon us with a rush and a 
 roar, for there was wind as well as rain with it.
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 77 
 
 It lasted barely a quarter of an hour, during which 
 time Kinie was constantly employed in bailing 
 the canoe, for, in addition to the terrific downpour 
 of rain, we were shipping water over the sides of 
 our little craft, which was straining and pitching at 
 the thin cable of coir rope, and Nan and I had 
 great trouble in keeping her head on to the sea, 
 which had risen with the usual rapidity of the 
 tropics. 
 
 Just as the last of the fierce, stinging, rain had 
 swept away with a dull hum to leeward, and the 
 stars had come to life again, another gust of wind 
 struck us with such violence that the killick line 
 parted, and in an instant we broached-to, the 
 outrigger rose clean out of the water, went up in 
 the air, and over went the canoe, bottom up. 
 
 We all three came to the surface and held on 
 to the canoe, which we soon righted and freed 
 of water by jerking her backwards and forwards 
 until she was half emptied ; then Kinie, who was 
 lightest and who had stuck to the wooden scoop 
 (bailer), clambered in and shot out the rest of 
 the water, whilst Nan and I at bow and stern kept 
 the light craft head on to the seas. Watching our 
 chance for a lull in the now lumpy waves we 
 succeeded in getting on board again — only just in 
 time, as a second rain squall come upon us.
 
 78 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " We must run before it," shouted Nan to me 
 through the roar of the rain and the howling of the 
 wind, " we cannot face wind and sea like this." 
 
 Very carefully with our two paddles the boy and 
 I (Kinie had lost her paddle) " wore " the canoe. 
 He sat on the for'ard thwart, which was the canoe 
 end of the for'ard outrigger pole, and I astern, 
 whilst Kinie, still bailing, was on her knees amid- 
 ships. 
 
 Up to this time none of us had felt any alarm, 
 for we knew that, although we might have to 
 run before the successive squalls, they would not 
 last more than an hour or two, and that it would 
 only mean an eight or ten miles' wearisome 
 paddling back to land. We little dreamt of what 
 lay before us. 
 
 This second rain and wind squall lasted quite 
 half-an-hour, during which time we were travelling 
 quite three knots an hour, the outrigger every 
 now and then lifting out of the sea in an alarming 
 manner, or else burying itself a couple of feet 
 under the surface — equally as dangerous. Then 
 once more (although the wind still kept its force) 
 the stars came out, and shone down upon us from 
 a vault of cloudless blue, and we were able to 
 observe our condition. 
 
 Almost everything had been lost in the way
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 79 
 
 of food except the bunch of ten young coconuts 
 and the sweet potatoes, which were in a cane 
 basket. This had luckily been tied on to the 
 grating of the outrigger, and so had escaped, 
 together with a small wooden box of mine con- 
 taining my extra fishing tackle, a spare (clay) pipe 
 and three sticks of twist tobacco. 
 
 " Nan," I said, " the wind does not abate, and 
 we are now seven miles or more from the land." 
 
 The boy turned to me, and I saw that he looked 
 troubled. 
 
 " Rui, I fear for us. I fear greatly that because 
 of the steadiness of the wind and the bright sky 
 that it is the strong easterly matagi (gales) which 
 have come upon us, and which last sometimes for 
 thirty days. Feel," and he put up his open hand, 
 " it is cool and dry." 
 
 " No," I said, " it is too soon yet — not for 
 another ten days." 
 
 He shook his head. " Sometimes the easterly 
 matazi come before their usual time. And look 
 at the sky." 
 
 I confess I felt a sinking at heart, for, even 
 as the boy spoke, I remembered that Hayes had 
 once told me about the erratic weather in the 
 Carolines during the latter months of the year. 
 
 " Rui," said Kinie, " Nan is right. I knew it
 
 8o SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 when we saw the clear sky so soon. We cannot 
 get back to Kusaie. But Pingelap and Mokil and 
 Ponape lie before us — and God is overhead." 
 
 Pingelap, a group of three small low islands 
 enclosed in a barrier reef, was 200 miles distant ; 
 beyond was Mokil, another 100, and another 200 
 further west the high land of Ponape, the principal 
 of the Caroline Group — any one of them a long 
 cry from Strong's Island in a small fishing canoe 
 manned by three people, and with a day's food 
 between them ! 
 
 " Nan," I said, " cannot we turn and try to get 
 back under the lee of the land .■*" 
 
 " We can try," he replied. 
 
 We did try, and in less than an hour had to 
 give up from exhaustion, and again wear the canoe 
 round to save us from capsizing or being swamped, 
 for the wind had now settled down into a steady 
 half-gale, and the short, choppy seas raised by the 
 first squalls had given place to a long, mountainous 
 swell, capped by "white horses." Every now 
 and then as we sank into the trough we lost sight 
 of the high land astern, and then as we mounted 
 again upon a heaving crest the silence and darkness 
 of those gloomy watery valleys was followed by 
 the whistling of the wind and the showers of 
 spume which smote upon our backs.
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 8i 
 
 We each drank a coconut, and ate the thin 
 lining of the nut, letting the canoe run meanwhile 
 steadily to the W. and N., dead before the wind. 
 She steered beautifully over the long rollers, and 
 now took in but very little water, for the sea 
 was fast " setting " into a steady sweep, i.e. be- 
 coming more regular. But as I glanced astern and 
 saw the lofty mountains of Kusaie becoming more 
 and more indistinct, my courage failed me. 
 
 " Nan," I said, " let us tie one paddle to the 
 cane basket, and make a sea-anchor, so that we can 
 lie-to to the wind and sea until daylight." 
 
 He shook his head. " That will not do, Rui ; 
 the sea drives too fast, and we should swamp. 
 And we cannot do aught else but go on before the 
 wind till we come to Pingelap, for never can we get 
 back to Kusaie in face of an easterly matagiT 
 
 And then, to cheer me, both the boy and girl 
 — whose dauntless courage shamed me — told me of 
 fishing parties who had been blown ofF the island, 
 and reached either Pingelap, Mokil, and even 
 Ponape in safety, though they had suffered fear- 
 fully from hunger and thirst. 
 
 All that night we ran before the gale. Kinie at 
 
 dawn, and when the mountain-tops of her island 
 
 home were just visible above the sea-rim, lay down 
 
 for'ard and slept for a couple of hours, and I 
 
 6
 
 82 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 followed suit in the body of the canoe amidships, 
 leaving Nan to steer. When I awoke it must have 
 been nine o'clock, and Kinie was steering, Nan 
 having gone for'ard for his sleep. 
 
 Towards noon we each ate a sweet potato, and 
 shared one of the remaining seven drinkino; coco- 
 nuts between us, and although there was nothing, 
 not even a sea bird in sight, I felt my spirits rise, 
 when Nan asked me if I would not be glad of a 
 smoke. I had lost my wooden pipe when we 
 capsized, but I still had the stumpy old clay left in 
 my fishing-tackle box, though my matches had 
 gone, as I thought. Then, as I saw the gleam in 
 the boy's dark eyes, I remembered that on the 
 preceding night I had given him my box of 
 Swedish matches, which were in a tin that had 
 once held curry powder, and was watertight. He 
 had stuck the tin for security under one of the cinnet 
 lashings of the outrigger, and had just found it 
 with all the contents quite dry. Oh, the delight of 
 that smoke of soddened, negro-head tobacco ! 
 
 All that day we kept on a steady W. by N. 
 course, making nearly three knots an hour, some- 
 times paddling, sometimes resting, and at dusk, 
 whilst the boy and girl were saying their evening 
 prayer, and I was steering, there came a flight of 
 flying-fish right across the canoe, and the unlucky
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 83 
 
 number of thirteen fell into the canoe. We ate 
 one each, raw, and then cut open the others and 
 spread them on the outrigger grating to dry. 
 
 About midnight the wind moderated somewhat, 
 and I felt so tired out that I again suggested the 
 sea-anchor to Nan. He protested most ener- 
 getically, and pointed to certain stars under which 
 lay Mokil and Ponape. I laid myself down in 
 the bottom of the canoe amidships, and was soon 
 fast asleep, whilst this brave boy and girl, tired out 
 as they were, remained and kept our tiny craft on 
 her course. 
 
 Some time after dawn, and whilst I was still in a 
 sound slumber, I was awakened by Nan crying out 
 that a ship was in sight. Confused and stupid 
 from my sudden awakening, I rose, missed my 
 balance and fell over on the outrigger platform, 
 and in another three seconds the canoe had upset, 
 and we again had the task of freeing her of water, 
 and getting on board again. Fortunately every 
 article had been secured, so we lost nothing. The 
 ship, I saw, was hull down and steering south, so 
 there was no hope of our being seen. In a few 
 hours she was out of sight, and we were again alone 
 upon the ocean. 
 
 All that day the wind blew with steady force, 
 the sky was a cloudless blue, and the sun so fiercely
 
 84 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 hot that whenever the sea water touched our skuis 
 a white rime of salt formed upon it in a few 
 minutes, and poor little Kinie's skin from her head 
 to her waist began to turn from a light brown to 
 an angry red. I, despite her remonstrances, cut 
 out the front of my shirt from the collar down, 
 and made a sort of poncho, which I slipped over her 
 head. 
 
 The night passed without incident. Overhead, 
 the same still, wonderful dome of unflecked blue, 
 lit up by its shining stars ; below and with us the 
 long, long lines of sweeping mountain seas, flecked 
 with white and shining bright on their crests, 
 black, dismal and terrifying in the deep valleys 
 of the trough. 
 
 During the day Nan and I had contrived to 
 make a small sail from the major portion of my 
 dungaree pants, and his own waist cloth. We set 
 it upon sheer-legs of cane taken from the outrigger 
 platform, and lashed and stayed it securely to the 
 for'ard outrigger pole, with two back-stays of 
 stout fishing-line made fast to the sides of the 
 'midship seat. Small as it was, it helped us 
 splendidly, and we leapt and spun along over the 
 seas, making at least four knots, though there 
 was an easterly current of two knots against us. 
 
 During that day, although we were suffering
 
 ADRIFT IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 85 
 
 severely from thirst, we drank but two coconuts 
 between us, for Nan and I feared that we might 
 pass to leeward of Pingelap, or perhaps even not 
 sight it, and be compelled to run on for Mokil 
 Island — -another hundred miles. 
 
 Soon after daylight, whilst Nan and Kinie were 
 taking their " watch below " and I was steering, I 
 saw three mound-like hummocks abreast of us, just 
 showing above the sea-rim, and about fifteen or 
 twenty miles distant. They were the three 
 islands of Pingelap — and we were hopelessly to 
 leeward ! 
 
 Rousing up the boy and girl I pointed silently 
 to the gray loom of the island. That my face wore 
 a despairing look I have no doubt. 
 
 " It does not matter, Rui," said the girl — " Not 
 for us is Pingelap." 
 
 For an hour or two we scarcely spoke a word in 
 our bitter disappointment. Suddenly Nan, who 
 was for'ard, stood up and gazed at something 
 ahead, then he gave a shout. 
 
 *' Another ship, another ship ! " he cried. 
 
 It was indeed another ship — a brig beating to 
 windward, and not more than five miles distant. 
 The blinding glare of the sun had prevented us 
 from seeing her sooner than we did. In a few 
 minutes, to our joy, we saw her go about, and then
 
 86 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 felt certain that she was beating up to Pingelap, 
 and could not fail to see us. 
 
 Half-an-hour later we were seen, and the brig 
 backed her main yard, and we were taken on board 
 and most kindly treated. The vessel was a whaler, 
 the Kamehameha IV. of Honolulu, Captain Fred 
 Wicks, and was beating up to Pingelap for wood 
 and water. 
 
 ***** 
 
 A fortnight later we were landed — canoe as well 
 — at Port Lele on Strong's Island, and the same 
 day went home to Leasse, when the village went 
 mad with joy, for no one doubted but that we had 
 perished. 
 
 Five months after I left the island in H.M.S. 
 RosariOy bound to Sydney, N.S.W.
 
 THE DEADLY " OAP " 
 
 In all the mountainous islands of the Caroline 
 Archipelago there grows on the littoral a slender 
 and straight-limbed plant which is of the highest 
 value to the natives. It is called " oap," and on 
 Kusaie (Strong's Island) it is especially abundant. 
 Yet although by its use the people can capture 
 immense quantities of fish with the greatest ease in 
 half-an-hour, the pious American missionaries who 
 " labour " among the Micronesians have made 
 many efforts to have the plant eradicated on 
 account of its being employed for Malthusian 
 purposes. But Nature was too strong and boun- 
 tiful to be overridden by the silly, well-meaning 
 gentlemen from Boston ; and, despite all the 
 uprootings and burnings, the " oap " continued to 
 flourish in open defiance of the pious men who 
 wished to suppress it. 
 
 During the " seventies," when I was shipwrecked 
 
 on Strong's Island, I had many opportunities of 
 
 witnessing the method of capturing fish by means 
 
 87
 
 88 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 of the " oap," and was also inducted Into the 
 manner of preparing it by my native " father " — 
 genial-hearted stalwart Kusis. After the loss of 
 the vessel I took up my quarters in Leasse village, 
 of which Kusis was head man. He was a great 
 fisherman, and therefore a man after my own heart, 
 and many, many happy days we spent together 
 either in deep-sea fishing, miles from the land in 
 over a hundred fathoms of water, or inside the 
 curiously-shaped lagoon which runs along the coast 
 from Port Lottin to Cap Vauvillier. Ostensibly a 
 " brand plucked from the burning " by the Boston 
 missionaries, and never smoking on Sundays 
 (except in ca?nera\ he was really a very decent 
 whole-souled heathen, who longed for the old 
 times of his boyhood, with the merry nocturnal 
 dances, and other concomitant allurements thereof 
 "when the heart is young." 
 
 " I had three wives when I was a young man 
 and a heathen," he said meditatively one day, '*and 
 they worked hard on my land and kept my house 
 full of food. Now I have but one, and all the 
 money I make by selling my yams and pigs to the 
 whaleships I have to give to Likiak Sa (the native 
 pastor), I am indeed a poor wretch." Then he 
 flamed into sudden anger — " American mission- 
 aries are no good ! They are not like the English
 
 THE DEADLY 'OAP' 89 
 
 missionaries in Tahiti and Samoa. I have lived 
 there, and know. There, if you do not go to 
 church, you are not fined. Here in Kusaie, if you 
 do not go to church through sickness you must 
 pay $2 to Likiak Sa. And the white missionaries 
 who come here every year from Boston in the 
 Morning Star are worse. ' Money, money, money, 
 give us money ! ' they cry ; ' give us money to help 
 to make other people Christians as we have made 
 you Christians.' They have eaten at our guts and 
 so now we are gutless " (poverty-stricken). 
 
 Poor Kusis ! I could only console him by say- 
 ing that in Tonga the natives were just as badly off 
 under missionary rule. Smoking on Sunday was 
 punished by a fine of $5, and if a child of 
 tender years laughed loudly in public on the 
 Sabbath day, the parents had to pay a fine of $3, 
 or do three days' work on the public roads. 
 
 Still Kusis, though the glory of the old times 
 had vanished, enjoyed life. He hunted the wild 
 mountain pigs, caught turtle, and was the moving 
 spirit in all " oap " fishing parties — about which I 
 began to write until I was led into religious 
 matters, 
 
 A calm, windless day with a very low tide is a 
 sine qua non. Discarding their European clothing 
 (that is if neither the white missionary nor native
 
 90 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 teacher is anywhere in the vicinity of the village) 
 the men, women and children don waist girdles of 
 dracaena leaves or long grass. Then the " cap " 
 — cut the previous day, and tied up in bundles 
 like withes — is placed upon flat stones and pounded 
 with wooden or stone mallets A thick, viscid and 
 milky-white juice exudes from the bruised plants, 
 which are then rolled up into balls about the size 
 of a large orange, and tied up in green banana 
 leaves, softened by being held over a fire — making 
 an almost perfect substitute for oiled silk or mack- 
 intosh. Then the preparations are complete, and 
 off we start to the barrier reef, a mile distant, the 
 women and girls carrying the bundles of " oap " in 
 baskets slung over their smooth, red-brown 
 shoulders, the men and boys with their fish spears. 
 The great, wide expanse of reef is bare, and only 
 a gentle, heaving swell of the ocean is laving its 
 "steep-to" seaward face. All over the reef are deep 
 pools, some with bottoms of pure white, shining 
 sand, some with brilliant many-hued forests of 
 coral, and strangely-shaped seaweed and sponge, 
 and all literally teeming with fish of such shape and 
 colours that would delight the heart of Mr. Savile 
 Kent. In one pool, for instance, there would be 
 perhaps a school of silvery mullet swimming on the 
 surface ; below them, and moving to and fro
 
 THE DEADLY 'OAP' 91 
 
 among the gorgeous coral forest, scores of scarlet- 
 scaled, yellow-finned rock-cod, ranging from 5 lbs. 
 to 30 lbs., with countless hundreds of wrasse, 
 parrot, and other rock fish. Colour ! All the 
 colours in Nature ! Green, barred with gold ; 
 gold, barred with jet black ; bright blue with 
 crimson spots ; green with vertical stripes of 
 orange and some a pale, iridiscent pink. In the 
 shallower ponds swarms of silvery bream with 
 broad wavy fins and tails herded together in 
 masses, feeding upon a short, fleshy marine weed 
 growing upon the bottom ; here and there, in the 
 very deep pools would be a hawk-bill turtle or two, 
 and huge fierce-eyed green eels protruded their 
 narrow, vicious heads from out the cricks and 
 crannies of the coral walls — well knowing that the 
 shadows of the humans above them meant a ereat 
 repast after the " oap " had done its work. 
 
 Kusis apportions a certain number of his people 
 to each pool. The women hand the bundles of 
 " oap " to the men, and stand by. Then, at a 
 signal from Kusis, each man, holding a bundle of 
 '* oap " in his hand, slips quietly over the ledge of 
 his particular pool, dives to the bottom, and tears 
 open the leaf covering. Almost before the men 
 rise to the surface again, the crystal-clear water is 
 discoloured to the resemblance of well-watered
 
 92 
 
 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 London milk, and then in two or three minutes 
 fish appear, most of them swimming feebly upon 
 their sides, or else, coming to the surface in their 
 natural position, blindly running head-on against 
 the sides of the coral walls, where they are either 
 gaffed or speared. The largest — a kind of huge 
 red-scaled fish much like a sea-perch, and weighing 
 up to 30 lbs. or 40 lbs. — were not so much 
 affected by the " oap " as their smaller brethren, 
 and although they swam to and fro in a semi- 
 dazed condition they evaded the gaff and had to 
 be speared. Hundreds of large and many-hued 
 "leather-jackets," however, came to the surface 
 inert and apparently dead, but on being thrown 
 into a pool free of " oap " soon recovered. With 
 them were thousands of very small fry of all sorts 
 of shapes and colours — these floated about dead ; 
 the great eels, upon which the Strong's Islanders 
 look with horror, were the least susceptible of all 
 to the influence of the plant, and appeared last of 
 all, swimming with their heads erected a few inches 
 out of the water, and making for the edges of the 
 pools. 
 
 Li one long, narrow and deep fissure of the reef, 
 which was open to the sea, several hawkbill turtle 
 were seen ; quickly a net was placed in front of 
 the opening. Three natives dived and soon turned
 
 THE DEADLY *OAP' 93 
 
 the water into a dull milky white, then two others 
 followed with more " oap," and in ten minutes 
 four good-sized hawkbills came gasping to the 
 surface. They were quickly seized. 
 
 It is a curious fact that " oap " has no efFect 
 upon the natives when they are using it in fishing. 
 Administered internally, however, its effects, even 
 in a minute dose, are drastic and serious.
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR 
 
 During a six months' residence on Niue (gener- 
 ally known as Savage Island), 400 miles east of 
 Samoa, I had much spare time to give up to deep-sea 
 fishing. Niue, unlike most of the Pacific Islands, 
 has no barrier reef — the shore rising " steep-to " 
 from the sea — and consequently the water is 
 very deep, even within fifty fathoms of the jagged 
 cliffs of " upheaved " coral. Big fish, however, are 
 scarce, and the natives, although they make splendid 
 sailormen, are about the poorest fishermen in the 
 Pacific, owing to the extraordinary fertility of the 
 island, which yields them such an ample supply of 
 food that they only resort to fishing as a pastime, 
 and not, like the people of the low-lying sandy 
 atolls elsewhere where vegetable food is scarce, as a 
 daily labour of necessity. Much of their fishing is 
 done with rods, from the short, flat reef which 
 skirts the base of the cliffs, and the fish are of poor 
 quality and usually small. 
 
 There was, however, one — and one only — good 
 94
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR 95 
 
 fishing ground, abreast of a village called Fatiau, 
 where in fine weather we used to catch great num- 
 bers of a brilliantly scarlet-scaled rock-cod called 
 pura^ much valued by the natives for the delicacy of 
 its flavour. They are a pretty *' deep-down " fish, 
 seldom being caught at a less depth than of forty to 
 fifty fathoms, and rarely exceeding 4 lbs. in weight. 
 
 One day a native named Soseni, to whom I had 
 lent my deep-sea tackle, caught one weighing i o lbs. 
 He brought it ashore to the village of Avatele, 
 where I was living, and exhibited it triumphantly ; 
 whereupon an old Samoan named Lupo, who had 
 lived for many years in the Gilbert and Marshall 
 Groups, calmly observed that it was not much of a 
 pura — he had seen a -pura which two strong men 
 could not lift. 
 
 Although he was a deacon, he was promptly told 
 that he was a " lying Samoan," for the natives of 
 Savage Island are, although such eminent 
 Christians, about the rudest and most uncouth race 
 in the Pacific. 
 
 I stood to old Lupo. 
 
 " Have I not often told you," I said, " that on 
 le au unit Okesalia (Great Barrier Reef of Australia), 
 the beche-de-mer fishermen have often caught 
 black and white rock-cod which weigh 400 lbs." 
 
 " tagata katoa kai ele kia ika^'' was the
 
 96 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 unanimous and crushing response — which freely 
 translated is this, " Men always lie about the big 
 fish they have caught, but which are never seen." 
 
 " But I have shown you pictures of two," I said 
 indignantly. 
 
 " True ; but we did not see the fishes themselves. 
 What are pictures ! Anyone can fai (make) a 
 picture," was the reply, and then the wit of the 
 village, a fat, sleepy-eyed woman, with a piping 
 voice, and whose name was Maheke, put her chin 
 up in the air, closed her eyes and said, as she 
 clasped her hands mincingly — 
 
 *' My grandfather, who died before I was born, 
 told me — just before I married my first husband — 
 that he one day caught a flying fish, which was so 
 long that he could not put it into his canoe. Whilst 
 he was towing it on shore, many sharks came and 
 bit such great pieces out of it, that he was ashamed 
 to take it on shore to his family. There were 
 fifty-three sharks, forty of them with young. My 
 grandfather counted them all, and killed three, 
 each of which disgorged forty young sharks much 
 longer than the mother. And, although he was 
 born blind, and had never been in a canoe but once 
 — when my great-grandmother and great-grand- 
 father took him out to sea and drowned him 
 because of his blindness, he became a wonderful
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR 97 
 
 fisherman, like Soseni and the white man here. 
 And we knew that his story of the great flying-fish 
 was true, for although we did not see any part of 
 either the monstrous fish or of the three sharks 
 which he had killed, he let us smell his hands. 
 They smelled of shark ; and, although this was 
 long before I was born, I remember that it made 
 me sick and faint, and that a large piece of tobacco 
 only would do me good." 
 
 She paused, and then, dropping her hands to her 
 sides, said in the most inimitable manner, with her 
 fat face still turned upward, " There was always a 
 bit of shark's liver hung up in my grandfather's 
 house ; and when he came home after catching the 
 great flying fish, he, being blind, ran against it. 
 And he was no kai ele ika " (fish liar). 
 
 Now the humour of her concluding and ap- 
 parently nonsensical remarks lay in the fact that 
 sharks were rarely ever seen — let alone caught — at 
 Savage Island, and the general Polynesian practice 
 of hanging up the Hver of a shark to obtain the oil 
 was regarded by the Niueans with disgust and 
 contempt, as a sign of poverty. 
 
 When I was living at Matautu, a large town on 
 
 the island of Savai'i, in Samoa, I enjoyed another 
 
 sample of Polynesian humour. The wit, and also 
 
 the gay Lothario, of Matautu was a stalwart young 
 
 7
 
 98 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 native who rejoiced in the name of Pulumatau-tane- 
 ese-Lava ("The Superlatively Handsome Bull"). 
 Being the town buffoon, he was a privileged person, 
 and in his speech and actions took the greatest 
 liberties with even the highest chiefs, who never 
 resented it. Had they sought to punish, or even 
 restrain, him for his gibes and practical jokes, they 
 would only have incurred further ridicule, and sub- 
 jected themselves to much outspoken comment as 
 thin-skinned persons unable to appreciate a joke ; 
 for the Samoans delight in the town fool, and are 
 as proud of him as they are of their taupo (Town 
 Maid). 
 
 One day there came to Matautu an English 
 yacht, on which were several titled gentlemen, one 
 of whom soon became noted for his extreme mean- 
 ness. He was a keen would-be collector of native 
 curios, but seldom acquired anything of value, for 
 he would never go beyond two shillings for an 
 article for which even a professional bric-a-brac 
 collector would have offered /^lo. His friends 
 were of the very opposite disposition, and paid the 
 natives almost too generously for such things as 
 old-time native dresses, weapons, kava-bowls, etc. 
 
 One day " Lima Vale " (the close-fisted), as his 
 lordship had been named by the natives, attended 
 service at the Mission Church, arrayed in the tall
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR 99 
 
 hat and frock coat of Piccadilly, much to the 
 amusement of his companions, who were dressed 
 in the usual white duck suits worn by intelligent 
 people in the South Seas. 
 
 At the conclusion of the service, and as we left 
 the church, we found our way impeded by 
 Pulumatau-tane-ese-Lava, who presented a striking 
 picture. He had dressed himself in a cast-off 
 uniform of a German infantry captain, much too 
 small for his herculean proportions ; on his head 
 was a battered white Christy minstrel bell-topper 
 (lent to him by one of the crew of the yacht) ; and 
 in his mouth was a long German pipe, from which 
 was issuing volumes of smoke. His get-up 
 caused an uproarious outburst of laughter, of 
 which he took no notice, as, striding gravely up 
 
 to Lord , he took him by the arm, despite his 
 
 lordship's energetic protests. 
 
 " You are my brother," he said in English, " and 
 I shall now give you my name — Pulumatau-tane- 
 ese-Lava — -and I shall take yours, which is Lima 
 Vale, and means * the stingy one ' ! " and then, 
 throwing an English penny amidst the laughing 
 natives, he added in Samoan, " Go away, good 
 people, and enjoy yourselves with my and my 
 brother's largesse. " 
 
 Then, despite the frantic struggles of his lord-
 
 loo SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 ship to free himself from his tormentor, Pulumatau 
 walked with, or rather pulled, his " brother " down 
 to the yacht's boat, into which he Hfted him as if 
 he were a child, and added insult to injury by 
 asking his lordship to exchange hats ! 
 
 ***** 
 
 One day (it was the 23rd of May) I was 
 lunching on board an English man-of-war then 
 lying in Apia Harbour, when a native came on 
 board with a letter to the commander. It was 
 written in Samoan, and I was asked to translate it. 
 
 " It is from one of the Apia district chiefs," I 
 said, and then I read the letter, which was as 
 follows : 
 
 " To the Captain of the English Man-of-War. 
 '* I, Tui-le-tau, send you my greetings 
 and love, and the love of my family, and send also 
 my love to Queen Victoria. May you and all 
 your officers and all your men remain well and 
 strong. We Samoans have much love for England. 
 Most noble sir ; to-morrow will be the day of 
 the Queen's birth, and I have learned that at the 
 hour of noon all the great cannons on your ship 
 will be fired, so that the earth will quake with the 
 noise thereof. 
 
 " Great sir ; I cast myself at your feet. I have
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR loi 
 
 much love to you, but I beseech you not to fire 
 the great guns to-morrow. Do not fire them for 
 two days more, and my heart will be big with 
 
 gratitude, because " Here I had to stop and 
 
 laugh. 
 
 " Because what ? " asked the commander with 
 an air of interest. 
 
 " Because my wife has a hen sitting on nine 
 duck eggs, and to-morrow is the day for them to 
 break their shells. Noble sir ; if the great guns 
 are fired then will they all perish and grief enter 
 my house. But in three days it will not matter 
 if they hear the guns. I beseech you to do me 
 this favour." 
 
 * * * # * 
 
 The people of Eastern Polynesia call boots te vae 
 puaka — " pigs' feet," because, never having seen an 
 animal larger than a pig until about 1 800, they could 
 not understand that white men's boots were made 
 from the skin of bullocks and cows. So the name 
 "pigs' feet" is still often given to boots or shoes. 
 
 About ten years ago one of the Marist Brothers' 
 missionaries at Manga Reva called in at a native 
 house, and found the entire family eating baked 
 pork. It was a Friday, and the good father was 
 shocked. 
 
 " You ought to be ashamed of yourselves," he
 
 I02 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 said, addressing the head of the family, " eating 
 pig's flesh on a fast day ! " 
 
 " True, father. We are eating the flesh — and 
 you have the skin on your feet." 
 
 * * * * . * 
 
 There was a thundering old cannibal chief in the 
 Solomon Islands, named Dakea, who was as 
 avaricious and as vindictive as Shylock. Near his 
 village were three small islands inhabited by a 
 fisher community, who paid him tribute in old 
 coconuts, pigs and shell money. Old Dakea bled 
 them so mercilessly that at last they bucked, 
 fortified their village, and refused to pay any more. 
 Dakea thought it was only a piece of bluff ; so he 
 sent his brother Varogi to them to tell them to 
 hurry up with their tribute, and send it by Varogi, 
 or he would come over and wipe them out. 
 
 Varogi, who was a great, hulking, fat fellow, was 
 accompanied by only a few men. The fisher folk 
 made them all prisoners. Then they took the fat 
 man into the bush, and quietly strangled him. In 
 half-an-hour they brought the body back wrapped 
 up in mats, and placed it in the canoe. Then the 
 prisoners were liberated. 
 
 " Get into your canoe and go back to Dakea," 
 said the fishermen, "and tell him that we send him 
 back his brother, and all the tribute he can carry."
 
 POLYNESIAN HUMOUR 103 
 
 When Dakea examined the defunct Varogi, he 
 found that all the viscera had been removed, and 
 the vacuum filled with husked coconuts, with shell 
 money (cowries) for dunnage. The top of the 
 skull had also been neatly sawn off, the brains 
 taken out and replaced by shell money, and the 
 head then restored to its original appearance. 
 
 Dakea left the fisher folk alone after that. He 
 recognised the tact that they had done the thing 
 delicately, and symbolically, as it were. Had they 
 eaten his brother, it would have been a gross 
 insult — but they had every right to eat his com- 
 panions, who were men of no consequence. Instead 
 of this they exercised a self-denial and courtesy 
 which reflected credit upon them. 
 
 When I first began my South Sea cruises there 
 were five small gunboats built in Sydney by order 
 of the Imperial Government to supervise the Kanaka 
 Labour traffic. They were sailing vessels, rigged 
 as fore-and-aft schooners, carried one Armstrong 
 gun, a rocket tube, and were manned by twenty-five 
 men under the command of a lieutenant and a 
 navigating midshipman. One of these useless, slow, 
 saihng craft was the Sandfly^ which was commanded 
 by Lieutenant Bowers, a brilliant and gallant young 
 officer, who was treacherously slaughtered with his
 
 I04 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 boat's crew by Solomon Island savages whilst they 
 were bathing in a river. I well remember how, 
 years after, poor Bowers's skull was recovered by a 
 white trader, who found it in a gamal house (temple) 
 and recognised it by the upper jaw being fitted 
 with some artificial teeth with a gold plate. 
 
 One day the little gunboat, on her way to Fiji, 
 called at Tongoa in the New Hebrides, and a Fijian 
 native teacher and . his wife came on board and 
 asked Bowers if he would take a small parcel to 
 Fiji. " All right," said Bowers, " bring it on board 
 quickly, as I am in a hurry." 
 
 The parcel was brought on board. It looked 
 like a bundle of arrowroot tied up in leaves in the 
 usual manner, and was addressed to a native Fijian 
 pastor on Taviuni (in Fiji). There was a letter 
 attached to it. 
 
 Three days later Bowers found it necessary to 
 open the bundle, as it was beginning to make itself 
 offensive, and discovered it to be a small uncooked 
 pig It was promptly thrown overboard. Then 
 the letter was opened, and read by the Fijian inter- 
 preter. It was something like this : " Dear Father 
 and Brother, I send you a pig to eat, and remem- 
 ber me and praise God. It will be brought to 
 you by an English man-of-war. The captain is 
 a kind young man," etc., etc.
 
 "SALOME, THE SHAMELESS" 
 
 All through the night Salome the Samoan 
 had sat crouched up under the scanty shelter of a 
 little fishing hut, open at the sides, listening to the 
 wild clamour of the wind, the whipping and 
 lashing of the palm branches, and the roaring of 
 the surf upon the reef; and now, as the dawn 
 began to break, she rose and went outside to 
 stretch her poor, thin little limbs, heedless of the 
 stinging rain which beat upon her nude, red-brown 
 shoulders, and drenched her straight, jet-black 
 hair. 
 
 A little distance from where she stood, on the 
 high bank of loose coral shingle, the spent but 
 still foaming surf from the reef swept the long 
 curving line of palm-fringed beach, and beyond — a 
 boil of fleecy white and flying spume — the reef 
 itself ; and far away on the misty sea-rim the 
 dulled-red disc of the rising sun. 
 
 As she watched, a sturdily-built native boy of 
 
 thirteen or fourteen years of age, clad in but a 
 
 105
 
 io6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 girdle of coloured dracaena leaves, and carrying a 
 basket of green coconut leaf, came along the narrow 
 path that led to the hut and called her name. 
 
 The child — she was but eleven years old — 
 turned, and a cry of joy escaped her ; and the boy, 
 setting down the basket, held out his hands and 
 pressed his nose to hers. 
 
 " Art thou very hungry, Salome ? " he said as, 
 holding her hand, he led her back into the hut. 
 
 " Nay, not very hungry, Maru," she answered, 
 with something like a sob in her throat, " but this 
 last beating was the worst I have yet had, and my 
 back is as if it had been burnt with fire." Then 
 she wept. 
 
 The boy, from whose neck was suspended a 
 small silver crucifix, stroked her head pityingly. 
 " Sit thee down, Salome the Samoan, and eat. 
 See, here in the basket is a baked pigeon, two 
 taro, some bananas, and a tin of sartini (sardines) 
 which the white trader Pita opened and gave me 
 for thee. For Pita ^ hath a great pity for thee, and 
 when he heard that the judge had ordered thee to 
 be beaten he was angry and told the good father 
 Grandseigne that it was a cruel thing to beat such 
 a little one as thee, because thou art a disbeliever. 
 Now eat." 
 
 1 Peter.
 
 'SALOMfi, THE SHAMELESS' 107 
 
 He opened the basket, and spread out the 
 contents upon the coarse, rain-soaked mat which 
 covered the gravelled floor of the hut. Then, as 
 the hungry child ate, he took a small gourd shell 
 of coconut oil, and, seating himself behind her, 
 began to gently rub her lacerated back with the 
 oil. 
 
 '* Dost remember how many stripes thou hadst, 
 Salome .? " 
 
 "I know not, Maru. T\\.q. fakafili (judge) said 
 thirty, but after the tenth I could not tell, for my 
 heart came into my throat, and I knew no more 
 till Vili, the policeman, carried me to the pig-pen 
 of Kalaua and cast me over into the mire. But 
 the pigs were very quiet, and did not hurt me. 
 Then, although the children came and jeered at 
 me, and said I was well bestowed with mine own 
 kith and kin, I did not mind, for as I lay in the 
 mud I prayed to God and my heart became very 
 strong." 
 
 Maru's soothing hand went slowly up and down 
 the bruised and swollen back. 
 
 " Thy religion, Salome, is a false one — the 
 religion of those who are doomed to the torments 
 of hell. Why be so foolish } Here we in 
 Ona are good Katolikos, and shall enter into 
 Paradise when we die, but thou shalt burn in ever-
 
 io8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 lasting fire. It is true what I say — the bikopo ^ 
 himself hath said it. The lotu Peretania^ is an 
 evil faith — only by our faith, which is the true 
 faith, can one be saved from hell. Are not the 
 sardines flavoursome, Salome ? " 
 
 The child turned, and with luminous eyes 
 suddenly threw her arms around the neck of the 
 back anointer. 
 
 " Aye, Maru, they are sweet. And I lied to 
 thee when I said I was not hungry. Maru, thou 
 wilt be beaten for giving food to me, if it be 
 known." 
 
 " Nay," and the boy laughed with an air of pride 
 " who on Ona would dare to even whisper an evil 
 word of me, I who am the son of the king, and 
 who can read and write and speak in English and 
 French, and in our own tongue as well ! And 
 the good father Grandseigne himself would let 
 no one harm me. And to-morrow night I shall 
 set fire to the house of Vili, so that it shall be 
 destroyed, and he be rendered poverty-stricken, 
 for in it he hath many fine mats worth many 
 hundreds of dollars." 
 
 " Nay, nay, Maru ! That is an evil thought of 
 thine. It is written in the Word of God that we 
 
 1 Bishop. 
 
 2 The religion of Britain — any form of Protestantism.
 
 * SALOME, THE SHAMELESS' 109 
 
 shall forgive those who beset us, even as we shall 
 be forgiven when we are beset." 
 
 Maru shook his head dubiously. " Vili is a 
 bad man, and beats his wife because she hath a 
 lame foot and cannot work in his taro plantation. 
 And instead of giving thee but thirty lashes as the 
 fakafili ordered, he gave thee thirty and three. 1 
 saw it, for when after the tenth thou fell upon the 
 ground, I counted. Salome, thou art foolish. 
 See, take this crucifix of mine and hold it in thy 
 hand, and come with me to the village, and say 
 that thou wilt abjure thy false lotu^ and then all 
 will be well with thee, and no more shalt thou be 
 beaten." 
 
 Salome shrunk away from him with outstretched 
 hands. *' Maru ! Maru ! touch me not with it. 
 Let me be beaten and stoned, and pelted with 
 gravel, and called, ' Salome the Shameless,' 
 ' Salome the Heretic,' ' Salome the Outcast,' 
 ' Salome the Heathen.' I can die as my uncle 
 and my mother died when we came here, and the 
 leo leo^ beat them to death because they were lotu 
 Perelania, and would not become Katoliko." 
 
 The boy threw his arms around her — " Nay, 
 
 1 Policemen — lit, "those who guard." A Samoan term 
 introduced throughout the equatorial and north-western islands 
 of the Pacific.
 
 no SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Salome, I, Maru, will protect thee. For I, too, 
 have been beaten because, when thou wert lying 
 prone in the pig-pen of Kalaua, I lifted thy head 
 and gave thee water. My own father beat me 
 with a canoe paddle. And now it is to my mind 
 that thou and I should flee to Samoa, where I 
 can be tattooed, and made a man." 
 
 'P >|& *|C 'F 7^ 
 
 Old Padre Grandseigne was walking slowly up 
 and down the verandah of the mission house, 
 thoughtfully stroking his long, snow-white beard, 
 when he heard the gate of his garden opened, and 
 Peter Buckley, the one white trader on the island, 
 entered and bade him good-morning. The old 
 man's kindly face lit up. 
 
 " Good morning, Peter," he said in English, 
 *' I am glad to see you, for I am much troubled in 
 my mind, and was about to go to your house, as 
 the storm has now ceased. Come inside." 
 
 The trader, a short, stout little man of past 
 fifty, followed him into the sitting-room and sat 
 down. 
 
 "This is a bad business, padre," he said bluntly, 
 " and in a measure you are responsible for what 
 has happened. Now, I am a good Catholic, as 
 you know, but I am also an Irishman, and my 
 blood boils that these crimes should be committed.
 
 * SALOME, THE SHAMELESS' iii 
 
 Just think of it ! Three Samoans — a man, woman 
 and a child of tender years — are blown away from 
 Upolu,^ hundreds of miles from here. They, 
 after fearful sufferings at sea for eleven days in a 
 small canoe, land here on this island among alleged 
 Christians — people speaking almost the same lan- 
 guage and with the same customs." 
 
 He paused, and the venerable padre bent his head. 
 
 " They are received hospitably, housed, clothed 
 and fed by you, myself, and the people generally, 
 and then, when they have sufficiently recovered, 
 they are called upon to abjure the lotu Peretania^ or 
 suffer heavy punishment." 
 
 " It was against my wish, Peter," said the priest 
 mournfully. *' God knows that I tried to protect 
 them. But I am an old, old man — I am eighty- 
 one — and I am powerless to prevent this persecu- 
 tion and bigotry. The native deacons are too 
 strong for me, and I am but a cypher now 
 among the people to whom I, with the sainted 
 Chanel, brought Christ to them fifty years ago."^ 
 Tears dropped from his eyes as he spoke. 
 
 The trader went on, speaking slowly and sternly, 
 as he took from his pocket an addressed envelope. 
 
 1 One of the five islands of the Samoan Group. 
 
 2 P^re Chanel was murdered by the heathen natives of the 
 island of I'otuna in 1849.
 
 112 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " I have here, father, a letter to the Governor 
 of New Caledonia, relating all that has occurred ; 
 but, before I send it away by the next ship that 
 calls, I wish you to read it and tell me if there is 
 anything in it that is not absolutely correct. This 
 island is French territory, and I have asked his 
 Excellency to consider the advisability of sending 
 a man-of-war here, and appointing a resident 
 magistrate to revise the present laws, which are 
 a disgrace alike to the ignorant natives who com- 
 piled them and a blot upon our holy Church. 
 By every vessel that touches here, three or four 
 of our young men and women escape to Samoa 
 or other places in order to free themselves from 
 the increasing oppression and tyranny. In two 
 years no less than thirty-two young men and 
 twenty-one young women have left the island in 
 vessels, or put to sea in frail canoes to reach 
 Samoa or Fiji — hundreds of miles distant. In 
 one instance a canoe party of seven young girls 
 and two boys perished miserably of starvation. 
 It is terrible, terrible." 
 
 The old man's hand trembled as he took the 
 letter, and tried to decipher it through the tears 
 which blinded his vision. Then he handed it back 
 to Buckley — " I cannot see to read it." 
 
 " Then let me," and the trader began, and read
 
 'SALOME, THE SHAMELESS' 113 
 
 it through from beginning to end relentlessly, 
 only pausing when, as some additional act of 
 persecution was tersely related, the aged priest 
 covered his face with his hands and sobbed. 
 
 '* I pain you, father." 
 
 " Heed me not, my son," replied the old man 
 brokenly. And so Buckley went on : 
 
 " Your Excellency will be grieved to learn that since the arrival here 
 from France of the Mother Superior and the Sisters the personal 
 liberties of the people have been interfered with to such an extent that 
 the younger natives take every opportunity of escaping from the 
 island. All lights have to be extinguished one hour after sunset, or 
 the offending parties are severely punished by the direction of the 
 Mother Superior, who practically rules the island, and has drafted a 
 code of laws for the regulation of the conduct of these unfortunate 
 people that, when you read them, cannot but excite your Excellency's 
 deepest indignation. Before the advent of these ladies, the island, under 
 the mild and beneficent guidance of P^re Grandseigne, was in a state of 
 high prosperity. Besides myself there were then two other traders — 
 an American negro of the most respectable character, and an English- 
 man. Both of these men were married, had large families, but being 
 Protestants were forced to leave the island for Samoa, owing to the 
 orders of the Mother Superior, who forbade any person, under the 
 penalty of a heavy fine, from either buying from or selling to them. 
 Having no land of their own, they were consequently reduced to the 
 cruel condition of either leaving the island, or starving — for no native 
 dared supply them with food. The Mother Superior, when I 
 expostulated strongly, informed me that I should not complain, as 
 the expulsion of these two traders would tend to fill my own pockets 1 
 Your Excellency can imagine how any man's humanity revolts at 
 the suggestion of the idea of making money through the misfortunes 
 and sufferings of another person. 
 
 " But now I must pain your Excellency by the narration of a most 
 tragic event, which occurred only a few months ago. A party of three 
 Samoans — a man, woman and child — were blown away in a frail 
 canoe from their own country to this fertile island, Treated at first
 
 114 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 with the greatest kindness, they were, after their recovery from the hard- 
 ships they had undergone, subjected to the most brutal and inhuman 
 treatment by the so-called ' police ' — creatures who were called into 
 existence by the Mother Superior. Refusing to renounce their 
 religion — which is some form of the multitudinous phases of the 
 Protestant belief — the man and woman were beaten daily for eight 
 days. In all they received 300 lashes each, administered with such 
 savage fury that on the ninth day the woman succumbed to her 
 injuries. The man — who was her brother — died on the following 
 day. 
 
 "The child — a very intelligent girl of eleven years of age — was 
 then subjected to the most merciless persecution. She has been beaten, 
 stoned, and starved, for refusing to renounce the religious belief of her 
 people. 
 
 " Yesterday this unfortunate child was seized by the ' police,' tried 
 by a so-called judge — an ignorant native appointed by the Mother 
 Superior — and sentenced to receive thirty lashes in the public square. 
 Before the sentence was carried out the child was clothed in a long 
 garment of white calico, on which were written in the native language, 
 ' Salome the Heretic,' 'Salome the Shameless,' and other opprobrious 
 terms, and dragged into the village square by a number of women and 
 children. Here she was flogged. After about a dozen lashes she 
 fainted^-the rest were inflicted as she lay unconscious upon the 
 ground. 
 
 " Then she was thrown into a pig-pen to recover or die ! 
 
 " I implore your Excellency to remedy this terrible condition of 
 affairs. I assure you that the state of persecution and surveillance 
 that prevails on this island is such that one might imagine it to be 
 a penal colony with the nuns as juges d' instruction. Your Excellency's 
 reputation for humanity encourages me to believe that you have only 
 to know of these things for an immediate and salutary change to 
 be made." 
 
 There was silence for a minute. Then the old 
 priest sighed heavily. 
 
 " It is all too true. And although my heart 
 aches to know it, I feel that I am too old and too 
 utterly powerless now to try to bring back the old
 
 'SALOME, THE SHAMELESS' 115 
 
 order of things. Send the letter, my friend. I 
 shall also write to the Governor and inform him of 
 the truth of that which you assert. The deaths of 
 these poor people may have terrible results when 
 the news reaches Samoa. The Samoans are a warlike 
 race, and nothing would please them more than to 
 make a descent upon this island, and wreak 
 vengeance upon the entire population." 
 
 " Precisely, father. That is what I yesterday 
 told the chiefs in the council house. A war party 
 of two hundred Samoans would simply wipe the 
 two thousand natives on this island out of existence. 
 Now, father, I must go. Maru, your protege, has 
 gone in search of Salome, and I am anxious to know 
 if he has found her." 
 
 " Let me come with you ! Poor child, I shall 
 take some liniment and lint to dress her wounds." 
 
 " As you will, father. But she comes to my 
 house, and if the police attempt to enter it to 
 perpetrate any further violence I will hurt badly 
 the first man, chief or commoner, who dares to lay 
 a hand upon her." 
 
 ^ s^ y^ ifr 7p 
 
 For two hours the good old man and the hot- 
 tempered Irishman sought the boy and girl without 
 success. Then the priest returned to the mission 
 house, and the trader continued the search, aided
 
 ii6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 by his children. At dusk they gave up further 
 effort, feeling certain that the girl had taken refuge 
 in the dense jungle of the interior of the island. 
 When they returned to the trader's house they 
 found Maru awaiting them, and he and Buckley 
 went into the store-room and talked together in 
 whispered tones. 
 
 At midnight the boy left the white man's house, 
 laden with two weighty baskets containing tinned 
 provisions, and next morning Vaka, his father, 
 was informed that his best bonito canoe had 
 disappeared. 
 
 Buckley, with his telescope, was on the highest 
 point of the island, scanning the now placid ocean, 
 ruffled only by a steady westerly breeze. Nothing 
 was in sight. 
 
 " They must be forty miles away by now, and 
 with this westerly weather ought to reach Samoa 
 in three days. Faith, it '11 be a bit of a jar for 
 the Holy Mother." 
 
 ^ ^ ^ 7^ '^ 
 
 And not for ten years was Maru seen on Ona 
 Island. When he returned it was only to pay a 
 visit to his father and his good friend Peter the 
 trader, and plant a border of draecana plants around 
 the grave of Padre Grandseigne. 
 
 Then he went to see the resident Governor, who
 
 'SALOME, THE SHAMELESS' 117 
 
 besought him to remain in the island, and assume 
 the chieftainship of his father Vaka, who was an 
 old man and desired his return. 
 
 " Monsieur, I am now a Samoan. I am tattooed 
 as becomes a man, and my wife Salome and I are 
 now great people. We have many servants, and 
 land has been given to us, and we dwell in 
 happiness and peace. And although I am not 
 of the lotu Peretania, I have no desire to return to 
 live on Ona, though matters are changed now, and 
 the Government of France has stopped the wicked- 
 ness of the past times, when my wife Salome was 
 cast into a pig-pen to die. In Samoa there is no 
 persecution, by reason of the many faiths there, 
 and Catholics and Protestants, and even the 
 heathen savages who work on the cotton planta- 
 tions, live together in peace ; for in Samoa the 
 arm of the law is strong. And I have no desire 
 to leave such a fair country."
 
 "KATAFA," THE FRIGATE BIRD 
 
 A Strange Letter-Carrier 
 
 The "frigate" is the swiftest of all sea-birds, 
 and in some of the equatorial isles of the Pacific 
 is used as a letter-carrier. Taken from the nest 
 before it can fly, it is hand-fed on a fish diet by 
 the natives, and in the course of a few months 
 becomes so tame that it can be liberated during 
 the day and will return to its perch at sunset. In 
 the records of the London Missionary Society 
 mention is made of the letter-carrying 'frigate 
 birds of the Ellice Group (N.W. of Samoa), and 
 I had frequent opportunities of witnessing their 
 performances. 
 
 It is the practice of the natives (or was up to 
 
 ten years ago) to exchange the birds after they had 
 
 been tamed. For instance, the Samoan pastors of 
 
 the islands of Nanomea, Nanomaga and Nuitao 
 
 — sixty to eighty miles apart — all kept two or 
 
 three birds each, and frequently used them to 
 
 communicate with each other. On Nanomaga, 
 
 ii8
 
 'Katafa; the frigate bird 119 
 
 where I lived for twelve months, I had two 
 " frigates," which were given me by a trader on 
 Nuitao, sixty miles to windward, and in return I 
 gave him two splendid and very tame birds, 
 hatched and reared on Nanomaga. The four 
 were continually flying across from one island to 
 the other ; sometimes the Nuitao pair would visit 
 their birthplace and foregather with my couple on 
 their perch outside my house, and remain one or 
 two days, fishing on their own account together, 
 and being fed at dawn and nightfall by the natives 
 and myself. Then all four would sail off to 
 Nuitao, my pair usually returning within twenty- 
 four to thirty-six hours. 
 
 To test the speed of these birds I once, in 
 June, 1882, sent one of mine to Nuitao by the 
 barque Redcoat in care of the captain, who kept it 
 in the cabin. It fretted greatly during the forty- 
 eight hours the vessel was beating up to Nuitao 
 against the S.E. trades, refused food, and evidently 
 was pining for its mate (they were male and female 
 birds). The Redcoat arrived at Nuitao at four o'clock 
 in the afternoon, and at half-past four the trader 
 there, John O'Brien, after writing a few lines to 
 me and rolling it in a small square of oilskin, tied 
 it to the bird and cast it loose from the vessel's 
 deck. It was out of sight in a few seconds, flying
 
 I20 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 shorewards to the tree on which O'Brien's birds 
 perched at night, and found that they were " not at 
 home." The trader's children said that it refused 
 to eat some fish they threw up to it, and, after 
 resting a minute or two, and distending its curious, 
 pendulous and scarlet-hued throat-pouch to its 
 fullest extent and then letting it collapse, suddenly 
 soared aloft and vanished. 
 
 The Samoan pastor of Nanomaga, a number of 
 natives and I had been keeping a keen look-out 
 for the return of the bird. We could only guess 
 at the time when the Redcoat would arrive at Nuitao, 
 but imagined it would be at least sixty hours, on 
 account of the strong westerly current (Nuitao lies 
 east of Nanomaga). But before six o'clock on the 
 day that O'Brien had liberated my bird it was 
 settled on its perch at home, accompanied by 
 O'Brien's couple, which it had evidently met en 
 route. All three birds were heavily gorged with 
 flying-fish, and allowed themselves to be caught 
 and brought into the house, where I detached 
 O'Brien's note from my messenger. 
 
 The late Sir George Grey told me that he knew 
 of many authentic cases in which the Katafa — as 
 the Malayo-Polynesians call the frigate bird — had 
 accomplished over sixty miles an hour. And I 
 have very often seen them seize a flying-fish
 
 'Katafa; the frigate bird 121 
 
 when it (the fish) was on the wing and only a 
 few inches above the surface of the sea. 
 
 In the Gilbert and Kingsmill Groups (com- 
 monly called the " Line Islands " from their 
 equatorial position) frigate birds are more plenti- 
 ful than they are in any other islands of Polynesia 
 and Micronesia, but the natives have neither the 
 intelligence nor the patience of their neighbours, 
 the Ellice Islanders, to give time to the training of 
 pets of any sort, and it is very rarely that one 
 will see a tame " frigate " on the Line Islands, 
 unless at the house of a trader who has a Samoan 
 or Ellice Island wife. On the lagoon island of 
 Butaritari, however, the natives had been taught to 
 train the birds by some strangers from the Toke- 
 laus (Union Group), and my partner and I were 
 given a young male and a female bird, which 
 remained with us for nearly twelve months, fish- 
 ing in either the lagoon or far away on the ocean 
 at early morning and in the afternoon, and always 
 returning to their perch at dusk. This perch was 
 a gaunt and scanty-foliaged pandanus tree (screw- 
 pine), and during the hottest part of the day the 
 two noble-looking creatures would stand erect and 
 motionless for hours on a branch, with their wide 
 wings outspread, and their glossy plumage glinting 
 in the sun.
 
 122 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Last year there appeared in many English news- 
 papers an account of an old fisherman, who, 
 fishing in Cruden Bay, hooked at a depth of sixty 
 feet a Great Northern diver, which shot up from 
 the water with the hook (and a small whiting) 
 embedded in its stomach, and savagely attacked the 
 fisherman, who received severe wounds in his face 
 before he succeeded in killing the bird with a boat- 
 stretcher. Many people would, no doubt, regard 
 this as a " fish story," but it is absolutely true, and 
 the Cruden Bay fisherman is by no means the first 
 man who has had a similar adventure. 
 
 Years ago I remember reading a work by — I 
 think — John Burroughs, the American naturalist, in 
 which he states that it was not an infrequent occur- 
 rence for fishermen on the deep lakes in the New 
 England woods to have their baited hooks seized 
 by loons at a depth of sixty feet and over, and 
 that the birds would attack their captors most 
 savagely. 
 
 The frigate bird is also caught (intentionally) 
 with the hook and line in some of the Pacific Islands. 
 The modus operandi is a very simple one. A 
 long line baited with a small flying-fish is trailed 
 from a canoe under sail, and if there are any katafa 
 (frigate birds) about, hovering in or sweeping 
 through the air high above, their keen eyes soon
 
 *katafa; the frigate bird 123 
 
 discern the silvery gleam of the fish far below. 
 There is a lightning-like swoop, and then a hoarse 
 croak of rage as the bird finds itself hooked, and 
 opening out its feet, and outspreading its noble 
 wings, it " backs water," and is only hauled in with 
 difficulty. The moment it is alongside a cinnet 
 noose is slipped over the long gaping mandibles, 
 then the legs are tied, and the wings lashed firmly 
 to its body, and the once monarch of the air is 
 taught subjection by a slow and cruel process of 
 starvation. 
 
 Another sea-bird which is often caught on the 
 line in southern seas is the common penguin. 
 About ten years ago I was in the Sydney whaling 
 steamer, Jenny Lind, cruising for " humpbacks," 
 and one day anchored under the lee of Montagu 
 Island for shelter. In the morning one of our 
 crew showed me a penguin in a box, and told me 
 that he had caught it while fishing on the bottom 
 for rock " flathead." (We were anchored in 
 fifteen fathoms.) I was inclined to think that he 
 was having a joke at my expense, and said so. 
 However, in the course of the day, the head light- 
 keeper of Montagu Island Lighthouse told me that 
 very often he and his mates, when schnapper-fish- 
 ing off the island, had hooked penguins. 
 
 Apropos of penguins, I may mention that it is
 
 124 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 not at all uncommon for the burrow of the bird to 
 be shared with the deadly black snake, which is so 
 plentiful on many of the islands in Bass's Straits. 
 The aboriginal blacks, when they raid some of the 
 islands off the New South Wales coast in the 
 vicinity of Wreck Bay for penguin eggs, can 
 always tell by certain signs when a burrow is 
 tenanted by a snake as well as a bird, and leave 
 those particular burrows alone. I believe that in 
 North America the prairie dog often shares his 
 subterranean home with the rattlesnake — he, like 
 the penguin, is, no doubt, a " passive resister." 
 
 A few words more concerning my friend the 
 Katafa : 
 
 Audubon, the American ornithologist, whose 
 works I h^ve never been fortunate enough to read, 
 is, I believe, the one man who has studied the habits 
 of, and written fully upon, this bird monarch of 
 the air.
 
 JAGER, THE CAT 
 
 A Danish brig, XhtJager^ ran ashore on the reef 
 of Butaritari (Gilbert Islands), in the North Pacific, 
 and her skipper and his crew, taking to the boats, 
 landed at the trading station of my partner (an ex- 
 ship carpenter named MacBride) and myself. The 
 Danes expected to be killed and eaten by savages, 
 instead of which they were cossetted up and given 
 much Christian refreshment in the way of Bour- 
 bon whisky and home-made bread, cooked by 
 MacBride's half-caste wife. There was an Auck- 
 land schooner named the Coronet lying in the 
 lagoon at the time, and the Danish skipper made 
 arrangements for passages for himself and crew to 
 New Zealand, and sold the Jdger to MacBride and 
 myself for 500 dollars. 
 
 " There's a fine cat on board," he said, as he 
 bade us good-bye, " we couldn't find him when we 
 left the ship. He got away somewhere below." 
 
 We found the cat. He was lying in the skip- 
 per's bunk, sound asleep, and was the biggest, 
 
 125
 
 126 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 longest, ugliest and fiercest yellow Tom I ever 
 saw. He had a head like a bulldog, and jaws set 
 with teeth like a tiger, and after we had satisfied 
 his hunger by giving him the contents of a whole 
 tin of condensed milk, he followed us on deck, 
 and watched the salving operations with a lazy and 
 contented interest, sitting on the top of the deck- 
 house and placidly cleaning his chops with his huge 
 paws. 
 
 We named him Jager, after the brig, and in a 
 week he became notorious. He seemed fond of 
 live fowls, and liked Muscovy ducks. In three 
 days he killed five of Mrs. MacBride's hens, two 
 ducks and a guinea fowl, and the natives swore 
 that he had also destroyed several pigs. He never 
 ate any of his victims ; he simply killed them and 
 then, in a lazy, indifferent sort of manner, carried 
 the corpses into the boat-house, regarded them in 
 an abstracted sort of manner for a little while, and 
 then went to sleep. 
 
 MacBride and I had two tame frigate birds, 
 which we had taken from the nest and brought up 
 by hand. They " made friends " with Jager, who 
 never attempted to hurt them after one of the 
 twins had snipped out a piece of his left ear one 
 day when he foolishly regarded the bird as ordinary 
 fowl, and tried to pounce upon it.
 
 J ACER, THE CAT 127 
 
 The frigate birds had a perch on a pandanus 
 palm, which grew just outside the boat-shed. Here 
 they would sometimes stand for hours enjoying 
 their sun bath, and then if no fish were thrown to 
 them they would do an hour's fishing in the lagoon 
 " on their own." But they were always ready for 
 more food at any time of the day, and Jager would 
 sit and watch, with an angry glint in his green eyes, 
 Nita MacBride tossing them small mullet, which 
 they caught with a lightning-like movement of the 
 head marvellous to witness. Then to annoy Jiiger 
 she would take a larger fish by the tail, dangle it 
 temptingly before him, and then toss it high 
 above. 
 
 " There you are, Jager — catch it when it falls." 
 And then in the tenth of a second there would 
 come a swift rush of wings cleaving the air, and, ere 
 you could count two, one of the great and noble- 
 looking birds would be back on the perch beside 
 his mate with the fish held crosswise in the long, 
 curved bill. A quick jerk of the head, and up the 
 fish would go, to fall head-on into the gaping 
 mandibles ; a sharp snap, and all was over. Jager, 
 sweeping his tail angrily to and fro, would glare 
 with concentrated fury at the fierce-eyed, glossy- 
 plumaged birds, who every now and then, as if to 
 annoy him, would inflate their curious scarlet-hued
 
 128 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 and pendulous throat-bags (the purposes of which 
 have always been a puzzle to ornithologists), and, 
 spreading out their magnificent wings, stare up at 
 the sky. 
 
 " The twa deevils pretend they're leecterns," 
 MacBride would say. 
 
 Poor Jager had a sad experience one day. I was 
 going out fishing for palu — a huge species of 
 Ruvettus very common in the Equatorial Pacific — 
 and had prepared and baited my line of i oo fathoms, 
 and laid it down upon the outrigger platform of my 
 fishing canoe, which was lying on the beach. Jager 
 sauntered down to see what was going on, looking 
 more like a young leopard than a Christian Tom 
 cat, and I went back to the house for a box of 
 matches. Hardly had I reached the door when I 
 heard children's screams and many voices shouting 
 out something about te puhi (the cat). Turning 
 back I saw Jager tearing towards the house with 
 my fishing line trailing after him, executing the 
 most extraordinary gyrations, leaps and bounds, 
 and emitting the most horrifying yells of agony 
 and cat-curses. He had hooked himself! It was 
 quite 300 yards from the canoe to the house, and 
 Jager was doing it at 20 knots, when the line fouled 
 a dead coconut branch, or some other obstacle, and 
 brought him up standing.
 
 J ACER, THE CAT 129 
 
 We rushed to his assistance, and, at imminent 
 danger to ourselves, threw ourselves upon the 
 cursing, spitting creature, and I cut ofF the hook 
 and dragged it through the roof of his mouth. 
 Then, with an agonised yowl, he fled straight 
 across the island to an arrowroot plantation, where 
 he remained in retreat for several days. 
 
 Poor Jager ! He came to a sudden end — 
 through too much savagery. A native, throwing 
 down young coconuts from a very lofty tree, 
 dislodged a large rat, which fell to the ground. 
 Jager sprang upon and seized it, and as he was 
 proudly swishing his tail to and fro a coconut 
 fell upon him and broke his back.
 
 "DALEY," OF E)RUMMOND'S ISLAND 
 
 He had many names — he needed them — but I 
 shall call him Daley, by which name he was known 
 to me and other traders in the North and South 
 Pacific nearly thirty years ago. At that time he 
 was, though past fifty, one of the toughest, 
 strongest, and most active man I ever saw ; of 
 medium height, clean-shaven, close-cropped, and 
 dressed usually in pyjamas, and no one would have 
 imagined that Peter Daley was anything more than 
 what he professed to be — a simple trader, who was 
 then, as he had been in the past, much in demand 
 as a pilot all over the South Seas. 
 
 Yet he had been many things — sailor in the 
 
 Navy, convict in Van Diemen's Land — as Tasmania 
 
 was then usually called — " English gentleman " in 
 
 Chile, then a trader, was the first white man to 
 
 traverse the great island of New Britain, and was 
 
 tried for his life for being concerned in the murder 
 
 of a number of coolies he was taking from Macao 
 
 to Callao, but succeeded in escaping from prison. 
 
 130
 
 ' daley; of drummond's island 131 
 
 My acquaintance with him began at Drummond's 
 Island (Taputeauea) in the Gilbert Group. Our 
 vessel was anchored off Utiroa village when there 
 came on board a quiet-spoken, clean-shaven man, 
 who inquired if I could sell him some copper boat- 
 nails and rivets. I supplied him with what he 
 wanted, and he asked me if I would care to look at 
 a whaleboat he had built, and which was for sale, 
 and also at another not yet completed. That 
 afternoon I went ashore and called at his house. 
 The yard outside was thronged with noisy, fero- 
 cious natives, who, however, the moment Daley 
 appeared at the doorway, subsided into a curiously 
 respectful silence and walked silently after us as he 
 led the way to his boat-shed. 
 
 The finished whaleboat pleased me greatly, and 
 I bought it from him for $225 — the price he asked. 
 He at once had it launched and manned by some 
 of his savage retinue, and sent it off to the ship, 
 telling me that I could pay him on the morrow. 
 Returning to his house we chatted for half-an-hour 
 over a couple of glasses of grog, and I said good- 
 day, as I had some business to transact with the 
 three other traders who lived in Utiroa, and who, to 
 my surprise, had not boarded us the moment we had 
 cast anchor, as they had done on other occasions. 
 
 I found aU three at the house of one of them —
 
 132 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 a man named Gable, who was noted as a " tough " 
 of the first water. His face was one mass of 
 contusions and bruises, and as he growled out a 
 welcome to me, I noticed that the brace of revolvers 
 he habitually carried buckled round his waist were 
 absent. 
 
 Taking a seat I asked him what was the matter — 
 why they all looked so " glum." After some 
 hesitation, one of them, a decent Portuguese 
 known as " George," told me what had happened. 
 
 Daley, it appeared, had arrived at the island 
 seven months previously to start business as a 
 trader. He was accompanied by six natives 
 of Naura (Pleasant Island) ; and the three other 
 traders, the moment he put foot on the beach, met 
 him and bluntly requested him to return to the 
 ship, as " there was no room for a fourth man on 
 the island." He refused, and in a few moments a 
 serious quarrel occurred. The traders, aided by a 
 number of their followers, tried to hustle the new- 
 comer and his men back into the boat, when a 
 somewhat influental head man of Utiroa, who 
 wanted a white man for his particular part of the 
 great village, came to Daly's assistance. He was 
 followed by a score or so of his people, all armed 
 with muskets, sharks' teeth swords, etc., and then 
 someone fired a shot and one of Daley's men fell
 
 ' daley; of drummond's island 133 
 
 dead. Daley at once drew his revolver, and 
 wounded both Gable and another man named 
 Crowe, and then the firing became general, although 
 the Portuguese and Bakwa (the head man before- 
 mentioned) tried to stop the encounter. But 
 Daley and his savage Pleasant Islanders (who were 
 armed with Vetterli rifles) were maddened at the 
 death of their comrade, and in ten minutes the 
 three traders and their retinues were beaten back 
 and bolted, leaving four dead and several wounded 
 behind them, whilst Daley lost two men killed, and 
 he himself was wounded by a knife thrust, which, 
 however, did not prevent him from hastening back 
 to the ship and returning with an additional supply 
 of arms and ammunition. Within a week he was 
 installed in a new house which Bakwa had built for 
 him, and was buying oil not only from Bakwa's 
 people, but from the very natives who had sought 
 to prevent his landing. 
 
 ''And since then," said Crowe, interrupting the 
 Portuguese in his story, " we've had a dog's time or 
 it. He fairly bosses the whole island, and we've 
 had no choice but to knuckle under to him. I tell 
 you, Mr. Supercargo, he thinks no more of killing 
 a man than Gable here does of giving one of his 
 natives a welt on the head. We've tried to make 
 it up with him this six months, but he won't have
 
 134 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 no truck with us. Why, he won't let us even 
 board a ship until he has been off first, and had 
 his pick of the trade room." 
 
 I expressed my astonishment that one man 
 could prevent three from pursuing their legitimate 
 business. 
 
 " Ah, you don't know him ! He's more of a 
 devil than a man, and even our own natives who 
 have stood to us for years won't lift a finger 
 against him, and none of us is doing half the 
 business he did seven months ago." 
 
 I suggested that it was largely their own fault in 
 attacking him in the first place ; to this the 
 Portuguese assented, and asked me if the captain 
 and I would try and bring about a reconciliation. 
 I promised I would speak to the skipper. Then I 
 ventured to ask the rufiian Gable what was the 
 matter with his face. After a preliminary but 
 lengthened outburst of profanity, I gathered from 
 him that a week previously a German trading brig 
 had anchored off the village whilst Daley was absent 
 at another part of the island, and Gable, taking 
 advantage of this, slipped off in his boat and 
 bought all the trade he wanted. When he returned 
 he found Daley waiting for him on the beach, and 
 was given the option of fighting him or being shot 
 dead. He naturally chose the former alternative,
 
 ' daley; of drummond's island 135 
 
 and quite believed that he was the better man of the 
 two. Half-an-hour later he was carried in an un- 
 conscious state to his house. Daley went with him, 
 and found there Crowe and George. 
 
 " There is your mate," he said mockingly to 
 them. '* He'll need nursing a bit. It is lucky 
 that you two did not go with him." Then his 
 manner changed suddenly : " But if you want to go 
 on board that ship you can do so now if you like, 
 and buy what you want." 
 
 " That was very kind of him," I said ; " are you 
 going to ask his permission to come on board my 
 ship — oh, but I forgot ! — you are free to come since 
 he has already been on board." 
 
 The men looked very sheepish, but I could see 
 that they were thoroughly cowed, so I refrained from 
 hurting their feelings any further and bade them 
 good-day. Crowe came part of the way with me. 
 
 " I suppose you think we are a pack of miserable 
 curs," he said, " but that fellow isn't a man at all, 
 — he's a devil in the shape of a human being, and 
 although I'm no coward I feel a shiver down my 
 back when he looks at me with those awful eyes of 
 his. Haven't you noticed them } " 
 
 " Can't say I thought there was anything out of 
 the common with his eyes, except that they are 
 very deep set and hard looking."
 
 136 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Crowe shuddered. "Ah, there's something in. 
 them, . . I don't know what it is . . anyway, I'm 
 going to leave here to get away from him. Will 
 you take me and my belongings up to the North- 
 West and land me somewhere in the Marshall or 
 Caroline Islands ? " 
 
 "Just as you please," I replied, wondering that 
 such an intelligent man could manifest such un- 
 reasoning fear of the stranger. 
 
 In the morning Daley came on board. He 
 was accompanied by his wife, who was either a 
 Mexican or Chilian, or perhaps a Cuban. She was 
 a rather handsome, quiet woman of about thirty, 
 and wore the usual South American mantilla. I 
 paid him for the boat and sold him some provisions, 
 and asked him and his wife to stay to breakfast. 
 During the meal he talked very freely about 
 Island matters generally, asked the captain and me 
 the latest European news, but said nothing about 
 himself, nor did he even allude to the other three 
 traders. He gave us the impression of being a 
 well-educated and much-travelled man, grave and 
 very self-contained. His wife apparently did not 
 understand or speak English, and conversed with 
 the captain in Spanish. Once, as I looked at her, 
 I was struck with the look of intense sadness in 
 her dark eyes, and felt sure that she was not a
 
 ' DALEY; OF DRUMMOND'S ISLAND 137 
 
 happy woman. After breakfast Daley asked me 
 if I would undertake to send ^100 to England for 
 him, and he tendered me the money in gold. 
 
 " Yes," I replied, " but we shall not be in 
 Sydney for another six months, and that is a long 
 time from now." 
 
 " But you are calling at Samoa in a few weeks, 
 and Godeffroy and Company will give you a draft 
 on a London bank." 
 
 " Yes, if you don't mind them robbing you by 
 paying them 1 5 per cent, commission — that is what 
 they charge." 
 
 " I know that," he replied quietly, " I have had 
 a draft from them before, and as it will save time I 
 shall be much obliged to you if you will send this 
 money from Samoa, and, as I want the recipient to 
 get the whole £100, 1 will give you the extra money 
 for GodefFroy's commission." 
 
 '* Very well, Mr. Daley, but it is an expensive 
 way of transmitting money." 
 
 He smiled, but said nothing, and then, sitting 
 down at my table, wrote the address of the person 
 to whom the draft was to be forwarded, and made 
 
 payable — a Mrs. H. , near Barcombe Mills, 
 
 Sussex, England. 
 
 " I know that GodefFroy's will forward the draft 
 all right," he said, " but Mrs, H. is a very old
 
 138 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 woman, and for all I know may now be dead. Is 
 there any way you could suggest by which I could 
 learn at some time in the future if she has cashed 
 the draft." 
 
 " Yes, I can write to our London agents from 
 Samoa. The manager is a personal friend of mine, 
 and will write or send someone to call on the lady, 
 and ascertain if she has received the draft safely." 
 
 Something like a flush tinged his dark sun-tanned 
 face, and his whole expression changed. " Ah," 
 he said quickly, " and perhaps your friend would, if 
 
 Mrs. H is alive, ask her to write to me to your 
 
 care, and some day you might be able to give me 
 her letter." 
 
 '* Certainly, if she writes to you to my care I 
 shall be able to give you the letter at some time, 
 or send it to you." 
 
 "No, no, keep it. Keep it till you see me 
 again. I intend to remain here on Drummond's 
 Island for at least two years, and your ship will 
 be here in another twelve months ? " 
 
 "Ten — and I hope I shall bring you the 
 letter." 
 
 " I thank you ; you are conferring a great 
 favour on me. There are reasons why I could not 
 ask such a favour of anyone else. I am grateful, 
 very grateful. And this is quite private } "
 
 * DALEY; OF DRUMMOND'S ISLAND 139 
 
 " Of course. I am glad to be of service to you. 
 And now may I ask a favour in return ? " 
 
 " Yes, anything that is in my power." 
 
 " It is in your power. Will you make up the 
 quarrel you have had with Crowe and the others ? 
 Gable, I know, is a bad case, but Crowe and 
 George the Portuguese are decent men." 
 
 " Yes, I will. I promise you. I wanted to see 
 them all go away, but I will do as you wish." 
 
 # :^ * * * 
 
 Nearly a year had passed before I saw him again, 
 when I had the satisfaction of handing him a letter, 
 together with an acknowledgment of the receipt 
 of the money. Later on he told me that Mrs. 
 
 H was his mother, and he added frankly that 
 
 England was a country barred to him. That 
 evening he and the other traders had dinner on 
 board, and I was glad to see that they were now 
 on quite friendly terms with each other. Daley's 
 wife, I was sorry to hear, was not at all well — in 
 fact, had been ailing for months, and the captain 
 (who had had a medical training) offered to call 
 and see her. Daley was very grateful, and told us 
 that she suffered greatly from most distressing 
 headaches, and could scarcely be induced to eat 
 enough to sustain herself. The skipper saw her, 
 and then prepared her some medicine, which, in the
 
 I40 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 course of a few days, had a most beneficial effect, 
 and before we sailed she had almost entirely re- 
 covered, and insisted upon Packenham accepting a 
 very handsome ring as a token of her gratitude. 
 
 Three months later our vessel was at Apia in 
 the Samoan Group, and there met the United 
 States cruiser Kearsage, the famous destroyer of the 
 Alabama. Lunching on board one day, Packen- 
 ham mentioned that we had recently visited 
 Drummond's Island. 
 
 " Ha," exclaimed one of the officers, " is that 
 man Daley there } I've heard so much about him 
 that I should like to see him." 
 
 " Yes," replied Packenham, " he is there." 
 '* Is his wife with him } She is very pretty, is 
 she not } " 
 
 " Yes, very. Do you know her } " 
 *' No, but I know of her ; she belongs to a very 
 good family in Chile. In some way this man 
 Daley acquired such an influence over her that she 
 married him secretly, and a few weeks later they 
 both disappeared. It was then ascertained that he 
 was to have been arrested on the very day that he 
 fled the country for being concerned in a desperate 
 act of piracy committed on the coast of Peru five 
 years before. He and half-a-dozen other men 
 seized a small despatch vessel, on board of which
 
 ' DALEY; OF DRUMMOND'S ISLAND 141 
 
 was over fifteen thousand dollars. They got away 
 safely and never left a trace. Four years later 
 Daley came to Valdivia and bought a small estate. 
 He was not suspected of being anything else but 
 an English gentleman, and lived very quietly, but 
 one day he was recognised by the captain of the 
 despatch vessel, and again left in a hurry. He's a 
 mighty hard case, I can tell you." 
 
 " Well," I said, " to speak to he is one of the 
 quietest, most unassuming men I ever met. Still, 
 I do happen to know that he is a tough customer." 
 
 In the following year we again visited Drum- 
 mond's Island, and found that Daley had left and 
 gone off somewhere to the North-West Pacific, 
 and we never saw him again.
 
 A TRANSFORMATION 
 
 In the Gilbert Group and other equatorial islands 
 of the North and South Pacific — in most cases low, 
 narrow ribbands of sandy soil, clothed with coco- 
 palms and enclosing lagoons of sea water — the 
 chance visitor is sometimes surprised at being asked 
 by the local trader if he would like some " fresh- 
 water fish " for breakfast. For as these equatorial 
 isles possess neither rivers, creeks nor springs, 
 one naturally wonders from where the fresh-water 
 fish come ; yet they are to be had in plenty, and 
 very excellent fish they are, though the numerous 
 hair-like bones in them necessitates their being 
 thoroughly well cooked. In appearance they are 
 handsome, with blue and silver " marbled " 
 backs and sides, tapering bodies and small fins and 
 tails of a bright yellow tipped with blue, and they 
 run up to 3 lbs. in weight. (On the island of Peru 
 in the Gilbert Group, I have seen some taken from 
 the ponds of 5|- lbs.) 
 
 When westerly winds prevail and rain falls, the 
 142
 
 A TRANSFORMATION 143 
 
 work of turning salt-water fish into fresh- water fish 
 begins, and very interesting it is to watch it from 
 the beginning, and one cannot but admire the 
 ingenuity and resourcefuhiess of these copper- 
 skinned people, who within the last few years have 
 become British subjects. 
 
 First of all the smaller ponds for the reception 
 of the fry are cleaned out, all debris being removed 
 by the women and children ; this is usually done 
 when rain is falling, so that in a few hours a pond 
 will have been emptied of the old, partly stagnant 
 water and a fresh supply of rain water have run 
 into it. Such fish that may have been in it when 
 cleaning-out began, are then replaced or transferred 
 to a larger and deeper pool according to their size. 
 Then, the pools being in readiness, the women 
 and children, carrying wooden bowls and small 
 fine-meshed scoop nets, set out for the lagoon 
 beaches and sandy flats, and wait for high water. 
 As the tide recedes they step carefully into the 
 water and scan the margin for the objects of their 
 search — little, transparent, goggle-eyed fish, about 
 half-an-inch in length, in shape not unlike a tadpole. 
 Sometimes they are very scarce, at other times, 
 especially during heavy westerly weather, they are 
 as thick as herring fry. This, the natives say, is 
 caused by the stormy seas outside the lagoon
 
 144 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 driving them to seek shelter along the quiet inner 
 beaches, at the very foot of the coco-palms, whose 
 roots are laved by the salt water. In transferring 
 the fry to the wooden bowls — half filled with salt 
 water — great care is taken to see that none are 
 injured. When a sufficient number has been 
 taken to re-stock the " nursing " ponds, the 
 women return to the village, where the fry are 
 thinned out from the respective bowls or trans- 
 ferred to larger ones in which is brackish water — 
 i.e. half-sea and half-rain water. Here for some 
 days the little strangers are carefully tended, feed- 
 ing beginning in about a week, when the women 
 pound up or masticate the flesh of the very young 
 coconut — apparently these fish have the same tastes 
 as the West Indian mountain mullet, which likes 
 the soft Avocado pear — and throw it to them. 
 
 After transference to the ponds these fish 
 increase in size very rapidly, and become very fat 
 on their diet of coconut. It would be incorrect, 
 however, to speak of the water in these artificial 
 ponds as being absolutely fresh ; for it is subject 
 to the rise and fall of the tides. At high tide it 
 has (especially during the dry season) a brackish 
 taste and rises some feet ; at the ebb it is fresh 
 enough to be used for drinking or cooking. 
 
 The natives value the fish very highly, and the
 
 A TRANSFORMATION 145 
 
 ponds are only dragged at intervals of some months, 
 all fish under a certain size being returned to the 
 water. More than thirty years ago a quarrel for 
 the possession of a large fish pond on the island of 
 Apian led to a savage encounter — the women of 
 one village attacking those of another with sharks' 
 teeth swords and daggers ; then the men joined in 
 with muskets and knives, several being killed and 
 many wounded. Nowadays the sharks' teeth 
 spears and daggers are made only for the purpose 
 of selling them to the white visitor ; and muskets, 
 rifles and revolvers are articles forbidden by the 
 British Resident. But the fish cultivation goes on as 
 usual, for, unlike their more fortunate Polynesian 
 neighbours of Samoa and other fertile archipelagoes, 
 the poor inhabitants of the torrid lagoon isles of 
 the equatorial Pacific look to the ocean for most of 
 their daily food — they have nought else but coco- 
 nuts, the drupes of the pandanus fruit, and a 
 coarse vegetable called puraka. Yet on such a 
 limited variety of fare they thrive, and are a 
 vigorous and healthy people. 
 
 10
 
 SAUNDERSON AND THE DEVIL-FISH 
 
 Packenham, the skipper, and Denison, the 
 supercargo, of the Palestine^ loathed Saunderson. 
 
 Saunderson was the junior partner of a firm 
 owning a fleet of South Sea trading vessels, of 
 which the Palestine was one, and every two years 
 he was sent round the Islands on a tour of 
 inspection of the various trading stations. He 
 always picked upon the Palestine in which to make 
 the cruise, and it was this that made them so hate 
 the man. 
 
 Saunderson, in the first place, was aggressively 
 
 pious, and always brought his harmonium with 
 
 him, and played it in season and out of season, 
 
 when the brig was at anchor ; at sea he was always 
 
 too ill. In the second place, none of the traders 
 
 liked him — because he insisted upon their letting 
 
 native teachers have whatever goods they wanted 
 
 at 25 per cent, less than the " lay " natives. Thirdly, 
 
 he was a fearful bore, a great intermeddler with 
 
 other people's affairs, and was always getting 
 
 146
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 147 
 
 himself into trouble over his officiousness, and 
 then blaming Denison ; thought he knew every- 
 thing under the sun, especially about the native 
 customs and the South Seas generally, believed 
 himself to be a proficient Polynesian linguist, 
 owing to his having made two voyages each of 
 three months' duration, and was always hinting 
 that supercargoes were not a necessity — in fact, 
 he was, as Denison in his wrath one day told him, 
 " a confounded, fatuous, muddling fat-head, and a 
 nuisance to have to put up with on a trading 
 vessel." 
 
 Saunderson wanted the firm to sack Denison 
 for this, but the senior partner wouldn't have it, 
 tor Denison was too valuable a man to lose ; but 
 the firm wrote him a formal letter, and asked him 
 to apologise to Mr. Saunderson in writing. He 
 replied by post, and registered the letter. 
 
 "Dear Sirs, 
 
 " I am in receipt of yours of even date requesting me to send a 
 written apology to Mr. Alexander Saunderson. I beg respectfully to 
 inform you, in reply thereto, that I will see Air. Ale.xander Saunderson " 
 (here I must omit a word) " before I send him an apology. 
 
 " Yours obediently, 
 
 " Thomas Denison, 
 "Supercargo, brig Palistine." 
 
 Then the matter dropped, and Saunderson one
 
 148 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 day came on board in Sydney to make his third 
 trip, bringing with him his harmonium. He 
 shook hands with Denison, and said he hoped 
 that they would get on better together this time. 
 He was a forgiving sort of idiot, and to show that 
 he bore Denison no ill-will, gave him a book 
 called *' Daily Thoughts for Daily Needs " — 
 eminently suitable for a rum-and-gin-selling super- 
 cargo in the South Sea trade. The supercargo 
 said he was touched, and would read the book on 
 Sundays. 
 
 " And look here, Saunderson," he added, " we 
 ought to get on very well together, but you are 
 such a blundering ass, and think you know more 
 than anyone else. Now I have been fifteen years 
 supercargoing all over the Pacific, and you can't 
 teach me my business. And you ought to re- 
 member that I saved you from being murdered by 
 Commander Muddle, of the Badger^ when you let 
 a dynamite cartridge drift alongside his ship and 
 nearly blew her up. Heavens ! I shall never 
 forget the awful bang, and the fearful oaths Muddle 
 used when he knocked you over the wharf into 
 the water. I told you that you would have an 
 accident, but you wouldn't listen to me, as usual, 
 and so nearly sank one of Her Majesty's gunboats. 
 Now, didn't you } "
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 149 
 
 Saunderson's fat face twitched and he shuddered. 
 He could never forget that awful day. 
 
 " Then you are always interfering with me and 
 the natives, instead of minding your own business, 
 which is to overhaul the traders' books. You 
 think you can speak Samoan and Tahitian and 
 Fijian, but you only know enough to make a 
 blazing fool of yourself, and say things to the 
 chiefs and their women-folk that are fearfully 
 insulting, and make the women bolt." 
 
 Saunderson protested. He only wanted to be 
 polite, he said. 
 
 " Ah, just so, but you do just the other thing, 
 and then the women go and tell the missionaries 
 of the awful things you say to them. In fact, you 
 have a fearful name in some of the islands. 
 
 Saunderson looked incredulous, but Denison 
 went on summing up, and in a few minutes 
 Saunderson's self-assertion gave way, and he 
 promised to be careful in future. 
 
 " Then there is another thing you've done 
 which is losing the firm a lot of money and turned 
 the traders against you to a man — and some of 'em 
 are very religious men, although they don't show it." 
 
 Saunderson's dignity was hurt this time — " I 
 try to save money for the firm, not lose it," he 
 said, with lofty asperity. " Please explain."
 
 I50 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " Why, the idiotic rule you have enforced by 
 which all our traders must sell any of their goods 
 to the native teachers at 25 per cent, less than to 
 the rest of the people. Now, Saunderson, I know 
 you are a religious man, and would not lend 
 yourself to anything improper, and although you 
 and I have often quarrelled, I have a great respect 
 for you as a Christian. You must rescind that 
 rule, which is demoralising to the native teachers 
 in particular, and the other natives in general, and 
 has made three of our traders — Maccabe, Oliphant 
 and Black Sam — take to drink, beat their wives and 
 children, and behave scandalously, and if I were 
 you I should feel that I had done a very wicked 
 thing. For every blow those men inflict on their 
 poor wives, for every time they get drunk, for all 
 the fearful things they see in the horrid visions of 
 delirium tremens^ you, Saunderson, are responsible." 
 
 Saunderson opened his mouth in astonishment, 
 and Denison went on — 
 
 " You see, native teachers are not saints, though 
 they do their best to look like 'em. Now this is 
 what has happened since you made your precious 
 rule — any native who wants to buy anything from 
 the trader goes to the native teacher, and gets a 
 written order from him, planks it down, and the 
 poor, struggling trader has to let him have what
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 151 
 
 he wants at 25 per cent, less than the proper price. 
 See ! It is all your doing, Saunderson — it's 
 encouraging dishonesty, lying, drunkenness, and 
 general immorality, and " 
 
 " I'll stop it," said Saunderson hastily, and he 
 there and then wrote out forty-two notices to 
 forty-two individual men, cancelling the rule 
 whereby the smug teachers obtained their goods 
 cheaply from the exasperated traders. 
 
 Denison went on deck and told Packenham ot 
 the good work he had done, and Packenham nodded 
 approval as he chewed his cigar. 
 
 " I think. Pack," said the supercargo, " that we 
 won't have so much trouble with him this time. 
 I have descended to low flattery whilst I was 
 impressing upon him what a thundering ass he is. 
 And I've told the steward to watch his chance and 
 smear some butter over the internal and infernal 
 anatomy of that cursed harmonium. In two days 
 there will be swarms of cockroaches inside the 
 beastly thing, and in a week it will be done for, 
 and only fit for a packing case." 
 
 ***** 
 
 Saunderson behaved very well for the next two 
 weeks. He was employed in trying to repair the 
 harmonium, which the cockroaches had devastated; 
 and Denison, to show his sympathy, made phos-
 
 152 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 phorus paste to destroy the vermin, and helped 
 Saunderson to paint the interior of the instrument 
 with it, well knowing it would never groan out its 
 dismal tunes any more. 
 
 Then one day Saunderson borrowed an accordion 
 from a native sailor, and found that it suited his 
 voice " for sacred music," and the Palestine became 
 a floating hell of discord— instrumentally and 
 socially, for Denison and Packenham made things 
 unpleasant for the crew, and the mate complained 
 of being deprived of his sleep by Saunderson's 
 " music " when it was his watch below. And 
 then Denison and Saunderson again quarrelled, 
 and the former said that if a bloody mutiny 
 occurred it would be caused by Saunderson and 
 his accursed accordion and his harrowing hymns, 
 and that the mate was a dangerous man with 
 lunacy in his family. 
 
 Saunderson became his old, offensively pompous 
 self again, and inquired if Denison understood 
 their relative positions. Immediately after supper 
 he brought out his accordion, and began to sing 
 " Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," and Denison 
 left the cabin, went for'ard, and returned with 
 "Jack," the ship's dog, a huge Newfoundland, 
 which always howled so dismally at music of any 
 kind that Packenham would not allow the native
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 153 
 
 seamen to play upon anything but Jews' harps. 
 Denison tied the dog up beside the open skyhght, 
 and in three minutes Saunderson's vocal and 
 instrumental efforts were drowned in Jack's 
 agonised howls and weird, awful groans. Then 
 Saunderson stopped and went to bed. 
 
 *' We have the bulge on him now," said Denison 
 to the mate. *' Whenever he touches that infernal 
 accordion, I'll bring the other vocalist and tie 
 him up." 
 
 One day the Palestine reached Apian Island, in 
 the Gilbert Group, and, on account of it falHng a 
 dead calm, anchored off the entrance to the lagoon. 
 Just inside the passage was the American mission 
 ship Morning Star^ also at anchor, and with a 
 lot of missionaries and their wives on board. 
 Saunderson at once went off to her and stayed 
 to dinner with the reverend gentlemen. He 
 returned babbling about the Morning Star being 
 an ideally " happy ship " — the captain and officers 
 were so kind and gentle to the crew, etc., etc. 
 Then he informed Denison with a triumphant 
 look that he had bought another harmonium ! It 
 was destined for a mission station, but Saunderson 
 had begged so hard to buy it that the boss 
 missionary consented, especially as there were 
 several others on board, all intended for various
 
 154 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 mission houses. So Saunderson said he would not 
 only pay the $ioo he was asked, but would give 
 a donation of $2 5 to the mission fund. It was to 
 be sent on board in the morning. Then he took 
 $125 in gold out of the ship's safe, and went off 
 beamingly to have a little music with his new 
 friends. He was so radiantly happy, and so ready 
 to show that he wanted to be friends again with 
 them, that Packenham and Denison unbent, and 
 all three had drinks together — Saunderson taking 
 ginger ale. 
 
 " This is a pretty ' do,' " said Denison gloomily 
 to the skipper after Saunderson had gone. 
 
 " But we have the dog," said Packenham 
 thoughtfully as he pulled his grizzled moustache. 
 
 Denison brightened up. 
 
 « * * * ^ 
 
 About three o'clock in the afternoon, one of the 
 hands, who was aloft, saw two huge sea-rays 
 cruising about the ship, and the mate and Denison 
 had a tub of whale-line, a harpoon and lance 
 tumbled into the whaleboat, and with five native 
 seamen started off in pursuit. 
 
 Now the gigantic ray of the mid-Pacific Islands 
 is an ugly and dangerous customer to tackle by 
 inexperienced men, for it has a trick of suddenly 
 leaping out of the water and descending upon a
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 155 
 
 boat like a falling brick wall, destroying the craft 
 and drowning the occupants. Sometimes it does 
 this when a harpoon is in its back, and it is 
 enraged ; sometimes it does it out of pure, un- 
 adulterated devilry. It is a monstrous creature, 
 sometimes twenty feet or more in width from wing 
 to wing, and with a bony tail of ten feet in length, 
 armed at the junction with the hideous body with 
 a fearful, closely-serrated barb as long as a bayonet. 
 Native canoes always give it a wide berth, but the 
 traders occasionally kill it for the sake of the oil its 
 liver contains. Both the mate and Denison had 
 killed many of these " devil-fish," as they are 
 called, and thoroughly understood how to do it. 
 
 Ten minutes after leaving the ship they came 
 within striking distance of one of the monsters, 
 which was cruising to and fro in the passage, and 
 the mate hove his iron into the creature's back. 
 It at once " sounded " (dived) and made off at a 
 terrific rate seaward, dragging the boat with oars 
 apeak after it. In a few minutes it burst upward 
 again, and then leapt clean out of the water, falling 
 back with a mighty splash ; but the whale-line had 
 been eased off the moment the great bull-like head 
 appeared, and though the long snaky tail swept 
 round and round v/ith savage fury it could not 
 tear out the harpoon.
 
 156 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 *' We've got him now, Meredith," said Denison, 
 *' but let him have a bit of a run before we give 
 him the lance." 
 
 Under the awning spread over the after-deck of 
 the Morning Star were the missionaries, their 
 wives, the captain, and Saunderson, all deeply 
 interested in the scene — the boat, with oars still 
 apeak, flying over the calm surface of the sea, 
 Denison aft at the steer oar, and Meredith standing 
 up in the bows, lance in hand. 
 
 " Regular whaler style," remarked the captain 
 of the missionary ship — himself an ex-whaler 
 skipper. 
 
 *' Oh, but it must be real dangerous," cried a 
 pretty little lady, " is it not, Mr. Saunderson } " 
 
 Saunderson smiled and shrugged his shoulders, 
 and replied that there was nothing in it. He 
 began to feel annoyed that his new friends were 
 more interested in watchin^ the scene than in him- 
 
 o 
 
 self, and mentally blamed Denison. 
 
 " Could you do it } " inquired Mrs. Brooks. 
 
 " Oh yes, I have often killed one of those 
 brutes," he replied unblushingly, for he really had 
 speared several skate in Loch Ryan. " If there is 
 another one about to-morrow I'll show you how 
 / do it." 
 
 Meanwhile the mate and Denison had hauled
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 157 
 
 up to the big ray, and given it the coup-de-grace 
 with the lance, and signalled to the Palestine to 
 send a second boat to help to tow it to the 
 brig. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ 'K ^ 
 
 Soon after breakfast on the following morning, 
 Packenham and Denison went on shore to see the 
 local trader. Saunderson remained on board, for 
 he was waiting for the harmonium. The dead calm 
 still prevailed, and the sun shone upon an oily, 
 glassy sea, Meredith, the mate, was leaning over 
 the rail, smoking his pipe, when he happened to 
 notice the " wings " of a devil-fish flapping out of 
 the water half a cable length away. He pointed 
 them out to Saunderson, and remarked that it was 
 the mate of the one that he and Denison had killed 
 on the preceding day, and that it was seeking its 
 missing companion. 
 
 " I think I'll go and kill the beast, Mr. 
 Meredith," said Saunderson airily ; " will you mind 
 making ready one of the boats and putting all 
 the things into it — the harpoons and lances, and 
 all that is wanted. Hurry up, please, as I want to 
 be back here in time for my harmonium." 
 
 Meredith stared at him blankly, and then 
 observed that it was a " cow " devil-fish, bereft of 
 its mate, and very dangerous to tackle. " But of
 
 158 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 course I'll go with you, sir, and instead of putting 
 an iron into her we'll settle her with the bomb- 
 gun." 
 
 Saunderson at once became Alexander Saunder- 
 son, Esquire. 
 
 " Mr. Meredith, prepare the boat with all the 
 necessaries. / am killing this devil-fish, and / do 
 not require either your services or a bomb-gun. 
 Do you understand ? " 
 
 " Certainly, sir," and Meredith, with a great joy 
 in his heart, yelled out to the deck — 
 
 " Hands to man port whaler. Line-tub, harpoon 
 and lance. Look alive ! " 
 
 In a few minutes the boat was speeding over the 
 water towards the devil-fish, Saunderson steering, 
 whilst one of the five native seamen bent the line 
 on to the harpoon haft. Then the man came aft, 
 to steer, and Saunderson went for'ard, and picked 
 up the harpoon — a weapon he had never before 
 handled in his life. The five natives, however, 
 did not know this, or they would not have gone 
 with him. They knew that he was a fool, but 
 never dreamt how srreat a one. 
 
 As he looked ahead he saw that his harmonium 
 was being lowered into a boat alongside the 
 missionary ship, and it was followed by six of the 
 missionaries, whom Saunderson had invited to come
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH 159 
 
 on board the Palestine ; and on the quarter-deck 
 were a number of ladies, among whom he 
 recognised pretty Mrs. Brooks. He waved his 
 hand to them, and there was a responding flutter 
 of handkerchiefs. They were all looking at him. 
 It made him feel proud. 
 
 On went the boat till within twenty fathoms of 
 the great fish, whose huge, horny back and bull 
 head were showing above water. It was moving 
 very slowly through the glassy v/ater. Saunderson 
 stood erect, disdaining to brace himself against the 
 knee thwart. Leaning back slightly, he poised 
 the harpoon. 
 
 " Wait a bit, wait a bit," yelled the steersman, as 
 he swerved the boat's head a little, " do you wan' 
 to be killed } Don't strike until you are well abreast 
 of de head. Ah, you (blank) fool !" 
 
 Saunderson " hove "as the man was speaking — 
 hove the harpoon as if he were throwing a cricket 
 ball, and the harpoon and haft as well fell flat 
 upon the bull-like head, and rolled off, and the next 
 instant the startled fish swung her fearful tail out 
 of the water, caught Saunderson a blow in the 
 abdominal region, and sent him flying overboard 
 as if he had been shot out of a catapult. And then 
 at the same time, as he splashed into the water, the 
 line began to run out at lightning speed, for the
 
 i6o SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 devil-fish had in some way fouled it, and was 
 carrying it away. 
 
 The moment the steersman saw Saunderson 2:0 
 overboard, he sprang in after him, and succeeded 
 in getting hold of the man, who was half-full of 
 salt water. And away went the boat, for when 
 the steersman jumped to save Saunderson, the line 
 in some way slipped off the loggerhead, and in two 
 minutes the whole 120 fathoms had whizzed out 
 through the stem notch. 
 
 Whilst the rest of the boat's crew were engaged 
 in picking up the bulky figure of the unconscious 
 Saunderson, the devil-fish was making a furious 
 course across the lagoon, every now and then 
 leaping out of the water, and bending herself into 
 weird curves in her frantic efforts to clear herself 
 of the whale-line and the harpoon which was bang- 
 ing her tail. No doubt her passions were aroused, 
 and when her great goggle eyes discerned right 
 ahead of her a boat-load of people, the creature 
 went for it with righteous indignation and deadly 
 intent. Folding her great bat-like wings under 
 her body, she humped herself into the shape of an 
 outspread, but submerged umbrella, and then, with 
 a torrent of foam pouring from all round her, she 
 leapt into the air, flattened out, and fell with a 
 sickening crash upon the boat-load of missionaries
 
 SAUNDERSON AND DEVIL-FISH i6i 
 
 and Saunderson's harmonium. Then, still dragging 
 the line, she made ofF to the sea, feeling she had 
 done her duty and got even with the people who 
 had killed her husband and insulted herself. 
 
 By the time the missionaries and their boat's 
 crew had come to the surface, and the harmonium 
 had gone to the bottom, and whilst the dreadful 
 screams of the ladies on board the Morning Star 
 were resounding across the lagoon, Saunderson's 
 boat had come to the rescue, and saved everyone, 
 and the reverend gentlemen — who thought that 
 they had been struck by a thunderbolt — were taken 
 to the missionary ship, and their injuries, which 
 were slight, attended to. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Saunderson couldn't attend the thanksgiving 
 service held on board the mission ship on the 
 following day. He was too miserable with a 
 fractured rib, and did not even show^any grief when 
 Denison told him that his harmonium was at the 
 bottom of the lagoon. 
 
 " And by rights, Saunderson," said Denison, 
 kindly but firmly, " you ought to be there with it. 
 It is certainly true that Providence spares the 
 innocent infant, the drunken man, and the idiot. 
 Now here is your own ' Daily Thoughts for Daily 
 Needs.' Perhaps you'll find something in it to 
 II
 
 1 62 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 bear you up in your knowledge that by your 
 infernal vanity you nearly caused the deaths of six 
 good, pious clergymen, four A.B.s, and an officer, 
 and have lost me a whale-line and harpoon, that 
 cost altogether £ii^ and, I must remind you, I am 
 a poor man."
 
 THE '* SOUL-SNARERS " OF MANAHIKI 
 
 A LITTLE while ago, while turning over some 
 mementos of Manahiki Island, in the South 
 Pacific, I came across a small circle of fine cane 
 about two inches in diameter ; from the sides 
 towards the centre a delicate network of the fibres 
 of some plant was constructed, leaving a small hole 
 in the centre itself large enough for, say, a bee to 
 crawl through. The article weighed less than a 
 quarter of an ounce, yet, small and harmless as it 
 appeared, it is not so very many years ago that it 
 and others like it were objects of deadly terror to 
 the natives of many of the Pacific Islands, particu- 
 larly those of Manahiki (Humphrey Island), for 
 the simple-looking thing was a " soul-catcher " — 
 that is, a destroyer of human life. 
 
 Manahiki is one of a group of low-lying atoll 
 islands to the N.E. of Samoa, and its people to- 
 day are about the best educated of all the Malayo- 
 Polynesian people. They elect a king and parlia- 
 ment, have one of the most beautifully adorned 
 
 163
 
 1 64 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 churches in the Pacific Islands, and nearly all the 
 younger members of the community can now not 
 only speak, but read and write English. The 
 island is — for an atoll — unusually fertile, and the 
 people a fine, stalwart, handsome, copper-coloured 
 race. The main industries are the making of 
 " copra " (dried coconut) and diving for pearl 
 shell. 
 
 *' Soul-catching " in the heathen days (prior to 
 1863) could be and was practised by anyone who 
 desired revenge or the life of an enemy. Indeed, 
 although the people were nominally Christians in 
 1873, it was still in vogue. The modus operandi 
 is very simple : Two men, Rika and Tetoro, 
 quarrel. Rika accuses Tetoro of going out into 
 the lagoon at night-time, lifting his (Rika's) fish- 
 traps, and abstracting the contents. He, therefore, 
 demands compensation. Tetoro denies the theft. 
 The relatives of both men take sides, and the 
 quarrel assumes all the elements of a feud, with 
 bloodshed. It may be that Tetoro is a man of 
 means, or chiefly rank and influence, and treats his 
 accuser with scorn. 
 
 " Very well," the injured Rika cries, " if I can- 
 not get justice from you I shall snare your soul, 
 and you will die of a wasting sickness." 
 
 Tetoro, even if he is innocent, begins to feel
 
 ' SOUL-SNARERS ' OF MANAHIKI 165 
 
 uneasy at this threat, and, while vigorously denying 
 the theft, offers Rika a present of a pig to end the 
 matter. Rika's relatives now at once clamour not 
 only for their original demands, but for the pig as 
 well. Possibly a free fight ensues, and Rika's 
 people get badly used, and threats of " soul- 
 snaring " are heard on all sides. 
 
 Then Rika's wife makes the snare for Tetoro's 
 soul. Taking her mat out into the village, or 
 upon a well-frequented road or path, she suspends 
 the snare from the branches of trees, or sticks 
 placed in the ground in such a position that she 
 can closely watch the orifice in the centre of the 
 snare. Rika's friends — male and female — come 
 with her. They bring food and eat it, and throw 
 fragments immediately under the snare to attract 
 the flies with which the island is infested. If but 
 one fly crawls through the hole Tetoro is a dead 
 man, unless he suddenly gives in and allows himself 
 to be bled. For not only do Rika's people watch 
 the snare, but his own as well. No one of them 
 would dare attempt to destroy the thing — the death 
 of the interferer by occult power would certainly 
 follow. 
 
 And so for hours and hours — sometimes for 
 days — many pairs of eyes watch the little circle of 
 cane, and Tetoro and his friends are now ready to
 
 1 66 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 yield, fearing that still more extortionate demands 
 may be made. Then at last a fly is seen to crawl 
 through, and a shout goes through the village. 
 
 " Ua hopo te lago ! Ua hopo te lago ! " (" A 
 fly has passed through.") Tetoro hears the cries, 
 and immediately imagines he feels ill. His wife 
 and relatives crowd about him and try to cheer him 
 up, but his face assumes a melancholy look, and as 
 the time passes on he refuses his food. Perhaps 
 he may confess that he did steal Rika's fish and 
 tremblingly offer to make full restitution if Rika 
 will catch a fly and make it go through the circle 
 from the reverse side through which the first one 
 entered voluntarily. Usually this is done, and 
 what might have become a lasting family feud, had 
 Tetoro died of " funk " through being bewitched, 
 ends up by the payment of so much property to 
 Rika, and a feast for which both parties provide the 
 viands. 
 
 At the present time the Rikas and Tetoros of 
 Manahiki fight their battles out in the local court, 
 and anyone insinuating anything about the days 
 of " soul-snaring " would be looked upon as a very 
 ill-mannered, presumptuous person. 
 
 # # * * «
 
 "YACOB" AND "PIG" 
 
 [Elsewhere in this volume I have told the story 
 of my lamented seafaring cat " Jager," who was 
 big, ugly and fierce. " Yacob " was a second feline 
 wanderer who crept into my affections when I 
 was a long, long cry from the South Seas. He 
 was as beautiful and as gentle as Jager was the 
 reverse.] 
 
 Once, when I was swollen up with vanity, I had 
 a dissension with my employers as to my merits as 
 a supercargo, and when the ship reached port I 
 threw up my berth at £'1^k^ per month to raise 
 poultry at a place called Narrabeen, to the north- 
 ward of Sydney. I bought an incubator on the 
 time-payment system, and felt certain that in five 
 years I should be pretty well off, and need never 
 go to sea any more in cockroach-infested trading 
 vessels, and be bullyragged by the owners for not 
 keeping on pleasant terms with the passengers and 
 
 missionaries — both classes of people who are always 
 
 167
 
 1 68 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 most objectionable to any self-respecting super- 
 cargo cast upon the South Seas to earn his living 
 by the sweat of his brow and his abilities to make 
 money for his firm out of the native potentates. 
 The passengers always want to know too much, 
 and the missionaries do know too much, about 
 things that should not concern them, and write 
 silly letters to the Press about extortionate trading 
 captains and supercargoes, and yet come on board 
 with smiling faces, and want to buy things at cost 
 price, and ask the captain not to let his crew upset 
 the morality of the pious natives. Now my ex- 
 perience of the saved Kanaka was that he (and 
 especially " she ") generally corrupted the crew ; 
 but let it pass — I am writing about ducks and 
 things, not missionaries nor Kanakas. 
 
 The place where I decided to make my fortune 
 (it was my second attempt at the thing) was an 
 estate of 500 acres of bush land overlooking the 
 Pacific. It belonged to a Sydney tradesman, who 
 had built upon it a large and commodious bungalow, 
 which he had had handsomely furnished, and let it 
 to me at a nominal rental on the understanding that 
 during the summer months he and his family were 
 to occupy it occasionally for a few weeks at a 
 time. It was a lonely spot — no neighbour within 
 two miles — but very restful ; and so when I,
 
 'YACOB' AND 'PIG' 169 
 
 accompanied by my four-year old daughter, a 
 Samoan native boy named Sili, three large crates 
 of ducks and fowls, two pigs and a cow and calf, 
 took up our quarters, I had a pleasing patriarchal- 
 like feeling. 
 
 We arrived at 10 a.m., and by sunset Sili and I 
 had killed four snakes — one a huge " carpet " of 
 ten feet in length, which was lying asleep on the 
 top of an iron-water tank ; another of the same 
 species, but smaller, in the cow-shed ; and two 
 deadly brown snakes, both of which we found 
 under an overturned washing bench at the back of 
 the kitchen. 
 
 Within a week I discovered that we were in a 
 thoroughly snake-infested country. In addition to 
 the lazy and harmless "carpet," "diamond," and 
 the beautiful bright green tree-snakes, there were 
 also the venomous brown, black and " tiger," and 
 a fair number of the dreaded " death adders." It 
 was December when we arrived, and by the end 
 of March we had killed some hundreds of the 
 various kinds. The carpet and diamond variety 
 were much attached to the fowl-house, and, although 
 we had it enclosed with wire netting, they still 
 managed to get in occasionally and take a young 
 duck or chicken. Then, in addition to snakes, 
 there were plenty of native cats, iguanas — also egg
 
 lyo SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 and fowl gourmands — and, after rain, swarms of 
 scorpions and huge blue centipedes. 
 
 But against these crawling reptiles we had some 
 compensations ; Narrabeen Lagoon was literally 
 teeming with fish, and in the way of game there 
 were plenty of wild duck, gill birds, and king 
 parrots ; and so we lived very well, and were 
 happy enough. 
 
 One day I went into the village of Manly — 
 Sydney's Brighton — to buy some meat, and the 
 butcher asked me if I wanted a good dog, and he 
 pointed to a wicked-eyed, but handsome white 
 fox-terrier, lying on the sawdusted floor. I did 
 want a dog — badly — for the native cats had been 
 playing havoc with my incubator-reared chickens 
 and ducklings. So I became the possessor of 
 *' Pig." Oh ! would that these were the days of 
 the Inquisition, and I were Chief Inquisitor, and 
 now had that butcher man in my power ! 
 
 '' He's a splendid dog," said the mendacious 
 scoundrel, " but my missus don't like him, as 
 he's always going fur the cat." I said that that was 
 very natural for almost any kind of dog ; then he 
 added that the missus had called him " Pig," and 
 that the name had stuck to him — which I thought 
 was hard on the dog. 
 
 When I reached home in the evening with
 
 'YACOB' AND 'PIG' 171 
 
 ''Pig" at my heels, my infant daughter was 
 charmed with him, and I too was pleased ; for the 
 creature evidently had great intelligence, and 
 examined my native cat trap with much interest. 
 This trap has been devised by Sili and I after much 
 brain work, and had proved highly successful — 
 four of the spiteful spotted vermin already having 
 fallen victims to it. It consisted of two barrels 
 placed outside the fowl-house, lengthways. One 
 had one end left in, the other (the front) was 
 covered by wire netting — inside was a live duck ; 
 against this first barrel was placed the other which 
 had both ends knocked out, and in the bottom of 
 this was a strong steel trap, lying in the bilge, and 
 covered over with dead leaves. The stealthy, 
 nocturnal murderer, creeping about the fowl- 
 house, trying to find an entrance, could discern, 
 through the dark vista of the empty barrels, a 
 placidly sleeping duck at the farther end, and 
 crawling slowly towards it over the dead leaves 
 would settle down for the fatal spring, and then 
 Snap ! and fearful yeUs and blasphemous cat- 
 language unattainable by the ordinary domestic 
 breed. Then, if the wild beast did not bite ofF 
 the imprisoned leg and escape, a charge of shot 
 put it out of its misery. 
 
 That night we let Pig lie on the back verandah,
 
 172 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 and towards daylight we were aroused by the 
 blood-curdhng yells of a native cat, mingled with 
 the howling of an injured dog. Sili and I rushed out 
 to the trap, and as we reached it Pig darted past 
 us to the house. In the trap was a large native cat, 
 held by its hind legs, and spitting and snarling like 
 a tiger, I struck a match, and saw that the 
 creature's head and fore-paws were smothered in 
 gore. We killed it, and then, after liberating the 
 terrified decoy duck, returned to the house to 
 see what was the matter with my child, who was 
 screaming — and with Pig, who was howling. 
 
 We found the dog on the child's bed. They 
 presented an appalling appearance, for Pig seemed 
 to have been dipped in blood, and at the moment 
 was actively engaged in soliciting sympathy from 
 the terrified child by licking her face and hands. 
 
 After silencing the infant's screams, and washing 
 her down, we attended to Pig, and found that the 
 native cat had all but scalped him, and his ears 
 resembled the frayed-out end of a piece of Manila 
 rope. We did our best for him with " Jeyes' " 
 fluid and lard, and then put him in hospital. In a 
 fortnight he was out, chasing bandicoots and 
 iguanas, and none the worse except for his appear- 
 ance — which was distinctly against him. 
 
 * * * # *
 
 'YACOB' and *PIG' 173 
 
 One afternoon, as the Samoan boy and I were 
 putting up some wire fencing, we were approached 
 by a large grey cat, which seemed to come out of 
 the bush from nowhere and to be going anywhere. 
 It was a splendid-looking animal, and was plainly 
 suffering from thirst, for as it sat down on its 
 haunches a few feet away from us, it began to pant 
 like an exhausted dog. We gave it a drink from 
 our billy can of oatmeal water, and at once became 
 friends, and Pig — who had reasons for disliking 
 the feline race — also " took to him " and licked him 
 thoroughly, the cat accepting his lavatory attentions 
 with closed eyes, upturned chin, and a sonorous 
 purr. He followed us home, and, with calm 
 assurance, curled himself up in front of the kitchen 
 fire and went to sleep. About five in the afternoon 
 he went out for a stroll, and half-an-hour later 
 trotted back with a live snake in his mouth. It 
 was one of the deadly brown species, about two 
 feet long, and " Yacob," — as we had already 
 named the cat, because it sounded like " Jager " 
 — had seized it just behind the head, which was 
 hanging by a shred of skin only. He brought the 
 writhing reptile into the kitchen, dropped it on the 
 mat, regarded it with pensive interest for a few 
 moments, and then proceeded to eat it in sections. 
 Then he went to sleep again.
 
 174 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 I do not exaggerate in the slightest when I say- 
 that almost every day for two months Yacob 
 killed a snake of some sort, and brought it into 
 the house. Some — if they were young and tender 
 ■ — -he would eat, others which were too old he 
 would not. Of the young brown snakes he was 
 particularly fond, especially those which were at 
 that stage of life when two tiny rudimentary legs, 
 or rather fins, can be seen. (These rudimentary 
 limbs either fall off or are absorbed into the scales 
 later on.) Very often Sili and I watched him 
 seize his prey, and marvelled at his agility and 
 courage. He never hesitated, and never failed. 
 If the reptile was lying quiet, he would make a 
 lightning-like spring and seize it close by the 
 head, and with one quick crunch crush the verte- 
 brate ; if it was gliding swiftly away, Yacob was 
 equally as swift, and the snake never had time to 
 make its half-coil to strike. 
 
 One day we saw a beautiful bright green tree- 
 snake, in the branches of a honeysuckle, engaged in 
 devouring the eggs in the nest of a minah bird. 
 We brought Yacob, and put him up in the tree. 
 The snake, which was non-venomous, and about 
 three feet in length, though scarcely as thick as a 
 man's little finger, at once tried to escape, but the 
 cat chased it from branch to branch, and at last the
 
 *YACOB' AND 'PIG' 175 
 
 reptile coiled itself round and round the rough 
 bark of a branch, and hid its head in a depression, 
 much to Yacob's anger. He bit it on the body 
 several times and then seized it by the tail, and 
 began to eat it leisurely inch by inch ! In a few 
 minutes the snake uncoiled and fell head down- 
 wards to the ground ; the cat sprang after it and 
 gave it the usual coup-de-grace by biting off the 
 head. 
 
 Just about the time that this occurred, Pig began 
 to show some bad traits. I had shot and plucked 
 a black duck, and in the morning found it was gone 
 from the wire meat-cover under which I had 
 placed it in the kitchen. Suspecting an iguana was 
 the thief, I thought no more of it, until happening 
 to look inside the dog's kennel I saw the duck's 
 feet and bill, and Pig did not show up as usual for 
 breakfast. I found him hiding under a bed, 
 dragged him out and duly chastised him. Two 
 days later we missed a fine cross-bred Muscovy, 
 and again Pig disappeared, and did not return that 
 night. In the morning he came home with a very 
 guilty look, and later on Sili found the remains of 
 the Muscovy among the reeds on the bank of a 
 waterhole. To ascertain the dog's guilt or inno- 
 cence we resorted to the French method of 
 " reconstructing " the crime. Calling to the dog
 
 176 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 to come with us, we set out towards the waterhole ; 
 he followed us for a few hundred yards, and then 
 showed sio^ns of uneasiness as we drew near the 
 scene of the deed. Then I went on ahead, and 
 picking up the mangled remains of the bird held it 
 up, and looked inquiringly at Pig ; he turned his 
 head aside, pretended he saw something in the scrub, 
 and then made a bolt for his kennel. Sili thrashed 
 him, and we kept him tied up for some time after. 
 
 One morning the Samoan boy, my little girl 
 and I locked up the house to go to Sydney for the 
 day. We could not find the dog, and concluded 
 that he had gone hunting bandicoots in the night, 
 and would turn up later on. Yacob we left asleep 
 on top of a water-tank. 
 
 It so happened that, owing to a heavy gale that 
 sprang up in the afternoon, we were unable to 
 return that day, the Manly steamer not daring to 
 leave and encounter the mountainous seas that were 
 rolling in through Sydney Heads, and which she 
 would have had to encounter broadside on. So 
 that night we slept in the city, and caught the 
 early morning boat at six o'clock, arriving finally 
 at Narrabeen four hours later. 
 
 Yacob met us as we, laden with many parcels, 
 tramped up the path to the house, which 
 stood hot and shining white under the morning
 
 'YACOB' AND 'PIG' 177 
 
 sun. Unlocking the back door, we entered, and I 
 at once concluded that the place had been burglar- 
 ised, or something like that had occurred. The 
 kitchen floor was strewed with broken crockery and 
 glassware — we had set the table for supper so as to 
 save time when we returned — every blind was torn 
 down, and, with the tablecloth, was lying in strips 
 on the floor. Passing into the dining-room an 
 awful scene of devastation met our eyes — here, too, 
 every blind, and the lace curtains as well, were 
 lying in ribbons on the smooth, polished floor, 
 mingled with torn books, music and broken 
 vases, photographs, and other articles ; a handsome 
 morocco leather-covered couch, which stood near 
 the French lights on the verandah, was hopelessly 
 ruined, and not only was the leather in strips, but 
 the horsehair stuffing had been torn out, and was 
 scattered all over the room. In the bedrooms the 
 same condition of afi^airs obtained — blinds down, 
 spotless white quilts and sheets, and all such other 
 bed-gear, lying around in confused heaps as if a 
 tornado had visited the apartment and twisted 
 everything about ; toilet table covers, a lady's dress- 
 ing-gown, and many articlesof/i/z^mf, broken soap- 
 dishes, chewed up tooth and hair brushes, were all 
 mingled together. 
 
 Under one of the beds we found Pig. 
 12
 
 1 78 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 We tried him by court-martial right away, and, 
 as I had already computed the damage he had 
 inflicted would cost me at least ^^ 50, and the poultry 
 were not paying, decided upon the death sentence 
 being carried into effect summarily. 
 
 " What are you doing with poor Pig ? " inquired 
 my child, as Sili, grasping the wretched criminal by 
 his collar, asked me for my revolver. 
 
 " Taking him for a bath," replied Sili in Samoan. 
 
 Yacob followed us down to a secluded spot, and 
 after Sili had fulfilled his dread ofiice by putting a 
 bullet through Pig's brains, the cat came up, smelled 
 the defunct curiously, and then, sitting on his 
 haunches, gazed meditatively at the corpse. 
 
 I believe that if that cat could have spoken he 
 would have said something to the effect that the 
 Wages of Sin is Death.
 
 THE DESERTED ATOLL 
 
 The night was very, very quiet, and soundless 
 but for the low throbbing of the surf upon the 
 weather side of the atoll. On the smooth, glass- 
 like surface of the small but deep lagoon, fringed 
 with a scanty, broken belt of silent coco-palms, 
 the light of myriad stars shone down and glorified 
 it so that it seemed to me as a lake of silver in the 
 House Beautiful that is Beyond. 
 
 Our schooner lay at anchor outside the reef, two 
 miles away from where I lay upon the coarse grass 
 under the shadows of a small grove of pandanus 
 palms, and every now and then I could see the 
 gleam of her riding light as she rose to the heave 
 of the long, gentle swell. 
 
 I had pulled on shore in the dinghy to spend the 
 night on this lonely, uninhabited spot in the North 
 Pacific for two reasons ; one was that the vessel 
 carried a malodorous cargo of copra and shark 
 fins, and the other was that I wanted a night's fishing 
 in the lagoon and a ramble over the seven small 
 
 179
 
 i8o SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 islets which formed the atoll. There was but one 
 small boat -passage into the lagoon — so narrow that 
 the tips of the oar-blades had grazed the coral sides. 
 
 It was past supper-time when the boat touched 
 the firm sand of a white little beach that shone 
 under the bright starlight, and which was almost in 
 the centre of the largest of the seven islets. Here 
 the coco and pandanus palms grew more plentifully 
 than. on any other of the islets, and the ground was 
 strewn with old coconuts and the rich, red-yellow 
 drupes of pandanus fruit, upon which scores of 
 red and grey robber crabs were silently but 
 vigorously feeding. 
 
 I caught one of the smallest, killed it, baited one 
 of my lines with the fat, luscious tail, and made a 
 cast out into deep water ten fathoms from the 
 beach. As the heavy bait struck the water 
 hundreds upon hundreds of silvery gar-fish leapt 
 out in alarm, and as they fell back there came 
 from beneath swift gleams of bubbling, phos- 
 phorescent light, and then a hurried splashing on 
 the surface, as a number of large, bream-shaped 
 fish called laheu each seized one of the shining 
 shafts of silver. Then, as the widening ripples 
 died away, silence again — and a tug at my line. 
 
 I knew by the steady port-to-starboard pull 
 that I had hooked an uku. a coarse-flavoured fish
 
 THE DESERTED ATOLL i8i 
 
 with a body like a salmon in shape and an ugly 
 barbel-like head. I soon landed him on the beach, 
 and then hung him up by his broad tail to a 
 pandanus branch ; our native crew would make 
 their breakfast of him next morning. 
 
 I fished for an hour and then ceased, for I had 
 caught more than the ship's company could eat in 
 several days — uku^ laheu and red rock cod. Then 
 re-filling my pipe, and under the glorious starlight, 
 I set out for a tramp. along the inner beaches of 
 the atoll. 
 
 The tide was on the ebb, and the connecting 
 reef between the islets began to show blackly. 
 There was not the faintest breath of a breeze to 
 rustle the pendant palm leaves, and when after 
 walking a mile on the sand I struck across the 
 
 o 
 
 narrow belt of sandy soil and gained the weather 
 side and a view of the ocean, I found that it, too, 
 was slumbering as peacefully as the shimmering 
 lake within the encircling belt of islets and reef. 
 There was, it is true, a soft, gende murmur of the 
 sea as it laved the " steep-to " walls of coral rock. 
 Seating myself upon a large round boulder 
 covered thickly with a crispy creeper of pale green 
 mingled with soft yellow moss, I turned my face 
 to the lagoon and wondered what had been the 
 fate of the brown people who had dwelt on these
 
 1 82 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 quiet islands fifty years before. Whaleships had 
 in those days, and before, touched there and 
 bartered with the natives for turtle, which abounded 
 then as they do now. Then one day a ship called 
 and lay-to off the reef waiting for the canoes to 
 come out. But none came, and no smoke arose 
 from the village of thatched huts amid the palm 
 grove. A boat was sent into the lagoon, and the 
 crew found the place deserted and the houses 
 tenanted only by pigs and fowls. Everything of 
 value to the native mind had disappeared, and not 
 a single canoe was found. 
 
 It was never known what became of this com- 
 munity of over a hundred gentle, peaceable souls, 
 who had no fear of enemies. Why had they 
 taken to their canoes, and whither had they gone ? 
 The atoll is in the very north of the Radack Chain 
 of the Marshall Archipelago ; to the south were 
 many islands all easily reached in those placid seas 
 by even the smallest canoe ; to the westward 
 lie the hundred isles and atolls of the great Ralick 
 Chain ; to the eastward and north the landless 
 ocean for more than two thousand miles. Perhaps, 
 possessed by some hot and sudden desire to see 
 the world beyond and find new lands, they had 
 steered east and died of starvation and thirst upon 
 the wide Pacific. The inhabited islands of the
 
 THE DESERTED ATOLL 183 
 
 south and west they certainly did not try to reach, 
 for some traces of the fleet would have been found 
 had it been overwhelmed by a sudden squall — the 
 broken canoes would have drifted on shore some- 
 where. No one will ever know now. 
 
 Near to where I sat was one of the few large 
 trees that had its life in the warm and yet moist, 
 sandy soil. It was a species of ficus common to 
 some of the atolls of the Pacific, and as I looked 
 up at the lofty branches I saw they were occupied 
 by thousands of roosting terns. The tree was 
 evidently a breeding, as well as a roosting-place, 
 for the bare ground beneath was white with egg 
 shells. 
 
 * * * * # 
 
 The red dome of the sun was bursting from the 
 sea-rim when I returned to the boat. A piece of 
 fish grilled upon some glowing coals and a young 
 coconut to drink made my breakfast ; then, 
 taking down my catch, I placed them in the dinghy 
 and pushed off. As I rowed across to the passage 
 a gentle air rippled the surface of the lagoon, and 
 a tropic bird and his mate slid off from the crown 
 of a coco-palm and sailed seaward, followed by a 
 thousand croaking terns. Their day — and mine 
 — had begun.
 
 THE PALA 
 
 It is near dawn and the little palm-clad isle of 
 Nanomaga, in the South Pacific, wakes to life as 
 the fleecy sea-mist which has encompassed it 
 through the quiet night melts away to the first 
 cool breaths of the rising trade-wind. 
 
 From the houses of thatch that are clustered 
 under a grove of graceful, lofty cocos, thin streams 
 of pale blue smoke float upward to a cloudless sky, 
 and the murmur of women's voices is heard as 
 they prepare the simple morning meal. A great 
 dome of fire, blood-red, bursts upwards on the 
 eastern sea-rim, and the island day has come. 
 
 Then singly, and in two and threes, the men 
 and boys of the village, clad only in their many- 
 hued girdles of grass, sally forth to the beach for 
 their morning bathe. 
 
 As they pass the trader's house, the white man, 
 
 too, comes out in his pyjamas to smoke his early 
 
 pipe and drink his cofi^ee. 
 
 A big, tawny-skinned native waves his hand to 
 184
 
 THE PALA 185 
 
 him as he passes and calls out the morning's 
 greeting in bastard Samoan. 
 
 " Wilt come with us to-day in thy whaleboat, 
 friend ? We go to catch pala after the first service 
 is finished." 
 
 The white man nods assent. 
 
 " Aye, Kino, I shall come. 'Tis like to be a 
 fair day for pala." 
 
 tI? * ^^ 'f* "^ 
 
 The island of Nanomaga is one of the Ellice 
 Group, lying 600 miles north-west of Samoa. 
 It is the smallest of the seven, has no lagoon, 
 and is less than four miles in circumference. 
 Yet although it is merely an upheaved sandbank 
 densely covered with coconut trees, with a few 
 banyan trees, and produces no vegetable except a 
 coarse variety of the taro called puraka, it supports 
 a population of nearly 500 people. The men 
 are fine, stalwart fellows, and except the Ocean 
 Islanders there are no finer deep-sea fishermen 
 in the whole Pacific. Living with them as I did 
 for some time I learned to appreciate their 
 estimable quahties, and owe them a debt of 
 gratitude for all they taught me in the way of 
 deep-sea fishing. For to me deep-sea fishing has 
 been something more than a mere hobby — it has 
 been a delight and solace during the many, many
 
 1 86 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 years I lived on the islands of the equatorial 
 and north-west Pacific. And at Nanomaga (pro- 
 nounced Nanoomanga) I caught my first pala, as 
 well as many other great deep-sea fish unknown 
 to me except by name and by the many contradic- 
 tory descriptions of them given to me by traders 
 and by natives of other island groups. 
 
 The pala is one of the handsomest, strongest and 
 hardest-fighting fish in the Pacific. It is not often 
 met with off the coasts of such high lands as Samoa, 
 Fiji and the Solomon Archipelago, nor is it, as far 
 as my experience goes, ever seen more than a few 
 leagues away from land of any kind, although it 
 is essentially a deep-sea fish, and never comes into 
 shallow water inside the barrier reefs. But about 
 the low-lying atolls and sand-banked islands of the 
 mid-Pacific it is very plentiful, and the man who 
 wants exciting, thrilling, soul-exciting sport, com- 
 pared with which tarpon fishing is a dull and 
 stodgy experience, should go to any of the mid- 
 Pacific Islands and fish for pala. 
 
 The pala is one of the mackerel family, as far as 
 its shape, general appearance and beauty of its 
 colouring goes. But its size is enormous ; a big 
 one will attain 7 feet in length, though its greatest 
 circumference, at the shoulders, will be under 2^ 
 to 38 inches. Its flesh, though somewhat dry
 
 THE PALA 187 
 
 when the fish is full-grown, is very palatable and 
 much prized by the natives, who prefer it to either 
 that of the bonito or albicore. 
 
 The pala is caught in two ways — by enticing it 
 alongside a canoe or boat and getting a running 
 bowline over its head, or by trolling for it with a 
 long line and very stout hook baited with a fresh 
 flying-fish or a young bonito. The latter method 
 I liked best, for I had an American whaleboat, and 
 with two natives to help me had no fear of being 
 capsized or stove-in as often was the case in a light 
 canoe, for an adult pala is almost as strong and 
 quite as swift as a porpoise, and it requires great 
 skill to get one alongside and club him on his bony 
 head or give him a lance-thrust through the vitals. 
 
 The head of the pala consists of almost solid 
 bone ; the sides and gills are covered with a series 
 of plates of great hardness, and the jaws are set 
 not with teeth, but with serrated plates of bone 
 nearly a third of an inch in thickness and about 
 15 inches in length. Woe to the hapless man 
 who has the misfortune to get his hand between 
 the jaws of a live pala — it would be taken off as 
 cleanly as if it had been severed with an axe. 
 
 The pala preys mostly upon bonito, though it 
 has a strong penchant for flying-fish. It is not a 
 nocturnal feeder, and will never take a bait between
 
 1 88 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 sunset and sunrise. Once, one dark moonless 
 night when I with some natives were flying-fish 
 catching with torches outside the barrier reef of 
 the atoll of Funafuti, a huge pala swam slowly up 
 to the canoe, attracted by the blazing torch of 
 dried coconut leaves. He ranged alongside and 
 remained perfectly motionless, and I was foolish 
 enough to slip a bowline over his head and haul 
 taut when I had passed it down towards his tail. 
 Dazed as he was by the brilliant light, he soon 
 showed us that he was quite wide-awake. Leaping 
 clear out of the water, he fell with a crash upon 
 the outrigger platform, rolled off, and then made 
 off with such lightning-like speed that I could not 
 hold the line, the end of which was fast to the 
 'midship thwart of the canoe. Down went the 
 outrigger and over went the canoe, and four 
 natives and myself found ourselves in the water, 
 listening to the jeers and laughter from other 
 canoes. For quite twenty minutes we, all hanging 
 on to the canoe, were dragged through the water. 
 Then one of the natives got hold of the line, hauled 
 himself along it up to the pala, and drew his knife 
 along its belly from the throat to the ventral fin. 
 This fish was one of the largest that even the 
 natives had seen, and weighed nearly 300 lbs. 
 During the time that I lived on Nanomaga
 
 THE PALA 189 
 
 (known to navigators as Hudson's Island) I had 
 some glorious pala fishing — fishing that only those 
 v.-ho have caug-ht tarpon can appreciate. For, like 
 that huge herring, the pala performs some curious 
 acrobatic feats when he finds the hook firmly fixed 
 in his long throat — it rarely penetrates his armour- 
 plated jaws unless it happens to strike in the 
 lower jaw under the tongue, where there is an un- 
 protected spot of thick, tough skin between the 
 angles of the jaw itself. 
 
 I must not forget to mention that this noble fish 
 is in colour a verv dark blue on the back, which is 
 covered w^ith fine, closely-set, iridiscent scales ; 
 along the sides the blue becomes paler, and the 
 w^hole lower parts of the body are a shining, 
 burnished and scaleless silver ; the fins are tipped 
 with orange yellow, as are also the edges of the 
 strong, bony and beautifully-shaped crescent tail. 
 A more handsome fish does not range the seas. 
 
 The tackle I used was of 36-cord American 
 white cotton, as thick as a stout lead pencil, and 
 strong enough to hold a porpoise — the best tackle 
 in the world. The hook was a 5-inch flatted 
 Kirby, curved in the shank and swivel-fastened to 
 a fathom of stout steel chain always kept brightly 
 polished — as bright, in fact, as the shining flying- 
 fish through which the hook was run lengthwise.
 
 I90 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Whenever a " school " of bonito was seen off 
 the reef of Nanomaga, I would, if there was any 
 breeze at all, man my whaleboat and set off and 
 follow them, knowing that at least two or three 
 pala would be in pursuit of the bonito, and that I 
 was pretty certain to get one. 
 
 Once over the reef we would set sail — mainsail 
 and jib — and pay out from lOO to 150 fathoms of 
 line, with hook baited with a flying-fish, and giving 
 the line a couple of turns around the loggerhead, 
 off we went, using canoe paddles as well as canvas 
 if the breeze was too light to enable us to overtake 
 the " school " of bonito. 
 
 Then, once we were abreast of the swarm of 
 hurrying, splashing and leaping fish — which well 
 deserve their Spanish name of " beautiful," I would 
 give up the steer-oar to one of the boat's crew, and 
 stand by my line. 
 
 Five, perhaps ten, minutes might pass, and then 
 would come a sudden tug and the line would 
 tauten out like a steel bar, and a long shaft of 
 shining blue and silver would spring high out of 
 the water, curve into a half-moon shape, and fall 
 back with a splash. 
 
 Then, down sail in a hurry, as the line is passed 
 for'ard to whizz through the stem notch, and off 
 goes the boat almost as quickly as if she were fast
 
 THE PALA 191 
 
 to a " fin-back " whale. Every now and then the 
 line will slacken, and pala will double and do the 
 tarpon trick — leaping out of the water and trying 
 to shake the hook from his jaws. 
 
 But, fathom by fathom, the line is hauled in 
 until we are near enough to get up to our prize, 
 and give him a thrust or two with the lance or slip 
 a bowline over him, and stun his vitality by a 
 few blows from a heavy toa wood club on his bony 
 head. 
 
 Then comes the task of gettinor our fish — still 
 quivering and lashing his tail — inboard. It is not 
 an easy one, even for three or four men, to get a 
 250-lb. fish over the gunwale of a whaleboat. 
 
 But it is done, and then up sail again and back 
 to the island. The women and children rush 
 down to the beach and say very complimentary 
 things to the white man, for they know that he 
 will only take one slice of the great fish, and give 
 the rest of it to the village.
 
 WATERS, THE " LOAFER " 
 
 We were lying in Apia Harbour, ready for sea 
 — bound on a labour recruiting cruise to New 
 Britain and New Ireland. It was just after dawn, 
 when the skipper and I, who were sleeping on deck, 
 were awakened by hearing a canoe come along- 
 side, and a strange voice hailing the anchor watch. 
 
 " I want to see the captain at once." Then the 
 stranger came aboard and walked aft. 
 
 " Well," said the captain, " who are you, and 
 what do you want .''" 
 
 " I'm — oh, my name is Brown — or Smith, if you 
 like, and I want a berth as steward." 
 
 " Do you ! Well, I have a steward — as you'll find 
 out in a few minutes when he comes on board, and 
 kicks you over the side." (Our steward had been 
 given a night's liberty on shore and had promised 
 to be back at six o'clock.) 
 
 " He won't, captain. In fact he can't, poor 
 chap. He's dead. Had a mill with a big Dutch- 
 man at Charley the Russian's over a game of cards 
 
 192
 
 WATERS, THE * LOAFER' 193 
 
 about an hour ago, and the Dutchman hit him over 
 the heart. He dropped like a stone, and died in 
 half-a-minute. Too fat, you know." 
 
 " And you want to step into his shoes before 
 the poor devil is cold ! " 
 
 " Will that hurt him, now that he is dead ? 
 You'll want a steward, and I'm as good a man as 
 you can get in this place. There will be half-a- 
 dozen mongrel Dagoes here before breakfast 
 wanting the berth, and as I am the early bird I 
 have the first right to the worm." 
 
 Packenham stroked his beard, and eyed our 
 visitor steadily. 
 
 " Got good discharges ? " he inquired. 
 
 " No — no discharges of any kind. But I can 
 do the work." 
 
 " What have you been doing here in Apia ? " 
 
 " Nothing — stony-broke, and loafing on the 
 beach. Have a black mark against me — if you 
 want to know the truth, my name is Waters — Jack 
 Waters. I was second mate and recruiter of the 
 Princess, and had to skip out of Fiji. I was sure 
 that when the case come on, I should get five years 
 at least . And yet I only acted as I ought to have 
 done, and saved the ship." 
 
 In an instant our interest — and sympathies as 
 well — were aroused. The Princess case was then
 
 194 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 being much talked about. Briefly it was this : 
 The vessel, like ours, was in the Kanaka labour 
 trade, and when at Bougainville Island in the 
 Solomon Group, a determined attempt to cut her 
 off was made by the natives. The captain and 
 two of the crew were clubbed to death, and the 
 rest would have shared their fate but for Waters 
 and a seaman, who, taking their Winchester car- 
 bines, sprang up the rigging into the tore-top, and 
 from there shot down at the savages on deck, 
 killing eleven, and wounding several others. The 
 rest sprang overboard and swam ashore, and 
 Waters, unfortunately, killed two more as they 
 were escaping. This, in the opinion of the com- 
 mander of a gunboat then cruising in the Solomons, 
 was " cruel and unnecessary slaughter." The 
 Princess was seized and sent to Fiji, with a prize 
 crew, and a few days later Waters, by bribing his 
 native gaolers, made his escape. 
 
 ***** 
 The captain pondered a moment or two. Samoa 
 was then out of the jurisdiction of the High Com- 
 missioner for the Western Pacific, so Waters was safe 
 from arrest for the present. But he would not be 
 so once we left Samoa, and there was every likeli- 
 hood of our meeting a British man-of-war some- 
 where about New Britain or New Ireland.
 
 WATERS, THE 'LOAFER' 195 
 
 " Look here, Waters. I'll do what I can for 
 you, and will ship you as steward and cook ; but 
 you know that we are going to the north-west, 
 and " 
 
 Waters nodded — " I know. But I'll take my 
 chance. Will you give me the berth ^ " 
 
 " Yes. Now you can go for'ard and dig into 
 the galley. Then after breakfast you can come 
 ashore with me to the Consul's and sign on. Any- 
 one know you are here .? " 
 
 " No one." 
 
 '*So much the better. The Consul is an *old 
 woman,' who would have you arrested by the 
 municipal police on his own authority, and send 
 you back to Fiji, if he knew who you were. He'd 
 crawl a mile on his stomach to please the High 
 Commissioner." 
 
 Then Waters, the Recruiter, became *' Brown," 
 the Steward." Without any pretence of sham sub- 
 servience he raised his hand to his wide-brimmed 
 Panama hat. 
 
 " Thank you, sir. What will you have for 
 breakfast ? " 
 
 ** Anything you like to give us. Where is your 
 gear ^ " 
 
 " Alongside in the canoe." 
 
 Packenham laughed — " You were dead sure on 
 getting poor Simpson's berth, Waters. Now
 
 196 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 come below and have a gin and bitters. This 
 is my Recruiter " — indicating me. 
 
 " Glad to meet you, sir," said the man quietly, 
 as he and I shook hands. And from that time 
 out till we saw the last of him, he was " Brown, 
 the Steward," and always " sir-ed " the captain and 
 me when anyone else was present. At night, 
 however, the captain, the two mates and myself 
 would talk freely together with " Jack Waters " 
 — one of the best sailor men that ever trod deck. 
 In my ever vivid memory of him the man is before 
 me now as I first saw him — the square-set, bronzed 
 face, unshaven chin, and long, ragged moustache ; 
 keen, deep-set, heavy-browed eyes of steely, 
 challenging grey. His every feature was in con- 
 sonance with his build — somewhat short in stature, 
 broad chest, small feet, and equally small 
 and shapely hands, that somehow seemed quite 
 disproportionate to his other limbs. But they 
 were hands that he could use effectively, as we 
 soon discovered. 
 
 Our boatswain took a dislike to " Brown," and 
 two days after we had left Apia said something 
 derogatory to him about his cooking. g 
 
 *' Brown " came aft to the skipper. 
 
 "I'm very sorry, sir, but I've hurt the bos'un. 
 I think it is one of his ribs." 
 
 4» el? « « ^
 
 WATERS, THE 'LOAFER' 197 
 
 With the lusty south-east trade we made a 
 quick run from Samoa till we were abreast of 
 Ysabel Island in the Solomon Group ; then we 
 ran into dirty weather from the westward, and the 
 second mate — a half-caste Maori — had his leg 
 badly fractured in trying to secure some of the 
 spare spars we carried on the main deck, and 
 which had got adrift one wild night when the 
 little brig was rolling her soul out in a thumping 
 cross sea, in which two of our boats were damaged. 
 " Brown " (who was tenderly nursing the bos'un 
 with his broken rib) made splints and set the limb 
 in a thoroughly surgeon-like manner, and then 
 offered to take the injured man's watch. 
 
 " No," said the captain, " you stick to your 
 patients — but you can lend me a hand to put in a 
 couple of planks in the second covering boat. 
 That is, if you like." 
 
 " Certainly, sir," replied " Brown," the well- 
 mannered steward. 
 
 ^ v^ ^ ^ ife 
 
 I took the second mate's watch, and Waters 
 and the captain worked at the boat. Waters was 
 a man who could " turn his hand " to anything, 
 and everything he did was done in a quiet, self- 
 possessed manner. With our native crew he was 
 a great favourite, and we soon found that he was a
 
 198 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 splendid Malayo-Polynesian linguist. I felt sure 
 that he had been in the Navy, and one day asked 
 him if it was so. 
 
 " Yes, but I left it twenty years ago," he said 
 shortly, and I saw it was a subject to which I must 
 not further allude. 
 
 Our vessel, I must mention, was a brig of 300 
 tons, a very fast sailer, but a terribly wet ship 
 when under a press of canvas. Like most small 
 vessels in those early days of the labour trade we 
 carried four small guns, which were always kept 
 in good order, though we had never had occasion 
 to use them to keep off a sudden rush of canoes, 
 relying upon the numbers and steadiness of our 
 crew to foil any attempt at cutting off. A vessel 
 with a low free board like ours is a great tempta- 
 tion to mischievous savages — they can so easily 
 jump out of their canoes over the rail, but the 
 sight of the guns was always enough for them. 
 Our complement consisted of captain, two mates, 
 myself (recruiter), boatswain, four white A.B.s, 
 and fourteen reliable native seamen — Rarotongans, 
 Savage Islanders, Samoans, and two Fijians. The 
 latter, although not such good men at boat work 
 as the others, were fine, plucky fellows, and 
 belonged to my boat, for they both spoke the 
 New Britain and New Ireland language, and were
 
 WATERS, THE * LOAFER' 199 
 
 invaluable as interpreters when opening up com- 
 munications with the treacherous savages with 
 whom we had to deal. Our Maori half-caste 
 second mate was also a fairly good Melanesian 
 linguist, and always came with me in his covering 
 boat. I could speak but very little of the New 
 Britain dialect, for I was almost new to the North- 
 West Pacific labour trade, although I had had long 
 experience of it in the Line Islands, where the 
 language is Malayo-Polynesian. 
 
 Our arms were Snider carbines for the native 
 crew, and Winchester carbines and revolvers for 
 the officers, white seamen and myself. So far we 
 had been very lucky in not losing a man in three 
 voyages, although the boats had been fired upon 
 often enough in the Solomon and New Hebrides 
 Groups. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Early one morning we ran into Montague Bay 
 on the south coast of New Britain. No labour 
 vessel had ever before been there, and we were in 
 hopes of getting our first recruits from a big native 
 town there. I had heard of the place from the 
 captain of an American whaleship, who said that 
 the natives, though they swarmed around his ship 
 in their canoes, did not attempt to come on board, 
 and supplied him with all the fresh provisions he 
 wanted.
 
 200 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 We anchored in ten fathoms, abreast of the big 
 village, and in less than half-an-hour six or seven 
 canoes, filled with natives, came off, but would 
 not come alongside — they had caught sight of the 
 guns on the main deck. My two Fiji men began 
 to talk to them, but their dialect was so different 
 from that of the natives on the north coast of the 
 island, that they could not be very well under- 
 stood. However, after a time, one of the Fiji 
 men jumped overboard, unarmed, swam to a 
 canoe and, holding on to the gunwale, held 
 a conversation with the occupants. Then he 
 called out to us to cover up the four guns, as the 
 strangers knew what they were and were afraid of 
 them. 
 
 We quickly covered up the four six-pounders 
 and closed the ports, and in a few minutes the 
 canoes came alongside, and several of the natives, 
 all carrying spears and long stone-headed clubs, 
 timorously came on deck. They were the wildest- 
 looking savages we had ever seen, as naked as 
 when they were born. Their skins were the 
 colour of freshly-chipped logwood, and their hair 
 was done up in innumerable tiny ringlets, smothered 
 in grease and dyed a dirty red by means of lime. 
 Their lips were simply hideous slashes of scarlet, 
 covering teeth as black as jet — the result of con- 
 tinually chewing betel nut. Altogether they were
 
 WATERS, THE 'LOAFER' 201 
 
 the most unpromising-looking " blackbirds " that 
 ever put foot on a ship's deck. 
 
 In the course of an hour or so we became quite 
 friendly, and I had every hope of getting a batch 
 of recruits during the day, so I told our visitors to 
 go on shore, and tell their friends that I was coming 
 to see them. Off they went, and then we lowered 
 and manned two boats — my own and the covering 
 boat. A *' covering " boat, I may mention, is sent as 
 a protection to the first, in which the recruiter goes. 
 With dangerous natives — and in those days all the 
 North-Western Islands were dangerous, the follow- 
 ing practice was observed. The recruiter's boat 
 pulled in to the beach, but, before touching, it was 
 slewed round and backed in stern first. Then the 
 recruiter had his box of trade goods placed on the 
 beach, and stepped out of the boat. Generally he 
 was unarmed, so as to give the natives confidence, 
 for sometimes they would resent the sight of a 
 revolver in his belt, sulk, and no '* business " 
 would be done. Then the boat would push off a 
 little so as to just keep afloat in case of treachery 
 — the crew ready to bend to the oars the moment 
 the recruiter was on board again — that is if he was 
 lucky enough to get there. Meanwhile the cover- 
 ing boat stood by, ready to open fire and cover 
 the escape of the first boat, or go to the assistance
 
 202 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 of the recruiter and his crew if they were being 
 overpowered by a sudden rush of savages. 
 
 On this occasion I had with me in my boat the 
 two Fijians, two Rarotongans, and a native of 
 Savage Island. My trade chest was filled with 
 the usual gear dear to the New Britain native — 
 1 2-inch butcher knives, red beads, hoop iron 
 for making knives, and clay pipes and tobacco, 
 although the latter article was almost unknown to 
 these particular savages, who did not possess a pipe 
 amongst them. 
 
 Just as I was going over the side into the boat 
 Waters asked permission to come with me, as he 
 wanted to get some sand for holystoning the cabin 
 deck. The captain was agreeable, and so was I, so 
 off we went, and in a few minutes we were abreast 
 of the village beach, which was thronged with 
 natives, all armed with spears and clubs, as was 
 to be expected, but maintaining a friendly de- 
 meanour. Three or four hundred yards away 
 from the men were fifty or sixty women and 
 children, squatted on the sand — a sure indication, 
 as I believed, that the boats would not be attacked. 
 So slewing round, I backed in, left my steer oar 
 apeak, and got out with my trade box, one of the 
 Fiji men coming with me to interpret. 
 
 In half-an-hour sixteen stark nude, intelligent
 
 WATERS, THE 'LOAFER' 203 
 
 cannibals had promised to *' recruit " with me to 
 work for three years in Samoa on the cotton 
 plantations, and I felt mightily pleased with 
 myself as I gave each man a present of some 
 beads, a knife and some tobacco on account of 
 the magnificent salary each was to receive — ^6 per 
 year in trade goods. They promised to come on 
 board later on in the day with their relatives, when 
 I was to make them a further advance of whatever 
 might take their fancy in the trade room. 
 
 Just as I was about to get back into the boat, I 
 remembered Waters, who had gone along to a 
 little bay some distance away, where there was a 
 beach of fine, white sand — the spot where the boats 
 were had a muddy foreshore. 
 
 " Where is the steward. Bill ? " I called out to 
 the second mate in the covering boat. 
 
 " Just along there, sir," and he pointed to the 
 sandy beach, which I could not see from where I 
 stood — " we can pick him up there." 
 
 Remarking that he had no business to go so far 
 away from the boats in a new place, I got into the 
 boat, and had just taken the haft of the steer oar in 
 my hand when the second mate gave a yell. 
 
 " Look out, sir, look out," and then he and his 
 boat's crew opened fire as a shower of spears rained 
 upon us from the shore. Only one, however, did
 
 204 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 any serious damage — it hit one of the Fiji men, 
 who was pulling stroke, and went through his 
 thigh. But in less than two minutes we were out 
 of spear range, and then both boats set off to pick 
 up Waters. 
 
 " He's all right, sir," cried the second mate, " he 
 has your Winchester. He's coming to meet us." 
 
 Waters was running — not very fast — along the 
 beach, carrying a bag of sand in one hand, and my 
 Winchester in the other. Suddenly he stopped, 
 and then threw himself flat down upon the sand, 
 his bag of sand in front of him, and facing towards 
 the dense bush less than twenty yards distant. 
 Then, at the same moment as the Winchester 
 cracked, a shower of spears flew about him, 
 and again and again he fired, whilst we in the 
 boats, although we could not see a single native, 
 began firing into the bush, from whence the spears 
 were coming. Then we rushed the boats for the 
 beach, and whilst the men in the covering boat 
 went to see to Waters, my crew and I tore up the 
 bank, bent on getting to close quarters with his 
 treacherous assailants. Not a sino^le live native 
 could be seen, but we found three dead and two 
 wounded. As we were examining the latter, the 
 brig opened fire on the village with the port side 
 guns, much to the delight of the two Fiji men, who
 
 WATERS, THE * LOAFER' 205 
 
 now had the slaughter lust, and wanted me to 
 attack and burn the village. But I had had enough 
 excitement, and was half-blind as well, for in 
 running up the bank I had caught my foot in a 
 creeper and fallen, and the man behind me — a 
 Savage Islander — trod on my face and filled my 
 eyes with sand. 
 
 Returning to the beach I was grieved to find that 
 Waters was badly wounded. No less than three 
 spears had struck him, and it was marvellous that 
 he had not been killed, for we picked up over thirty 
 of the long slender weapons lying about him. His 
 worst wound was in the back — the spear had 
 entered it obliquely, come out on the left side, and 
 buried a half-foot of its length in the sand. The 
 other wounds were trifling in comparison, but the 
 poor fellow was in great agony, although losing 
 but little blood. 
 
 I saw that it was necessary to remove the spear 
 from his back at once, and this was done by one 
 of the Fijians in a splendidly expert manner. It 
 was of the same thickness for two feet of its 
 length, and the Fijian first cut it off at the 
 back, then we turned Waters over on his side, 
 and the " surgeon " seizing the blood-stained, 
 sandied point, pulled it out by one swift, steady 
 pull.
 
 2o6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " I felt like a cursed porcupine," he said faintly, 
 as I gave him some rum and water. " Did you 
 find any dead niggers ? " 
 
 " Three — and two wounded." 
 
 In a few minutes we were on our way to the 
 brig, and Waters was laid out on the skylight ; 
 the captain dressed his wounds, whilst the mate 
 got the ship to sea again. Then we stood away 
 for New Ireland. 
 
 In three weeks Waters had recovered, and was 
 at work again, and was of great assistance in help- 
 ing us to get nearly forty recruits at Ralum, on 
 the north coast of New Britain, where he was well 
 known to the natives. Then we worked back to 
 New Ireland, and got sixty more, which made us a 
 full ship, and left us to thrash our way against the 
 South-East trade back to Samoa. 
 
 Just off Rotumah Island we met H.M.S. 
 
 which signalled to us to heave-to. Then we were 
 boarded by her first lieutenant, a tall, grey-haired 
 man, who was good enough, after he had examined 
 our papers, to compliment us on the appearance of 
 the brig, and the healthy contented looks of our 
 hundred blackbirds. 
 
 As he was talking to us in the cabin Waters 
 entered, and the moment the officer saw him his face 
 flushed, and for some moments the two men looked
 
 WATERS, THE * LOAFER' 207 
 
 keenly at each other. Then Waters turned to the 
 captani, and said quietly — 
 
 " Is there anything you want, sir ? " 
 
 "Nothing, thank you, steward." 
 
 Waters stood still a second and looked at the 
 naval officer, and in his deep-set grey eyes there 
 came such a look of deadly hatred that his face was 
 transformed. Then, with a contemptuous gesture, 
 he turned and went on deck. 
 
 At Samoa he left us, shipping as an A.B. on an 
 American schooner bound to Honolulu. We were 
 sorry to lose him, and as he bade me good-bye on 
 shore that evening he told me a little of his past. 
 
 " Do you remember the lieutenant who boarded 
 us off Rotumah .'' " he asked. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " He is my brother. He stole the woman I 
 loved from me. That is what turned me into a 
 wandering loafer."
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 
 
 Two English friends of mine wrote to me 
 recently, giving a brief summary of their fishing 
 experiences on the southern and eastern coasts 
 of Australia. They enjoyed themselves most 
 thoroughly, despite the heat and the plague of 
 mosquitoes, and wound up their letter with an 
 eulogy of certain rivers and inlets on the Victorian 
 coast — veritable paradises for the fisherman : "There 
 is nothing on the coast of your ' old ' New South 
 Wales to compare with scores of places in Victoria." 
 
 My pride (being a native of New South Wales) 
 was wounded, especially at an allusion that was 
 made to the " little tinpot lagoons " on the seaboard 
 of the mother colony, which were '* full of sting- 
 arees (sting-rays) and beastly saw-fish," and I 
 wrote what I tried hard to make a sarcastic reply, 
 implying that my friends had been using fishing nets 
 in Victoria, instead of rods or hand lines. But in my 
 innermost heart I knew that they were right, and 
 
 that the much indented coastline of the southern 
 
 208 
 
 i
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 209 
 
 colony is a fisherman's paradise. Yet, for alJ that, 
 the 500 miles of coastline of the mother colony 
 possesses many ideal fishing resorts — places, in most 
 instances, far away from the centres of population, 
 and therefore all the better and the more enjoyable 
 and rest-giving to the man who is content to sleep 
 out in the open, or, if it rained, under a light tent, in- 
 stead of returning, as night falls, to some rough bush 
 hotel, where the beautiful fish he has caught are 
 handed over to the barbarities of an alleged cook, 
 who dumps them into a pan of rancid mutton or 
 beef fat, and probably serves them up cheek by 
 jowl with a steaming round of corned beef and 
 cabbage. For it is a sad, sad fact that the average 
 Australian country hotel cook — she is generally a 
 native of the Emerald Isle — cannot cook, and the 
 idea of grilling or baking a delicious whiting, or 
 silvery mullet, or bream, instead of insulting it with 
 the greasy frying-pan, would strike her as a weird 
 phantasy, born of an incapable digestion and a 
 morbid imagination. But there are many exceptions 
 to this distressful state of things, especially in Tas- 
 mania and New Zealand, I have walked the 
 coastline of New South Wales from the Tweed 
 river on the Queensland boundary to Twofold Bay, 
 near the border of Victoria, and vice versa^ and 
 always tried to avoid spending a night in an hotel 
 14
 
 2IO SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 in any of the small country towns, even when I knew 
 I should find a warm welcome and good food and 
 accommodation. 
 
 The coastal settlers are, as a rule, the most 
 hospitable people one could wish to meet, and are 
 only too glad to welcome a stranger who can put 
 up with their rough fare. Very rarely indeed will 
 they ask for, or even expect, recompense. The 
 younger members of the family are only too pleased 
 to come shooting or fishing with any chance visitor, 
 and I shall always remember a delightful two 
 weeks spent at a selector's holding in the vicinity 
 of Wreck Bay, near the Victorian boundary line. 
 The country round about was very sparsely popu- 
 lated, and game — black and wood duck and teal — 
 were plentiful, and the creek, on the bank of which 
 the house was built, teemed with fish. On both 
 sides were oyster beds half a mile long — a perfect 
 mine of wealth had there been any means of getting 
 the bivalves to Sydney or Melbourne within a 
 reasonable time and at a reasonable cost — and large 
 prawns were in such abundance that two of the 
 settler's children could fill a four-gallon bucket 
 with them in an hour, using only a small and 
 crudely made scoop-net about the size of a soup 
 plate. 
 
 But I am sheering away from my subject, which
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 211 
 
 is to describe two of my many solitary trips along 
 the coast of New South Wales among the " little 
 tinpot lagoons," so cruelly maligned by my two 
 English friends as being '* full of stingarees and 
 beastly saw-fish." 
 
 Thirteen miles from the quaint, old-fashioned, 
 and sleepy little township of Port Macquarie (160 
 miles from Sydney) is a lagoon named Cattai Creek. 
 In dry seasons and when the weather is calm the 
 mouth of the creek is often entirely closed by a 
 sandbank about half a mile in length, and vast 
 quantities of fish congregate at the lower end en- 
 deavouring to get to sea, for in the course of a few 
 weeks the water becomes too brackish for their 
 comfort. A sudden downpour of rain or an easterly 
 gale, however, soon makes a passage through the 
 belt of sand, and then an extraordinary and interest- 
 ing sight may be witnessed, thousands upon 
 thousands of mullet, whiting, bream, gar-fish, &c., 
 rushing out into the surf, where, by some curious 
 intuition, a number of sharks and porpoises are 
 almost sure to be waiting for them. In a few hours 
 the lagoon may be almost devoid offish, but as the 
 tide flows through the opening they return, ac- 
 companied by fresh battalions recruited from the 
 sea, and the fisherman can then have excellent 
 sport, especially in the early morning and towards
 
 212 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 evening, when the sun is not too much in evidence. 
 On both banks of the creek there is excellent camp- 
 ing ground under clumps of wattle trees, and there 
 is fresh water a few hundred yards away — the 
 lagoon is the outlet for Lake Innes. The place is 
 very seldom disturbed by visitors, except on public 
 holidays, when a party from the township may 
 come there, catch more fish than they can possibly 
 take back with them, and leave hundreds to putrify 
 on the firm, clean sandbank, which forms a natural 
 esplanade. Sharks very seldom enter the lagoon, 
 on account of its being too shallow, though I have 
 occasionally seen small ones cruising about after 
 mullet. Large *' stingarees," however, are all too 
 plentiful, and may be seen through the clear water 
 lying upon the smooth sandy bottom or leisurely 
 swimming around close to the banks, gorging them- 
 selves upon small fish and crabs, and sometimes a 
 band of kingfish — big fellows of 20 lbs. or more — 
 will make an incursion and play havoc with the 
 mullet, whiting, &c. 
 
 The passage is on the south side of the sand- 
 bank (that is its normal position, though heavy 
 rains and flood waters sometimes sweep away the 
 entire bank, and leave the lagoon open to the sea 
 for a week or so), and winds along a low and 
 densely-foliaged bank. The bottom of the pas-
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 213 
 
 sage is full of deep holes and contains many rocks, 
 and the strong current — when the lagoon is open 
 — necessitates very heavy sinkers being used if one 
 is fishing for bream or tarwhine, with which it 
 generally abounds, though they are scarce in other 
 parts of the lagoon when compared with the 
 numbers of other fish. These bream were the 
 shyest I ever came across, and the mere shadow of 
 a man would send them darting to the shelter of 
 the rocks amid the rushing currents. But they, 
 nevertheless, made great sport (though none were 
 over 2 lbs.), especially if the hook was baited with 
 a tiny gar-fish or baby mullet about an inch in 
 length. The bait, however, mostly used is the 
 '*pippy," or sand cockle, obtained on the sea 
 beach. These handsome bivalves, with their many- 
 hued shining shells, are in themselves excellent 
 eating for man as well as fish. Baked in the hot 
 ashes of a wood fire, they give forth a most 
 appetising odour, and, with the addition ot pepper, 
 salt, and bread or damper, a few dozen make an 
 enjoyable meal if a man is at all hungry. For 
 soup, too, they are very good if not boiled too 
 quickly, which hardens them too much. These 
 shellfish can be found almost all along the seaboard 
 of New South Wales, especially near the em- 
 bouchures of rivers or creeks.
 
 214 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Many years ago I was coming along the coastfrom 
 Point Plomer to Smoky Cape, and it was then that 
 I was first shown how pippy soup was made. The 
 weather was very bad ; rain had been falling almost 
 continuously for a week, and for two days a heavy 
 easterly gale had been howling along the coast, and 
 a terrible surf was pounding on the beaches. At 
 six o'clock in the evening, when I was wet 
 through, hungry, and feeling pretty wretched 
 generally, I found I was still ten miles from my 
 destination — the little hamlet of Russell, just round 
 Smoky Cape — and was looking out for a suitable 
 camping place for the night when I came across a 
 camp of timber-getters. They made me most 
 welcome, and in a few minutes I was inside their 
 tent changing my sodden clothes and watching two 
 of the men engaged respectively in opening oysters 
 and pippies and turning them into the galvanised 
 Iron bucket which served as a cooking pot. 
 
 " Lucky for us there's plenty of fish, pippies and 
 oysters about here," said one of them, adding that 
 their supply of beef had run out and the weather 
 was too bad tor them to send thirty miles for any. 
 " There's a little creek a mile from here just full of 
 oysters — we got a three-bushel bag full yesterday — 
 and there's pippies everywhere. As for fish, we're 
 dead sick of 'em ; when it's blowing an easterly
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 215 
 
 like this you can pick up all you want on the 
 beach as fresh as if they were alive. Look there," 
 and he pointed outside to where several large 
 trevally were suspended from a branch. " We 
 found those to-day, and we'll have a couple of 'em 
 for breakfast." 
 
 Never have I so enjoyed a meal as I did that 
 combined soup of oysters and pippies, eaten from 
 a tin plate with an iron spoon. The potage had 
 been thickened with damper crusts, and we were 
 so well satisfied with it that some cold rashers of 
 bacon were rejected with scorn. All that night it 
 continued to pour with rain, and the wind blew 
 fiercely ; but we heeded not the weather, for the 
 tent was watertight, and had been fixed on the lee 
 side of a scrub-covered bluff about loo-ft. high, 
 which afforded us good shelter from the wind. 
 The horses stayed quite near us, for every now 
 and then we could hear their bells. At daylight 
 the rain ceased, and by breakfast (seven o'clock) 
 the sun was shining brightly from an almost cloud- 
 less sky, although the wind had not diminished. 
 My hosts pressed me to " do a day's loafing " with 
 them, and said they would show me some places 
 on the beach where they had washed out some gold 
 from the black sand ; but as this would mean my 
 turning back I had to decline their offer with
 
 2i6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 regret. They showed me the gold — about twenty- 
 five pennyweights — which was of excellent quality, 
 and said that with proper appliances for washing 
 the sand two men could make from £2 to £2 ^ 
 week almost anywhere along the beaches from 
 Camden Haven to the Richmond River beads. 
 That they were correct was proved a year or two 
 later, when some hundreds of men were " beach 
 mining " along the coast and making fairly good 
 money. 
 
 But to return to Cattai, for perhaps some 
 reader may some day find himself there on fishing 
 bent, and I should like to add something concern- 
 ing the tackle used. For flathead — a very deli- 
 cately-flavoured fish when not over 2-ft. in length 
 — a stout line with strong hooks and wire snoodings 
 is necessary, as it has a trick of biting a line 
 through if the hook has caught anywhere near the 
 angle of the jaw, for the moment it feels the strain 
 of the line it fights very gamely, and keeps twisting 
 its bony flat head and almost equally flat body 
 swiftly from side to side ; once it gets the line 
 between its teeth its freedom is achieved. 
 On many occasions I have seen large flathead 
 caught with three or four hooks sticking out from 
 the jaws — hooks that were too stout to rust away 
 or be otherwise got rid of for many weeks. In
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 217 
 
 freeing the hook from a fish, especially if it (the 
 fish) is a large one, great caution must be exer- 
 cised, or one may receive a blow, or, rather, 
 stab, from either of the two needle-pointed external 
 fangs which point downwards along the back of 
 the head towards the tail. A thrust from one of 
 these barbs causes excruciating pain, and sets up 
 violent inflammation. The best way is to place 
 the left foot on the fish's head to keep it steady, 
 and then work the hook to and fro until it is suffi- 
 ciently loosened in the tightly-set jaws to be easily 
 withdrawn. Flathead are extraordinarily swift 
 swimmers, and although their usual position is to 
 lie flat upon the sand, in which the body is almost 
 buried, they can see a long way ahead, and can 
 make a lightning-like dart for 30-ft. or more 
 after an unsuspecting whiting or mullet feeding on 
 the bottom. 
 
 When fish are very plentiful in Cattai and other 
 tidal lagoons some curious things occur. One 
 may be using a thin line with five or six hooks 
 intended for bream, tarwhine, mullet, or whiting, 
 and almost as the sinker splashes into the water 
 three (or four) of the baits are seized by, say, a whit- 
 ing, a bream, and a tarwhine or mullet respectively. 
 As you haul in as quickly as possible through the 
 shallow, clear-as-crystal water, you can see what
 
 21 8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 you have hooked, and a very pretty sight it is to 
 watch three or four different kinds of fish come 
 struggling and splashing towards you. Another 
 ten yards and you will have landed them safely 
 upon the sloping bank, when suddenly there is a 
 comet-like scour of sand astern of the last fish, and 
 in an instant a flathead is fast to one of the spare 
 hooks. If your tackle is strong enough you may 
 land him with his companions ; if not, away goes 
 the hook, or perhaps the line parts if the former is 
 the stronger. Now comes the critical time. Ten 
 feet more and all will be well, and then another 
 spurt of sand, and a second flathead joins the 
 company. He is either hooked or has seized a 
 whiting or mullet. In the latter case he will either 
 break the line or tear the fish away ; but, perhaps, 
 by good luck, you may land the whole five or six. 
 And what a delightful feeling it gives you in such 
 a case ! 
 
 Once, when a friend and I were camped at the 
 mouth of a creek near Crescent Head, where we 
 had been for two days shooting black duck — 
 which were fairly plentiful — we were much put 
 out by the arrival, in a rattletrap old spring cart, of 
 five noisy young Colonials from a litde township 
 ten miles or so away. However, on learning that 
 they had but one gun between them, and were
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 219 
 
 bent upon fishing only, our fears subsided and we 
 became affable. They camped near us, and pre- 
 sently gave us an exhibition of what they could do 
 in the way of getting fish expeditiously without a 
 net ; it was amusing as well as instructive. 
 First of all they collected a bag of pippies, and then 
 searched the rocks under Crescent Head for an 
 octopus. In half-an-hour they found two, and 
 returned jubilant. Then to each of their lines — 
 after stretching them out straight on the sand — 
 they tied on at least a hundred hooks, large and 
 small, and placed about a foot apart. The lines 
 were very thick and strong, such as deep-sea 
 fishermen use, the hooks being attached by short 
 pieces of ordinary bream line. This work occu- 
 pied the youthful " talent " nearly two hours, in- 
 cluding the baiting with pippies and pieces of 
 octopus ; then the young gentlemen stripped, and 
 each, taking the end of his line, waded or swam 
 across the creek, according to the depth, after 
 having asked us to see that the baited portion of 
 their tackle ran clear. To this we duly attended, 
 and in a short time the lads landed on the opposite 
 side, keeping a good distance apart from each other, 
 and then began hauling their lines across till the 
 last of the baited hooks, together with the heavy 
 lead sinkers, on our side had disappeared in the
 
 220 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 water. Then, whilst one of the boys waded across 
 the creek at a point higher up, in order to bring 
 over his own and his companions' clothes, the 
 others, after securing the ends of their lines to 
 stones or trees, raced along the beach to the surf 
 for a bathe. " Well," said my friend meditatively, 
 '' those youngsters mean to take things easy and 
 enjoy themselves. Let us cross over and see 
 what they get when they haul in ; the creek is full 
 of fish." 
 
 On our way over we met the boy coming for 
 the clothes. We asked him when they were going 
 to pull in. " Oh, as soon as I get back with our 
 shirts and pants and boots," he replied ; " it's too 
 jolly hot to go without 'em. Are you comin' over 
 to see.'' We'll give you all the fish you want." 
 
 We waited for him to return, and a few minutes 
 later his companions came hurrying back from the 
 shore, and quickly donned their garments. Then 
 we all went to the lines, and when within a few 
 yards of the nearest, I could see by its quivering 
 tension that there were many fish hooked. The 
 other lines were also in the same condition, and 
 within less than thirty minutes from the time they 
 had set them the boys began to haul in. Three of 
 them were not strong enough for the task of 
 getting in such a weight of fish that were on their
 
 THE TRAMP FISHERMAN 221 
 
 respective tackles, and my friend and I went to 
 their assistance, and even then it was no light task, 
 one line being very difficult to get in on account 
 of a large " stingaree " being among the take. 
 When all the lines were in, and the jfish hauled 
 high up on the bank, the work of taking them off 
 the hooks was begun. Each line averaged about 
 forty fish, black and silvery bream, whiting, and a 
 species of sea-perch predominating. There were 
 a few flathead, some worthless bony soles, and 
 some ugly stinging fish. The boys said it was not 
 a good take, but that they would get more next 
 time, as the tide came in and brought more fish 
 and clearer water. After digging a pit on the 
 bank they threw in their fish and filled it with wet 
 sand to keep them cool, then rearranged and 
 rebaited their tackle and took it over to the other 
 side in the same manner as had first been done. 
 In the course of a few hours they had caught an 
 amazing quantity of splendid fish, and after cook- 
 ing and eating some, together with a couple of 
 ducks and a brace of pigeons, which we gave them, 
 they put their takes in the spring cart, bade us 
 good-bye — or, rather, " So long ! " — and drove off. 
 Between the Nambucca River and Port Mac- 
 quarie there are many creeks and tidal waters 
 which afford excellent sport, though I must admit
 
 222 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 that In some of them there are too many " sting- 
 arees," and also plenty of the harmless, but 
 decidedly objectionable (to the fisherman), shovel- 
 nosed sharks. November and December are the 
 best months, before the weather becomes too hot 
 and even fishing and shooting become somewhat 
 of a labour. Between the mouth of the Macleay 
 River and Smoky Cape is Trial Bay, at the south 
 end of which, and just at the back of the Cape, is 
 the little hamlet of Russell, which came into 
 existence through the erection of a large prison 
 for first-class prisoners on the Cape itself. Here, 
 if the traveller does not want to camp out, he can 
 obtain accommodation at the local public-house, 
 and spend a very enjoyable time in fishing for sea- 
 bream, trevally and tarwhine from the hard beach, 
 which for a mile or two from the Cape dips 
 suddenly, and affords fairly deep water, even at 
 low tide. But fine weather is indispensable. If 
 it Is at all rough there is too much sea for beach 
 fishing : though one may take a boat and go and 
 anchor anywhere off the Cape in from twenty to 
 forty fathoms and catch the best, gamest, and 
 handsomest fish in the Austral seas — the lordly 
 schnapper !
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 
 
 Considering the numbers of the various species 
 
 of sharks which infest the warm waters of the 
 
 Southern Seas, and the countless thousands of 
 
 people who bathe in the open so often, it is 
 
 surprising that so few accidents occur. Sydney 
 
 Harbour, for instance, is notorious for the number 
 
 and ferocity of its sharks : and yet it is a matter 
 
 of fact that seldom more than one or two persons 
 
 are seized during the course of an entire year. In 
 
 the summer months, however, the warmth of the 
 
 water tempts bathers into carelessness ; people, 
 
 especially boys, enjoy themselves by swimming in 
 
 the open in preference to using one of the many 
 
 public sea-bathing establishments, of which there 
 
 are so many along the shores of Port Jackson. I 
 
 have always considered the Parramatta River, Lane 
 
 Cove, and the arms of the Parramatta as being far 
 
 more dangerous to bathe in or to be upset in, in a 
 
 boat, than the clear crystal-like waters of the 
 
 islands of the North or South Pacific. And, 
 
 223
 
 224 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 indeed, the majority of deaths caused by sharks at 
 Sydney occur in the upper reaches of the harbour, 
 where the water, not being clear, especially when 
 the tide is on the ebb, these predatory terrors are 
 enabled to approach almost unobserved, and seize 
 the unsuspecting bather with far greater facility 
 than would be afforded the brutes in a water 
 uncontaminated with mud or any other colouring 
 matter. 
 
 For me, sharks and their habits have always 
 possessed a very great interest. For five years 
 (when a boy) I resided at a point on the 
 Parramatta River directly opposite the then penal 
 settlement of Cockatoo Island (now known as 
 Biloela), and my brothers and myself not only 
 learnt a great deal about sharks, but had some 
 local fame as expert shark-catchers, and our know- 
 ledge grew when we subsequently went to reside 
 at the little township at the mouth of the Hastings 
 River, 1 60 miles north of Sydney. I must con- 
 fess, however, that I did not in those days dream 
 that later on in life I should, for two years, be 
 engaged in shark-catching in the South Seas as a 
 business on behalf of a firm of Chinese merchants. 
 They employed small schooners manned by Poly- 
 nesians, and our fishing grounds were Providence 
 Lagoon, and other isolated atolls in the North
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 225 
 
 Pacific. It took us from six to nine months to 
 obtain a cargo of dried fins and tails for the 
 Chinese markets, and the labour of catching and 
 killing one to two hundred sharks every day was 
 arduous in the extreme. 
 
 On the eastern coast of Australia the names of 
 several of the species of sharks differ from those 
 given to them in Tasmanian, New Zealand and 
 Victorian waters. Those that the Sydney fisher- 
 man knows best, and which prove such a pest to 
 him when pursuing his calling, and destroy human 
 life, are the Tiger Shark, the Blue Pointer, the 
 so-called White Shark and the Grey Nurse. Then 
 come the Six-gilled and Seven-gilled Shark, the 
 Hammerheads and Saw-Shark. There is also the 
 well-known " Wobbygong," a creature of extra- 
 ordinary and beautiful colouring, haunting rocky 
 bottoms and feeding largely upon crayfish and 
 other crustaceans. I have never heard of the 
 Wobbygong attacking man. It is sluggish in 
 its movements, and during the day-time may 
 frequently be seen lying upon the bottom, its body 
 resembling a gaily-coloured and motley-patterned 
 strip of carpet. It is a nocturnal feeder, but is 
 often caught on the line at day-time if the baited 
 hook is lowered directly in front of its mouth, 
 which, unlike that of most of its brethren, is not 
 15
 
 226 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 undershot. The jaws are filled with a mass of 
 ugly-looking pointed teeth, set together in an 
 irregular fashion, but all inclining inwards. This 
 shark has the most extraordinary power of assimi- 
 lating the colouring and markings of its coat to its 
 surroundings, and it requires a keen observer to 
 determine whether the object at which he is gazing 
 under ten feet or so of water is not a patch of 
 blue, red and orange-coloured sea-weed growing 
 upon stones or coral of equally brilliant and the 
 same hues. 
 
 I have frequently found a wobbygong lying 
 asleep in shallow rocky pools at low tide, and 
 seizing it gently, but firmly, by the tail, dragged it 
 out of the water. I have never seen one exceeding 
 five feet in length in Australian waters, but have 
 heard of some attaining seven feet. Along each side 
 of the head, and extending as far as the first gill 
 slit, there is a very curious arrangement, consisting 
 of a series of flaps of skin, growing out from the 
 side of the head, and with irregular, serrated edges 
 — in fact, they struck me as resembling ragged 
 maple leaves in their autumnal tints. The appen- 
 dages, when the creature is lying quiet, will often 
 be seen to undulate gently as would sea-weed 
 when swayed by the passage of water through the 
 crevices of a pool or by the current. Doubtless
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 227 
 
 these are an aid to concealment, and possibly a 
 source of attraction to inquisitive fish or crustaceans. 
 I have several times tried to preserve the beautiful 
 colouring on the skin of one of these sharks, but 
 have always failed. The outlines of the markings 
 have remained, but the colours soon faded. 
 
 The Blue Pointer is an exceedingly handsome 
 shark, with a graceful, tapering body, long pro- 
 jecting snout, and an undershot mouth, provided 
 with razor-sharp, non-serrated teeth. It is exceed- 
 ingly swift in its movements, and can turn with 
 lightning-like rapidity. The skin on the back and 
 head is blue, growing lighter on the sides, and the 
 belly a pure white. This shark is more dreaded by 
 the Australian line fishermen than any other, for 
 when two or three of them make their appearance, 
 it is almost impossible to draw a hooked fish to the 
 surface. I have frequently seen one of these 
 monsters seize half-a-dozen hooked fish in quick 
 succession upon as many lines, and then, finding 
 himself hooked, twine the lines round and round 
 his body in his rage and efforts to escape. It is 
 always best, when not more than two or three of 
 these brutes begin to persecute, to at once bait the 
 shark tackle, hook and then haul them alongside 
 in turn, and sever the spine at the juncture of the 
 tail with a hatchet ; then, if the boat is large
 
 228 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 enough and will stand the severe shaking, club 
 them on the head, cut the lines, and let the 
 carcasses sink. But this can only be done where 
 the boat is manned by at least three men well 
 used to the danger of having an angry blue pointer 
 alongside, lashing the water into foam, and snap- 
 ping his jaws wildly in the chance hope of getting 
 something between them on which to vent his 
 fury. But even after having rid themselves of 
 their enemies, the fishermen must up anchor and 
 move to fresh ground, other " pointers," and per- 
 haps a dreaded grey nurse or two, would be 
 sure to be on the spot ere long, and, disdaining for 
 the time being the bodies of their brethren, devote 
 themselves to the fishing lines. 
 
 As far as I can remember, I know of only 
 three instances in which human beings have been 
 taken by blue pointers on the Australian coast. 
 One occurred long years ago. A man-servant of 
 Mr, Benjamin Boyd, seeing several blue pointers 
 cruising about the base of some slippery rocks, 
 foolishly baited a heavy shark line and lowered it 
 down. It was at once seized, and the unfortunate 
 man actually tried to drag a 14-foot long shark, 
 weighing many hundreds of pounds, up on to 
 the rocks ! He slipped, fell in, and was torn to 
 pieces in a few seconds. In another case almost
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 229 
 
 the same thing occurred ; a fisherman, furious at 
 losing so many fine schnapper by several of these 
 voracious creatures which were hanging around his 
 boat, made a thrust at one with a lance ; he over- 
 reached himself, and was at once seized and 
 devoured. In the third instance a poor half-caste 
 lad, in endeavouring to sever the tail of a blue 
 pointer, which was fast in a bowline alongside the 
 boat, was knocked overboard by a blow of the 
 tail, and was at once carried off by a second 
 shark. 
 
 During the summer, when the so-called sea 
 salmon swarm into the Australian tidal rivers in 
 countless thousands, the blue pointers and a small 
 kind of tiger shark create fearful havoc among 
 their serried masses, and for days and days the 
 beaches are strewn with salmon bitten in halves. 
 
 The Grey Nurse, like the White Shark, is noted 
 for its daring ferocity. It presents some very dis- 
 tinct characteristics from most other varieties of the 
 family, the principal being the shape and formation 
 of its teeth, which alone would render easy its 
 identification. (By some people it is erroneously 
 called the Shovel-nose Shark, on account of the 
 shape of its nose — the true shovel-nose shark is 
 distinct, favours white, sandy bottoms and shallow 
 water, is more frequently seen about ocean beaches
 
 230 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 than in harbour waters, and is not considered dan- 
 gerous to bathers or people swimming. The 
 aboriginals of the east coast regard it as the best 
 of all the family as a food, and have not the 
 slightest fear of them.) Other names for the Grey 
 Nurse are the Long-toothed Shark, the Wolf- 
 toothed and the Bull Shark. In a large specimen 
 of, say, 1 6 feet, the mouth is of a cavernous 
 character, and the long awl-like and non-serrated 
 teeth appear to be fixed separately in the jaw- 
 bones. The first three or four at the nose end, 
 on either side of the upper jaw, are placed straight 
 up and down, the remainder all curve inward ; but 
 invariably between the straight and the curved 
 teeth there are on each side two very small teeth 
 — looking, in fact, as if they were ot recent growth. 
 It is of such a ferocious disposition that, whenever 
 I have been alone in a small boat and have seen a 
 "nurse," I have always made for the shore as quickly 
 as possible, for it has an unpleasant trick of darting 
 at the blade of an oar and tearing it out of the 
 rower's hand. It frequents shallow muddy water 
 as much as it does the open sea or the boiling surf 
 at the bases of rocks, or the long breaking rollers 
 upon a sandy beach, and is always to be watched 
 for and dreaded. An instance of the daring 
 savagery of this creature was witnessed by a
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 231 
 
 number of horrified people in Sydney a few years 
 ago. In one of the most congested parts of the 
 harbour, at a spot near Pyrmont Bridge, where the 
 water is thick and filthy, a number of street arabs 
 were bathing among a lot of floating logs of cedar 
 connected with each other by a chain and staples 
 and forming a sort of dock. The boys were 
 bathing inside this barrier of timber, some of 
 which were grounded on the muddy bottom, and 
 some of which were well afloat. Suddenly a grey 
 nurse sprang out of the water over the stranded 
 logs, seized a boy and swam ofi^ with him, escaping 
 under one of the floating logs. Many people in 
 Sydney maintain that the fatalities occurring on 
 the Parramatta River are caused by what is 
 known as the ground shark, but it is the grey 
 nurse who is the murderer. The aboriginals 
 say that the alleged ground shark of the rivers 
 is a variety of the wobbygong, and is a nocturnal 
 feeding and non-maneating creature very rarely 
 seen. 
 
 The grey nurse has a wide habitat. He is met 
 with — to my own personal knowledge — pretty well 
 all over the North and South Pacific, and is every- 
 where dreaded by both natives and whites. The 
 only creature in its own element that it fears is the 
 killer — that savage little minor toothed whale,
 
 232 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Orca Gladiator^ the bull-dog of the ocean, and the 
 friend of the whaleman. Apropos of the " killers " 
 I may mention that there have been hundreds of 
 instances where, when whaleboats have been stove 
 in or smashed by being fluked by a sperm whale 
 and the crews were swimming for their lives 
 or clinging to bits of the broken boat, the 
 attendant " killers " have actually swam up to the 
 men and smelt them, or, as the whalemen say, 
 " nosed " them, and swam off again in pursuit of 
 the wounded whale. But to all sharks Orca is a 
 deadly enemy, and attacks them fiercely as they 
 endeavour to strip off mouthfuls of blubber from 
 a killed whale. And it is also a strange fact that 
 whalemen have been, when capsized or stove in, 
 surrounded by hundreds of blue pointers, and very, 
 very rarely has one of them lost his life or been 
 even bitten. In the deep ocean the blue pointers 
 (the " blue shark " of the deep-sea sailor) may be 
 met with in droves ; the grey nurses only in twos 
 and threes. 
 
 On one occasion I was landing, in a whaleboat, 
 a load of provisions for a trader on Palmerston 
 Island. When within a hundred yards of the 
 beach two large grey pointer sharks came up, and 
 each tore an oar away from a native seaman. It 
 was nearly dark, and the boat was so deeply laden
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 233 
 
 that we were glad to touch the beach. Returning 
 to the ship we lost another oar and the two brutes 
 followed us alongside, and when the boat was 
 being hoisted up one of them leapt clean out of 
 the water at her. So much for the habits of the 
 grey nurse. 
 
 Of the White Shark not so many examples are 
 seen or captured along the Australian sea-board. 
 The word " white," as I have before mentioned, is 
 a misnomer. It is probably, except the great 
 tiger shark of the Indian Ocean, the largest of all 
 the shark family, except the bone shark known to 
 whalemen. The Indian Ocean tiger shark I have 
 never seen, but I can quite believe that it attains a 
 length of forty feet, or even fifty feet, for I have 
 seen a so-called white shark that measured twenty- 
 four feet. At the shoulders it had the circumfer- 
 ence of a fat bullock, and the largest teeth were 
 two inches long and one-and-a-half in width at 
 the base. This monster (which was of a pale 
 bluish colour on the back, and a dirty yellowish 
 white on the belly) was killed by a bomb lance 
 from a whaleboat close to the reef of Pingelap 
 (MacAskills Island), North Pacific. It sank in ten 
 fathoms, and the carcase was not recovered until 
 the next day. In the stomach was a large green 
 turtle partly digested and weighing 130 lbs.,
 
 234 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 together with two small hawkbill turtle. (If I am 
 not mistaken, the Challenger Deep Sea Sounding 
 Expedition brought up in the dredge in the mid- 
 Pacific teeth of the white shark five to six inches 
 long and four inches wide at the base, and it 
 was reasonably conjectured that the monster from 
 which these fearful teeth were taken must have 
 been from eighty feet to ninety feet in length ! 
 Furthermore, the teeth were of no great age, and 
 it is not unlikely that at the present time there 
 are still similar monsters in existence, ranging the 
 ocean, as yet unseen by man. Of the existence of 
 the mighty *' bone shark " there is no doubt. 
 These creatures have been harpooned by whale- 
 men on several occasions, but have " sounded " to 
 such a vast depth that the lines have had to be 
 cut to prevent the boats being dragged under. 
 Whether it is really a " bone shark," as the 
 whalers say, i.e.^ an enormous toothless shark with 
 baleen plates like the right whale, or an unknown 
 variety of the great " sulphur bottom " whale, may 
 some day be known.) 
 
 In Australian waters there are at least three or 
 four varieties of the voracious six- and seven-gilled 
 shark. Its teeth in the upper jaw are double- 
 pointed, and fang-like ; those of the lower jaw are 
 flat, thin and serrated with either five or seven
 
 ABOUT SHARKS 235 
 
 points. Its mouth is not undershot, being at the 
 end of the head Hke the wobbygong, and the 
 seven (or six as the case may be) gills are placed 
 vertically. On the back there is but one fin, situated 
 far down on the " small," as the whalemen say, 
 and the flukeless tail appears to be of an almost 
 rudimentary character, like that of an eel, with thin 
 " flanges " of skin extending on the under side from 
 the tip to the ventral fin. This ranger of the 
 seas has the most repellent odour of all the shark 
 family that I am familiar with, and on dark nights 
 a continuous stream of phosphorescent fluid may 
 be seen exuding from the gill slits as it swims 
 along. The first of these loathsome creatures I 
 ever saw I caught one dark night from the deck of 
 a small coasting vessel off the Manning River 
 Heads (New South Wales). We were anchored 
 off the bar, it having fallen calm, and I was leaning 
 over the rail when I saw a shark about ten feet in 
 length swimming alongside, almost on the surface, 
 with a long stream of phosphorescent matter 
 exuding from its gills. The captain baited his 
 shark hook, and in a few minutes the creature was 
 hooked and in a bowline. As we hauled it in over 
 the side and let it fall on the deck, it vomited 
 twenty-six young, all about six inches long. The 
 odour of the creature was so disgusting that it
 
 236 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 made us sick. We killed it and threw it over- 
 board, but for quite two or three days could not 
 get rid of the smell that pervaded every rope 
 that had any of the exudation from the gills 
 upon it.
 
 THE SWAMP 
 
 When the heavy depressing, north-easter which 
 has blown so fiercely all day has died away with 
 the setting sun, and the tumbling surf surges 
 more gently upon the sands of Black Beach, the 
 swamp, which has been half asleep all day, comes 
 to life, and nature, in many voices, responds to the 
 call of the droning sea. The eastern margin of the 
 swamp is less than half-a-mile from Black Beach — 
 a half-mile of high sand dunes, covered with low, 
 prickly-leaved currant bushes, that in the hot 
 months of November and December are thickly 
 dowered with rich, juicy fruit, which may be 
 stripped off in handfuls like the white currants of 
 an English garden. Here and there, amid the 
 thicket scrub, are small clumps of golden wattle, 
 whose sweet-perfumed blossoms burst into bloom 
 as the currants ripen, and whose branches at early 
 dawn are covered with swarms of mottled green 
 and black " budgerigar " parrots, that come to play 
 among the golden flowers when they have tired of 
 
 237
 
 238 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 eating the luscious currants. Merry, mischievous 
 little sprites they are, chattering and shrieking as 
 they crawl about the yielding branches in all sorts 
 of positions, biting off the golden blossoms, and 
 strewing the hot, sandy soil beneath with yellow 
 pollen, and apparently heedless of the approaching 
 stranger till he is within a few feet ; then there is 
 a chorused shriek of alarm, a flash of green and 
 gold as their wings expand, and they alight on 
 some tree 100 yards away. 
 
 Sometimes the high sand dunes that separate the 
 swamp from the rolling billows of the blue Pacific 
 yield at one end of the bank to the pressure of the 
 flood torrents that in the winter months sweep 
 down from the forest-clad ranges, and the water 
 bursts out through the sand banks and mingles with 
 the sea ; and then, perhaps, for many weeks the 
 passage will remain open and the tide will flow and 
 ebb through, bringing with it swarms of whiting 
 and mullet — fishes that quickly accustom them- 
 selves to the change from salt to brackish water. 
 
 Back from the sea margin the swamp stretches, 
 reed lined and reposeful, for a full five miles to the 
 eastward, where it meets the fringe of the army of 
 grey forest gum trees, whose lofty crests stand 
 200 feet above the water, and at sunset reflect 
 themselves in it as in a mighty mirror.
 
 THE SWAMP 239 
 
 Here, under the shadows of the giant gums 
 growing upon a gently rising spur, which trends 
 upwards to the grim main range, are the remains 
 of an abandoned homestead, formed in the old 
 days of the colony, when the clank of the chain 
 gangs disturbed the silence of the forest, as the 
 toiling convicts hewed and delved and suffered. 
 For thirty years Gwalior, as the estate was named, 
 flourished, with vineyards and orchards surround- 
 ing the quaint, one-storied house, and herds of 
 cattle and sheep browsing among the sweet lush 
 grass that everywhere lies back from the swamp. 
 And then, one fiercely hot day in January, the bush 
 burst into flame, and Gwalior was swept away as a 
 leaf in the storm, and only the ruined walls of the 
 house remained to show the chance traveller that 
 here men had once lived. 
 
 As the sun sinks behind the rugged, purpled 
 peaks of the main range the swamp wakes to life 
 — the life of night, with its many strange cries of 
 bird and beast. The flocks of black swans that 
 during the heat of the day have been feeding and 
 resting among the tall reeds swim noiselessly out 
 into the open, and then glide to and fro over the 
 water in an aimless sort of manner. Then follow 
 a score or so of noisy black duck, quacking loudly 
 as they beat the water with their wings. It is
 
 240 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 surprising that they should be out at night, for 
 from early dawn till dusk they have been feeding 
 on green weed and the tiny crayfish that swarm 
 amid the roots of the tall reeds and burrow in the 
 muddy banks. Perhaps they merely want to show 
 the stately swans that they are not the only birds 
 that can go for a cruise at night. 
 
 Suddenly an opossum squeals from the bough of 
 a lofty swamp gum near the ruins" of the old house, 
 and presently is answered by a dozen others. 
 Probably he and a native bear are having a dis- 
 pute over some particularly succulent young 
 eucalyptus leaves ; and then an irate and hungry 
 dingo, prowling in search of a swan's or duck's 
 nest, gives vent to a long, dismal and quavering 
 howl. In an instant the swamp is quiet, and for 
 some minutes the silence is broken only by the 
 swish of the surf as it sheets along the hard sand 
 of Black Beach.
 
 BIG JIM OF TARAWA LAGOON 
 
 Our schooner was beating up to an anchorage 
 off the big native village on the east side of 
 Tarawa Lagoon when we saw Big Jim coming off 
 to us in his whaleboat, 
 
 " Don't let him get filled up on board this time," 
 said the skipper to me. 
 
 " How nicely you talk," I retorted angrily ; 
 " anyone would think you were speaking of some 
 puling infant, and that I was its nurse. You might 
 as well offer a lamb to a hungry tiger and ask the 
 beast not to hurt it as to ask Jim Gordon to 
 keep sober when there's liquor to be had." 
 
 Big Jim was one of the three resident traders 
 on Tarawa, which is one of the Gilbert Group of 
 islands ; the two other men were Chinese, and 
 Jim gave them a beating regularly once a month 
 — '* just to keep the yaller swine in their places," 
 as he said. Jim and I were old friends, and when- 
 ever we met he would give me such a handshake 
 that all the bad words I knew would pour from 
 i6 241
 
 242 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 my lips in an uninterrupted volley for two 
 minutes, and then Jim would lean back, spread 
 out his mighty chest and utter a bellow-like roar, 
 which he thought was a laugh. Then he would 
 proceed to get drunk, and keep so for two days, 
 and his native wife would thrash him with a 
 bamboo until she was tired. At the end of forty- 
 eight hours Jim would drink a small bottle of 
 Worcester sauce, shave himself, put on a suit of 
 spotless white ducks, and look what he really was 
 at heart — a o-entleman. 
 
 o 
 
 Filey Bay was Jim's birthplace, and he came 
 from a family which had been smugglers for two 
 hundred years. And he was proud of it, as proud 
 as he was of his six feet two inches of manhood, his 
 enormous strength, and his long yellow moustache. 
 What had brought him to the South Seas does not 
 matter. In his younger days he had been a North 
 Sea Pilot — that much he told me. Then in the 
 early " seventies " I met him for the first time at 
 the Pelaw Islands, where he had settled as a 
 trader. Years passed, and again we met some- 
 times at one island, sometimes at another. Then 
 I landed him on Tarawa to trade for the firm which 
 employed me as supercargo. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The boat spun over the lagoon, and Big Jim ran
 
 BIG JIM OF TARAWA LAGOON 243 
 
 alongside the schooner and clambered over the rail. 
 He crushed the skipper's and my hands in the 
 usual manner, and then told us that we were keep- 
 ing too far to the northward and would soon be in 
 shallow water. 
 
 "Mind your own business, Jim. We know 
 this lagoon better than you do. Been on the 
 spree lately ? " 
 
 "No. Been as sober as a judge for three 
 months. Wife has a baby boy. And I want you 
 — and me too — to drink the kid's health." 
 
 We could not refuse. Leaving the mate in 
 charge of the deck we went below, and in ten 
 minutes Jim had taken two tumblerfuls of Hen- 
 nessy — neat. It was pitiable. To expostulate with 
 the man was useless. 
 
 " There you are, Jim. There's the bottle to 
 yourself. Now stay here, and don't come fooling 
 about on deck. We want to beat up to the 
 village before dark." 
 
 " Well, of all the unsociable hogs of super- 
 cargoes I ever met you take the cake. Clear 
 out on deck and run your old hooker ashore — 
 and then you'll be cackling for me to come and 
 help you out of a mess. And I won't budge." 
 
 " Wife quite strong again, Jim ^ " asked the 
 skipper as he turned to go on deck.
 
 244 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " You bet. She's as chipper as a sand-boy." 
 " Glad to hear it. We'll lend her a hand to 
 give you an extra good whaling to-morrow." 
 
 ■3r T^ -5^ ^ ^ 
 
 For two hours we continued to beat up the 
 lagoon through a series of heavy rain squalls. 
 Then Jim burst up out of the cabin like a tor- 
 nado — smilingly, jocularly intoxicated. 
 
 " Well, of all the bloomin' idiots, — " he reached 
 with both hands and dragged the captain and 
 myself to him, " you fellows are so full of liquor 
 that you don't know what you are doing." Then 
 he spun aside and yelled out to the second mate 
 for the lead line. 
 
 " Give it to him, Peters," said the skipper, " let 
 him have his way and don't take any notice." 
 
 Peters brought him the deep-sea lead instead of 
 the hand line. " There you are, Mr. Gordon ! 
 Don't hurt yourself." 
 
 " Don't you worry. I'll save the ship, sonny. 
 Come on shore to-night and see my kid." 
 
 He clambered up into the starboard quarter 
 boat, steadied his huge body, and then made 
 ready for a cast just as a blinding rain squall swept 
 down upon us and the schooner ripped through 
 the water like a torpedo boat. 
 
 " Watch, there, watch," he bellowed, and he
 
 BIG JIM OF TARAWA LAGOON 245 
 
 hove the heavy lead. It went clean through the 
 after-side of the galley and nearly killed the 
 Chinaman cook, who put his head out of the 
 galley door and yelled — 
 
 *' What the hella you wantee makee ? " 
 
 Big Jim then fell overboard. 
 
 We brought-to and lowered a boat, and picked 
 him up. He abused everyone profoundly for some 
 minutes. Then, after another drink, he consented 
 to lie down and rest. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Jim's wife did not exercise her rights on this 
 occasion, for the big man was very penitent and I 
 interceded and made peace. She was a little, 
 slenderly-built Bonin Island Portuguese half-caste, 
 with a sweetly youthful and oval face. But she 
 loved the big man, and now that she had a son was 
 ready to, and did, forgive much. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Nearly twelve months had passed before we 
 again came into Tarawa Lagoon. Jim's house 
 was closed. And one of the Chinese traders told 
 us the end of the story. 
 
 " Missee Jim and little baby catch him small- 
 pox from Honolulu missionary ship and die. 
 Then Big Jim make number one chop cofEn, and 
 put Missee and baby inside, and carry down to his
 
 246 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 whaleboat. Then he go and beat white missionary 
 beat him welly hard. Oh, my word ! he swear too 
 muchee. Then he say good-bye to everybody, 
 get into boat, hoist sail and go away with Missee 
 and lil' baby. He sail right out to sea befo' 
 stlong bleeze." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 And never again was Big Jim of Tarawa seen.
 
 SHIPWRECK MEMORIES 
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, AIANA 
 
 There is before me now as I write a native 
 amulet of pearl shell, which has been in my 
 possession for more than a score of years, and, as 
 I watch its iridescence under the soft glow of the 
 lamplight, it calls forth old, old memories, and I 
 see once more the sweet oval face of her to whom 
 it belonged. Poor Aiana — her bones lie a thousand 
 fathoms deep somewhere between Samoa and the 
 lofty isles of the Solomon Group. 
 
 Aiana, when I first met her, was a child of six 
 or seven years of age, and lived with her parents 
 at the town of Fale-a-lupo, situated on the extreme 
 western point of the island of Savai'i, the largest 
 of the Samoan Islands. My partner and 1 in 
 those days had a small cutter, in which we made 
 
 trading cruises all through the Group — from 
 
 247
 
 248 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Manua to the east, to Savai'i in the west — calling 
 in at the many villages, and bartering our trade 
 goods for either copra, arrowroot or cash. 
 
 * * * * 5^ 
 
 It was a very, very happy life, and in the course 
 of twelve months we made many native friends. 
 Sometimes, starting from that wondrously beauti- 
 ful harbour of Pago Pago on Tutuila, we would 
 run along the south coast of Upolu, staying a day 
 or two at each town, enjoying the hospitality of 
 our friends and doing business as well. Then we 
 would start off for the next village — perhaps only 
 a few hours' sail away — run close in up to the 
 shining beach, and let go our anchor in water as 
 clear as crystal. At times we would remain in 
 some quiet little harbour for a week, spending our 
 days on shore with the amiable, hospitable people 
 on fishing or shooting excursions, or " lazing " the 
 hours away in the village, drinking kava, and 
 watching the girls and young men dance, or listen- 
 ing to the old men's tales — tales of old Samoan 
 days, ere the first white men were seen and looked 
 upon as gods. 
 
 Ah ! those indeed were happy days, and will for 
 ever remain in my memory to the last. Alan, my 
 partner, was a Polynesian half-caste, proud of his 
 white father (even though he could not remember
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, AIANA 249 
 
 him, for he had died when Alan was an infant), 
 but in all other things he was a Samoan of 
 Samoans, for he had spent most of his life among 
 them. His mother was a native of Manahiki, an 
 island far to the north-east of Samoa, and men 
 who had seen her told me that she was a very- 
 beautiful woman. Alan himself was a remarkably 
 handsome man of four-and-twenty years of age, 
 good-tempered, a splendid sailor man, and, being 
 unmarried, was an extraordinarily great favourite 
 with the single girls — and the average Samoan 
 girl is a born flirt. We would very often take a 
 malaga or travelling party of a score of young men 
 and women on board the cutter, and give them a 
 passage to some other town on the coast, where 
 they would stay for a few weeks, and await the 
 cutter's return. We never charged them for their 
 passages, but we were more than paid by the 
 amount of food they insisted upon us accepting — 
 pigs, poultry and pigeons, yams, oranges, pine- 
 apples and bananas. Very often, indeed, there 
 was no room on deck for the presents we were 
 continually receiving, and the ratlines were crowded 
 with bunches of bananas suspended therefrom, for 
 we were quite unable to eat them fast enough. 
 Our crew consisted of four natives of Niue (Savage 
 Island), good, steady men who had been with me
 
 250 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 for two years, and were much attached to my 
 partner and myself. Poor Alan ! He, too, lies 
 far below in a sailor's grave. 
 
 * # * * * 
 
 One day, towards sunset, we came to Fale-a-lupo. 
 I had never before been there, and was anxious to 
 make the acquaintance of the people, who were 
 about the only community unknown to me in 
 Samoa. Alan, however, knew them well, and we 
 were received most hospitably, and invited to sup 
 with the chiefs and people in the fale faipule^ or 
 town house, that evening. After the supper was 
 over I was introduced to a number of our enter- 
 tainers, and among them was a native dressed like 
 an European. I saw at once that he was not a 
 Samoan, and, in reply to my inquiry, he told me 
 that he was a Rarotongan, but having married a 
 Samoan woman he had settled down in her native 
 town of Fale-a-lupo. He had, he said, one child, 
 a little girl of six years of age. Would I come to 
 his house in the morning and breakfast } he asked. 
 
 " I should be pleased if you will," he said ear- 
 nestly. *' You see I am a sailor, and I have seen 
 many countries, and sailed in English, American 
 and German ships. And I have all my discharges, 
 and my wife and I will be honoured if you will 
 come and eat with us."
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, AIANA 251 
 
 " Thank you, Teroa ; I shall come. I have 
 many friends in Rarotonga, and we will talk 
 together of them. Then, after we have eaten, I 
 should like to go and shoot tuli (plover) ; I am told 
 that there are many at Fale-a-lupo." 
 
 " It is true. There are many — those with the 
 golden wings. And my little girl shall show you 
 the best place. It is two miles from the town and 
 back from the beach, and there is good cover. But 
 why shoot tuli when there are plenty of pigeons in 
 the forest t " 
 
 I laughed. " I am tired or pigeons, Teroa, and 
 I have not tasted tuli for a month." 
 
 Early next morning, leaving Alan to begin 
 trading operations, I took my gun and bag, and 
 went on shore. Teroa's house was situated in a 
 grove of ifi (chestnut) trees quite a mile from the 
 village. It was surrounded by a fence of white 
 palings, and without and within presented a delight- 
 ful appearance. Teroa and his wife and child met me 
 as I opened the gate, and gave me a warm welcome, 
 and then the woman and child disappeared to go 
 to the cooking shed. In about ten minutes they, 
 with two young Samoan girls, returned with a hot 
 breakfast — two baked fowls, some pigeons, and a 
 noble fish of the mullet species, together with some 
 beautifully-cooked bread-fruit and taro. I do not
 
 252 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 think I ever ate a better breakfast, and when my 
 kind host begged me to have some fruit as a 
 finishing course I had to implore him to excuse 
 me. 
 
 After the meal was over I took out my pipe 
 and a plug of tobacco, and was about to cut up a 
 pipeful, when my hostess asked me if I would not 
 have a sului (cigarette) instead, and meanwhile she 
 and the girls would cut up enough tobacco for me 
 to last the day. Politeness demanded the accept- 
 ance of the offer, and I handed over my pipe, 
 tobacco pouch and knife. Then little Aiana lit 
 and handed me a cigarette of native tobacco rolled 
 in dry banana leaf, and as she did so I saw what I 
 had not before noticed — one of the most beautiful 
 child faces I have ever seen. It was like a picture 
 by Greuze. Her hair — wavy, glossy and dark — was 
 wound about the small head in a crown-like, yet 
 careless fashion, showing only the lower part of the 
 smooth forehead and entirely hiding her ears. 
 Her features were faultless in their perfect regu- 
 larity, and well matched the dark, Spanish-like 
 complexion and big, long-lashed eyes — eyes that 
 seemed years and years older than the lithe, 
 childish figure, for they were full of a strange, 
 appealing look, as if the soul itself rested therein, 
 and sought to speak.
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, AIANA 253 
 
 " Wilt guide me to where the tuli are, Aiana ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 The dark eyes lit up, and the red lips parted in 
 a smile of pleasure. Aye, indeed she would, and 
 in a few seconds she had donned her gayest teputa 
 — a garment like a Mexican poncho, with fringed 
 edges of silk and a round hole in the centre so 
 that it could be slipped over the head. Then her 
 mother took four young drinking coconuts and 
 some food, and placed them in a basket, and off 
 we started, skirting the rear of the village, and then 
 emerging out upon the beach to meet the cool 
 breath of the trade wind, and see the long line ot 
 surf foaming upon the reef. 
 
 My pretty little companion was silent at first, 
 and only answered my questions with shy mono- 
 syllables, but her reserve soon wore off, and she 
 clapped her hands and uttered a delighted Aiie ! 
 when I got a quick shot at a number of plover 
 that whirred past us, and dropped three. She 
 dashed into the shallow water, picked them up, 
 and brought them to me, pityingly stroking their 
 shining backs as she laid them in my bag. 
 
 In an hour I had shot all I wanted. Then we 
 sat down, under the shade of a pandanus palm, 
 just at high-water mark, drank a coconut each, 
 and watched the incoming tide swirling along the
 
 254 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 beach. Presently Aiana rose and looked intently 
 at something she saw coming towards the shore. 
 Then she crouched down and beckoned me in a 
 whisper to bring my gun. 
 
 " Look," she said her eyes sparkling with ex- 
 citement, " it is a great gar-fish. 'Tis more than 
 half a fathom long." 
 
 It was indeed a splendid gar, quite four feet in 
 length, and as thick as a man's arm. It came 
 swimming in right ahead very slowly, then sud- 
 denly it turned and made off quickly along the 
 water-line to the right, but not quick enough to 
 escape some shot in the head and back. Turning 
 over on its side, it sank, and in a few seconds 
 Aiana had it by the tail, and drew it ashore — a bar 
 of gleaming green and silver. This ended the 
 morning's sport, and we returned to the village 
 well content. 
 
 " Aiana," I said to her next day as I bade her 
 good-bye, " here is an amulet for you to wear 
 round your neck with your pretty teputa. Do not 
 lose it, little one." 
 
 '* Nay, indeed," she replied as she took the 
 shining toy and slipped it over her dark tresses, 
 *' whence came it, alii ? " 
 
 " From Ponape, an island far, far to the north- 
 west. I have had it for many years."
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, MAN A 255 
 
 It was nearly five years before I saw my little 
 friend again. Alan and I had parted — he to be- 
 come a resident trader in the Marshall Islands, and 
 I a supercargo in a San Francisco trading barque. 
 Then one day, as I was walking along the main 
 street of Apia, I met Aiana and her parents. She 
 was, if possible, more beautiful in her budding 
 womanhood than she had been as a child. They 
 greeted me affectionately and asked me to go to 
 their house, for they were now living in Apia, 
 where Teroa was employed as an overseer by a 
 German firm. 
 
 '* Have you the amulet yet, Aiana .? " I inquired 
 as we walked along the street to their dwelling. 
 
 She smiled brightly, and took it out from the 
 bosom of her white muslin gown. 
 
 I stayed and had supper with my friends, and 
 then bade them good-bye, as my ship was to sail at 
 daylight for Fiji. 
 
 " You will not fail to come to see us again 
 when you next come to Samoa ^ " said Teroa, as 
 he held my hand in his. I promised I would not 
 fail, and so we parted. 
 
 But when six months later I again found myself 
 in Apia I learned that the family had gone from 
 Samoa. Teroa had been sent away by the German 
 firm to open a trading station on the great island
 
 256 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 of New Britain. He had left a letter for me at 
 the Consul's office, saying that he was engaged for 
 three years, and would then return to Samoa, 
 where he hoped we should again meet. " Aiana 
 and her mother join their love to you with mine," 
 he wrote. 
 
 It so happened that our very next voyage was 
 to Mioko, or Duke of York's Island, a small 
 cluster lying between New Ireland and New Bri- 
 tain. Teora, I was told in Samoa, had gone to a 
 place called Blanche Bay — only a few hours' sail 
 from Mioko, and I determined, if possible, to pay 
 them a visit. But when we reached Mioko, I was 
 grieved to hear from a German trader there that 
 the vessel in which my friends had sailed from 
 Samoa was missing. 
 
 " She's gone. There's no doubt about it. 
 She left Samoa in April, and ought to have been 
 in Blanche Bay three weeks later, and it is now 
 September. Most likely she foundered, for she 
 was very old and as rotten as an over-ripe pear." 
 
 It had been, even then, my lot to lose many dear 
 friends and comrades by the sea; but I had to 
 turn my face away when I knew that I should 
 never see again my innocent little friend of the 
 old days at Fale-a-lupo. 
 
 " Perhaps," I said, " some of them may be safe.
 
 THE LITTLE MAID, MAN A 257 
 
 They may have got to one of the Solomon Islands, 
 and be living there now." 
 
 The trader shook his head, " No. The her- 
 brook^ brig, has made a thorough search, but not 
 even a bit of a spar has been found anywhere." 
 * * * % * 
 
 Once more we were back in Levuka, Fiji, and I 
 was talking to an acquaintance on the jetty, when 
 a boat from an island trading brig named the 
 Restless^ pulled up to the steps. She was manned 
 by Rotumah men, and was in charge of a man I 
 knew well — Tom D'Arcy, who was chief mate. 
 The moment he saw me he sprang up the steps, 
 followed by one of his crew, a sturdy young lad 
 about seventeen years of age. Just as D'Arcy 
 and I were shaking hands I caught sight of some- 
 thing on the native boy's copper-brown chest that 
 made me start. It was Aiana's amulet. 
 
 "What is the matter, old man .''" cried D'Arcy, 
 as dropping his hand, I began to ply the boy with 
 questions. " Oh, that bit of pearl shell. Take it 
 if you want it. The skipper gave it to him." 
 
 " Where did he get it ,?" I asked eagerly, as the 
 boy took off the amulet and handed it to me. 
 
 " We found it in a drifting boat four months 
 ago. It was lying on the bosom of a dead girl — 
 Samoan, I think. There were seven people in 
 17
 
 258 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 all, two white men, and five natives. They had 
 all died of thirst and starvation, poor creatures. 
 There was nothing to show who they were, but 
 the skipper took that bit of pearl shell from the 
 girl's neck and told this boy he could keep it. Do 
 you know it ,^" 
 
 " Yes it was once mine."
 
 II 
 
 *' FRANK," THE TRADER 
 
 As I sit here writing, and turning over the leaves 
 of my old log-books and island diaries, I can see 
 from my study windows a pretty wide expanse of 
 the English Channel, dotted over with craft of 
 many kinds — a French fishing fleet (I am looking 
 from the French coast), eight or ten steamers of all 
 nations, and a big barque in tow of a tug, taking 
 her to Cherbourg. The barque is painted grey — 
 a favourite colour in the French mercantile 
 marine, and a colour that I hate for ships though 
 I think it beautiful for women — that is, of course, 
 for some women. I love to see a pretty woman 
 dressed in pearly grey — I hate to see a grey- 
 painted ship, no matter whether she be a beautiful 
 yacht-like creation, or a clumsy old tank, like the 
 barque now being tugged across my line of 
 vision, for grey has always been an unlucky 
 
 colour for me. 
 
 259
 
 26o SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 I have written of my innocent little Samoan 
 maid Aiana, She sailed to her death in a German 
 schooner named the Manono, which was painted 
 grey, as were all the German inter-island trading 
 schooners in those days, as well as the larger 
 Hamburg ships. Grey was the colour of the 
 Susannah Godeffroy as my tug came alongside her 
 in Newcastle Harbour in New South Wales and I 
 bade farewell to her skipper, Troop, who was an 
 old shipmate of mine, and wished him bon vdyage to 
 San Francisco, whither he was bound with a ship's 
 company of sixteen hands and twenty passengers. 
 Grey were the faces of Troop and many others 
 when they were washed ashore after the Susannah. 
 Godeffroy, ill-found, soft-timbered, and badly put 
 together (like all cheaply-built German sailing 
 ships of that time), was driven on a lee shore 
 twenty miles from her port of sailing, and all on 
 board perished. 
 
 I hate grey — on ships. 
 
 Grey-painted was the Orchid, brigantine, when 
 she came into Nukutipipi Lagoon to take me and 
 my belongings to the Caroline Islands in the North 
 West Pacific. 
 
 Nearly twelve months before I had been 
 beguiled into settling in Nukutipipi as a resident 
 trader. The natives, with the local Samoan
 
 'Frank; the trader 261 
 
 teacher as their spokesman, met me at a public 
 meeting, and told me that the island produced two 
 hundred tons of copra annually, which they would 
 sell to me solely, if my trade goods were to their 
 liking, and I would pay cash as well. Now I had 
 nearly five thousand dollars' worth of trade, 
 and over one thousand dollars in cash, and 
 looked forward to doing a very profitable business. 
 First of all, however, I made an inspection of the 
 eight or nine islands which comprise the atoll, and 
 was satisfied that they would yield nearly two 
 hundred tons of copra annually. So thereupon I 
 had a house built, and settled down in comfort. I 
 liked the people. They were a genial, hospitable, 
 good-natured set of liars, and went to church 
 every morning on week days, and five times on 
 Sundays. 
 
 For a few months I did very well, the natives 
 bringing in their copra freely, and we were getting 
 on splendidly together when one day there sailed 
 into the lagoon a German barque from Samoa, and 
 I received a shock. 
 
 The German supercargo came on shore to see 
 me, and after drinking a quart or two of lager 
 beer, politely asked me if I was aware of the fact 
 that I had no right to be trading on the island 
 buying copra which belonged to his firm. And in
 
 262 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 proof of his assertions he produced an authentic 
 document signed by the Samoan teacher, and 
 ten leading natives, whereby they had agreed in 
 consideration of seven hundred dollars' worth of 
 timber and windows and doors for the new church 
 (to be supplied by the German firm) to sell their 
 copra to the aforesaid German firm only for a term 
 of two years. The agreement was dated about 
 sixteen months back, was written in both English 
 and Samoan, and was duly stamped with the seal 
 of the German Consulate at Samoa. 
 
 I saw that I had been taken in and would have 
 to go — and to be made a fool of by natives, and 
 have to give way to a hated German rival was a 
 bitter pill for an Englishman to swallow. But 
 there was no help for it. 
 
 With the German supercargo, who was a big, 
 fat, good-natured man (though I could see he was 
 trying hard to suppress chuckling at my chagrin) 
 I went to the "town house," where all the natives 
 were assembled, looking very solemn and uncomfort- 
 able. The pastor was not present. We asked for 
 him, and was told that his reverence was ill — he 
 was makariri (had a chill) and could not leave 
 his bed. 
 
 *' You are all lying," I remarked, as the German 
 and I sat down on a mat placed for us, "I saw him
 
 'FRANK,' THE TRADER 263 
 
 an hour ago, with his fishing-rod in his hand, going 
 along the beach. Send to him and tell him to 
 come here quickly, so that this matter can be 
 settled. And tell him to bring me the thirty- 
 dollars he owes me." 
 
 The German backed me up, and in a few minutes 
 the teacher appeared. And then began a most 
 wonderful wrangle, and considerable lying ; the 
 natives and the teacher swearing by all that was holy 
 that they did not understand the agreement that they 
 had signed, although the teacher himself had drafted 
 it. Also that they had quite forgotten the matter, 
 and were honest, God-fearing people, and that they 
 felt bitterly hurt at my calling them a pack of liars. 
 Would not the German nobleman take the seven 
 hundred dollars they owed him — although they did 
 not understand why they owed it — and go away 
 and then all would be well. 
 
 The German nobleman was obdurate. He 
 spoke Samoan fluently, and went to business at 
 once — first giving me an unobserved wink. 
 
 " If you do not keep to our agreement, I 
 shall send a German man-of-war here, and your 
 miserable little island will be blown out of the 
 water." 
 
 That decided them to stick to the German ; so I 
 returned to my house, and wrote out a notice in
 
 264 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 native to the effect that I had suspended business, 
 would neither buy nor sell, wanted all who owed 
 me anything to pay up, and concluded by stating 
 that the people, from the teacher down to the 
 youngest child who could speak, were a community 
 of liars and thieves, and would meet with eternal 
 damnation. I nailed the notice outside my door, 
 and began to feel better. 
 
 The German barque sailed next day, and then 
 for the next two months I exercised my patience 
 in waiting for another ship to call and take me 
 away to some other island. I did not care much 
 where, as long as it was some place where there 
 were mountains and forests and rivers, and where I 
 should again hear the shrill cry of the wild moun- 
 tain cock and the booming note of the great purple 
 pigeon ; for I was deadly sick of the low-lying 
 sandy atolls of the Ellice, Gilbert and Marshall 
 Islands, and their fish and coconut-eating inhabi- 
 tants. I had had three years of it, and the 
 monotony of my daily life was beginning to tell 
 upon my nerves. There was absolutely nothing to 
 do but wrangle with the natives over trading 
 matters, or devote myself to deep-sea fishing, and 
 fond as I was of the latter sport, I had become 
 tired of it, and longed to once more tread the thick 
 carpet of leaves in the cool aisles of the mountain
 
 ^ frank; the trader 265 
 
 forest, and hear the sweet music of rushing water 
 hurrying and brawhng on its way to the sea. 
 
 Nearly eight weeks had passed since I had closed 
 my trading station, and then one morning a grey- 
 painted brigantine came into the passage and 
 dropped anchor abreast of my house. I went on 
 board, and found that she was the Orchid (nick- 
 named the 'Torpid), bound nowhere in particular, 
 but ready to go anywhere where her skipper and 
 supercargo thought they could sell the old second- 
 hand, or rather fourth-hand rubbish, they had on 
 board, and which they called trade goods. It had 
 been purchased at Cheap Jack auctions in Sydney 
 or Auckland, sent to Fiji — and Fiji jeered at it — 
 then to Samoa, who sneered at it, and now finally 
 was being carried to the equatorial islands, in the 
 hope that it could be got rid of in some way or 
 another. 
 
 I soon came to an arrangement with the skipper 
 for a passage to Yap in the Western Carolines, 
 and two days later we sailed for our destination via 
 the Line Islands. The Torpid was almost a new 
 ship, and was the slowest vessel I ever sailed in. 
 When close-hauled she sagged to leeward as fast as 
 she went ahead, and missed stays five times out of 
 ten when going about, unless there was half a gale 
 of wind blowing. In addition to this her skipper
 
 266 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 was a very indifferent navigator, but nevertheless 
 had an inordinate opinion of himself as a wonder- 
 fully clever one. In the course of a few days I 
 determined to leave the brigantine at the first island 
 at which we touched, for I felt morally certain that 
 it would be nothing short of a miracle if she ever 
 reached the Caroline Islands, with such a hopeless 
 creature in command. I took the mate into my 
 confidence. 
 
 " Best thing you can do. The little beast is no 
 more fitted to handle a square-rigged vessel than 
 I am to take holy orders. You see, he has been 
 in fore-and-aft vessels all his life until he got 
 command of this hooker. She is a brute of a 
 thing for a good man to handle, but with such a 
 rank duffer as that monkey-faced little ass — " He 
 stopped and expectorated over the side in disgust. 
 
 " Do you know," he went on, " that we have 
 been ashore three times since we left Sydney. One 
 rainy night we plumped right on to the reef at 
 Pylstaart Island in the Tonga Group ; but managed 
 to get off again, as there was no sea on. I had 
 told him that we ought to sight the island about 
 midnight if it cleared up, but the little hound 
 sniggered, and said we should pass thirty miles to 
 windward. Then we missed stays going into 
 Vavau Harbour and went ashore and stuck there
 
 * frank; the trader 267 
 
 four days, and the last time he did a noble thing, 
 and he and I had words over it. Have you 
 noticed his eye ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have. Looks as if he had been given a 
 fearful smack. His cheek is discoloured half-way 
 down." 
 
 The mate grinned. " Yes — and I only gave him 
 one, but it sent him flying off the topgallant 
 foc'scle on to the windlass." 
 
 " What did he do .'' I mean what was the 
 ' noble thing ?' '' 
 
 '*It was three weeks ago. We ran into Funa- 
 futi Lagoon before a strong breeze, and with a four- 
 knot current. I was for'ard busy with the ground 
 tackle, and wondering why the skipper did not take 
 in sail, for we were going along at a great rate, with 
 a reef on each side of us, and the place where we 
 had to bring up only a little over a mile or so 
 away. But there was the measly little monkey 
 strutting up and down the poop like an admiral, 
 smoking a cigarette, and the crew and I thought he 
 meant to run us slap up on the beach. Suddenly he 
 seemed to realise what he was doing, yelled out to let 
 go everything, and himself let go the mainsail throat 
 and peak halliards — ^just the one sail that he ought 
 to have left alone. Then the next moment he 
 screamed to me to let go.
 
 268 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " * Let go, let go ! ' he shouted, frantically dancing 
 from one side of the poop to the other, ' let go, 
 and let her overrun the cable. Do you want us to 
 go ashore ? ' 
 
 " Telling him he was an illuminated idiot, I 
 obeyed the order, and the cable flew out of the 
 hawse-pipe like a streak of greased lightning. We 
 were then in about six fathoms when the anchor 
 touched the coral bottom, and almost in as many 
 seconds the 45 fathoms of chain flaked out were 
 gone ; there was a bit of a jerk, and then it parted, 
 and we ran smack against a coral ' mushroom ' 
 boulder, with such force that every man on board 
 went down on his back. Then up came the little 
 man, white as a sheet with fright, and began to 
 blame me, so I hauled off^ and gave him something 
 to remember me by. But he's beastly polite to me 
 now." 
 
 " So I notice," I said, *' but it is a pity you did 
 not knock his monkeyish head ofF his shoulders, 
 or break a rib or two at least, so as to lay him up 
 for a month or two." 
 
 For the next two or three days after this conver- 
 sation the brigantine kept on a N.N.W, course, 
 the captain intending to make the great lagoon 
 island of Apamama his first point of call, and there 
 I decided to go on shore and stay with Bob
 
 * frank; the trader 269 
 
 Randolph the white trader until another ship came 
 along, bound to the Carolines, The weather was 
 not at all pleasant, incessant rain squalls day and 
 night, and the mate had a strict look-out kept when 
 it was his watch at night, for all the Line Islands 
 are very low — mere sand-banks in fact, and barely 
 visible in daylight from the deck at a distance of 
 ten miles. 
 
 At four in the morning I heard the mate 
 come below to turn in, and the captain went on 
 deck, and altered the course a couple of points — 
 as I could see by the tell-tale over the cabin table. 
 It was raining at the time, and the 'Torpid was 
 going her best, for the wind was strong, and she 
 was running free with yards squared—her only 
 good sailing point. 
 
 Neither the mate nor I could sleep, for we were 
 both slightly anxious on account of the skipper 
 having kept away two points, which would bring 
 us needlessly close to the island of Nanouti. I was 
 sitting in the mate's cabin, and was just rising 
 to go on deck and have a look at the weather, 
 when we heard the second mate shout : 
 
 '* Hard down, hard down ! " and then as we 
 both sprang to the companion way the brigantine 
 struck with a crash, rolled over to port, and great 
 smashing seas thundered down upon her decks in
 
 2 70 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 quick succession. In ten minutes she was hope- 
 lessly bilged, and to add to the confusion, and to 
 the roar of the breakers and the grinding and 
 crashing of the ship's timbers against the jagged 
 reef on which she had struck, a bHnding rain squall 
 obscured the dawn. The little skipper, too 
 terrified to even give any orders, was clinging to the 
 upper end of the fife rail, clad in his pyjamas. A 
 native seaman, springing up the poop ladder, in 
 passing him, gave him a sweeping-handed blow 
 with his open hand, and sent him staggering 
 against the lee rail. 
 
 " Get over the lee side upon the reef, pala-ai 
 (coward), and save thy worthless life," the native 
 seaman shouted in Samoan, " for even an anufe (a 
 worm) like thee can crawl to the land, for the tide 
 is low." 
 
 The " worm " did crawl to the land, led by an- 
 other member of the native crew. And then Mason, 
 the chief mate, and Johansen, the second mate, 
 the crew, and my native servant Paia (" the Holy ") 
 secured all that was of value in the cabin, and carried 
 everything out upon the reef, which was now un- 
 covered and bare, for the brigantine had struck 
 upon the reef at the last of the ebb. 1 succeeded 
 in saving all my personal effects — clothes, guns 
 and ammunition, 600 Chile dollars, and also a cat
 
 * frank; the trader 271 
 
 which was an old comrade. But all my trade 
 goods in the hold were lost to me, for a few hours 
 after sunset, a thundering surf battered the Torpid 
 to pieces, and her owner's worthless Brummagem 
 Cheap Jack stuff shared the same fate as my 
 beautiful China silks, musical boxes, Winchester 
 and other rifles and carbines, and silk ribbons at 
 two dollars the fathom. 
 
 I can jest at it now, but it was bitter to me then, 
 for I had had high hopes for the future, and now 
 all was gone but a few hundred dollars. 
 
 I took up my quarters with the one white 
 trader on the island, who made me very welcome. 
 His name was " Frank," and he had the reput- 
 ation of being a '* tough." Now I have found 
 that one can always test a white man's reputation 
 by hearing what the natives say of him, and their 
 conduct to him, and I had not been in Frank's 
 house an hour when I knew that he was both 
 feared and respected. He was a native of 
 Tarragona, but had left home when he was a boy 
 of twelve, and, making his way to New York, 
 entered the American Navy. At the outbreak of 
 the war, he deserted and went over to the Con- 
 federates, served throughout the war in the rebel 
 fleet, and was in the Merrimac in the memorable
 
 272 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 engagement with the Monitor in Hampton Roads. 
 Then at the end of the war he drifted to the 
 South Seas. 
 
 Six feet all but an inch in height, and with 
 a chest like a draught horse, he was one of the 
 finest built men I have ever seen, and unlike 
 nearly all foreigners, knew how to use his hands, 
 and his ill-deserved reputation as a " tough " arose 
 through his killing a man in a prize fight in San 
 Francisco with only one blow. He struck his 
 opponent on the forehead, and fractured his skull, 
 which so enraged some of the villainous P. R. 
 fraternity present, that as he was leaving the hall, 
 he received two pistol shots in the back, and for 
 many weeks his life hung in the balance. When 
 he recovered, he made his way to Honolulu, and 
 from there to the islands of the Equatorial Pacific, 
 He made a very good living, not only by his 
 honest way of trading, but through being an 
 excellent boatbuilder and blacksmith. 
 
 About a week after the loss of the 'Torpid^ a 
 Sydney schooner touched at the island, and the 
 " measly little hound " and his ship's company 
 went away in her, much to my satisfaction, for every 
 time I met the captain something like a murderous 
 feeling took possession of me at the thought that I 
 was a ruined man through his ignorance and in-
 
 'FRANK; THE TRADER 273 
 
 competence as a sailor man and navigator. I had 
 never spoken to him but once since the loss of 
 the brigantine, and that was when he one day 
 came to the house and asked to see me. I 
 was asleep at the time, and when Frank's 
 pretty half-caste daughter came and awakened 
 me, and told me who it was that had disturbed 
 my slumber, 1 was not pleased, nor disposed to 
 be courteous. 
 
 " Will you please look at the palm of my hand ? 
 There is a white swelling in the palm, and the 
 pain is so intense that I cannot sleep, and I know 
 you will do all you can for me." (I had some 
 reputation as a rough-and-ready surgeon with the 
 natives, and saw that the man was in a terrible 
 funk over his hand, which was simply festering 
 through a small piece of copper or Muntz metal 
 having been driven in deep into the flesh on the 
 night of the wreck.) 
 
 " Your hand will have to come off if you want 
 to live," I said ; and then, turning to Frank, I 
 asked him to bring his carpenter's broad-axe, a 
 sharp knife, some hot Stockholm tar, and some 
 bandages. 
 
 The little skipper fled, but Frank, much as he 
 also disliked the man, went after him, brought 
 him back and lanced his hand. Then the trader, 
 18
 
 274 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 after addressing a short homily to him on his minor 
 faults and general uselessness, led him to the door 
 and ran him outside. 
 
 During the next months I forgot my misfor- 
 tunes through that wonderful remedy for all 
 mental trouble — physical labour. My friend was 
 building a small cutter, and I was glad to help 
 him, and learn something of the art of ship and 
 boat building, and our workman comradeship was 
 a very pleasant one. Frank had two wives, and 
 several sturdy children by each. One wife lived 
 with him at the head station (where I also dwelt), 
 and the other had charge of an out-station at the 
 other end of the island. There was not the 
 slightest jealousy beween them, their children 
 living in one house as much as in the other, and 
 the two women seemed to vie with each other as 
 to who could do most for their husband. The 
 wife at the head station was a fine-built, stout 
 woman of forty, a native of Apamama, an excellent 
 house-wife, and always brim full of good-humour. 
 The other was under twenty years of age, re- 
 markably handsome, and the mother of three 
 children. 
 
 Frank was a great fisherman, and was especially 
 fond of harpooning the great ray-fish, which were 
 numerous off the barrier reef. These monstrous
 
 'FRANK; THE TRADER 275 
 
 and dangerous creatures yielded a valuable oil, 
 which we tried out, and then put into casks 
 to sell to trading vessels. Generally known 
 as the *' Devil-fish," the natives were very 
 cautious about approaching them too closely, for 
 there were many instances of men swimming 
 in the sea being suddenly enveloped by one 
 of the creature's wings and dragged below to be 
 devoured.^ 
 
 The lagoon teemed with fish, none of which 
 were poisonous, as is the case in many of the 
 islands to the north, and very often I would spend 
 the greater part of the night out upon the placid 
 water, returning home with the canoe laden to 
 swamping point. But I think that my chief enjoy- 
 ment was the making of a vegetable garden. The 
 island, I must mention, is very low — in fact, an 
 oblong-shaped line of sand-bank densely covered 
 with coco-palms on three sides, and a reef, bare at 
 low water, forming the fourth, and so completely 
 enclosing the lagoon. The soil, though sandy, 
 was yet well mixed with vegetable mould in some 
 
 1 In Charles Kingsley's " At Last " he relates how the late 
 Colonel Hamilton Smith saw at the Monos Boca, in the West 
 Indies, a ray rise at a sailor who had fallen overboard, " cover 
 him with one of his broad wings, and sweep him down into the 
 depths."
 
 276 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 places, and a coarse vegetable called puraka throve 
 well in it. 
 
 One day a little Auckland schooner named the 
 Coquette touched at the island on her way to Samoa, 
 and I bought an entire box of Californian seeds — 
 vegetable and flower — from the captain. 
 
 " Frank," I said, " I am going to start a market 
 garden at the back of the boat-shed, but I want a 
 lot of soil — four feet deep." 
 
 " Take a couple of pounds of tobacco out of the 
 store-room, cut it up into pieces an inch long, 
 and the native children will bring you tons of 
 soil." 
 
 The town crier was summoned, and he came 
 with his conch shell and listened to my request. In 
 a few minutes he stepped out into the village 
 square, and gave a terrific blast through the shell, 
 summoning all the young people. Then he cried 
 his cry. 
 
 " The white man Rui wants 500 baskets of 
 kele, and will pay for each a piece of tobacco." 
 
 Wild excitement ! Yells, shouts ! In five 
 minutes every child in the village had seized a 
 leaf basket, and was off to a spot half-a-mile away, 
 where under a species of Barringtonia tree the soil 
 was a rich black mould. 
 
 The making and planting of that garden was a
 
 'FRANK; THE TRADER 277 
 
 source of never-ending pleasure to me. I worked 
 at it from dawn to dusk, dreamt of it at night, 
 and watched the coming up of the seeds with a 
 childish delight. It brought back to me old, old 
 memories of the home of my boyhood, when my 
 brothers and I were each given a small plot of 
 land to cultivate, and our parents bought the 
 vegetables we grew. 
 
 It was delicious, this South Sea garden of mine, 
 and I was a minor Cincinnatus. Had a ship 
 bound to the Carolines then come along, ready to 
 take me, burning as I was with the auri sacra 
 fames, I believe I should have refused. 
 
 In three months my garden — I called it mine — 
 was a picture. I had carrots, turnips, radishes, 
 broad and French beans, peas and onions, and 
 Frank and I for a long time after revelled in an 
 ample supply of fresh vegetables with the ever- 
 lasting tinned beef and mutton that had hitherto — 
 with the exception of fresh fish and pork — formed 
 our daily fare. I shall always remember with 
 pride how I one day carried in triumph to the 
 house a huge ripe water-melon, the first I had 
 seen since leaving Samoa three years previously. 
 And yet, ingrates that we were, we wished 
 we had potatoes — as well as the other vege- 
 tables !
 
 278 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 The time passed by all too quickly, and then 
 one day we heard the roar of many voices. 
 
 " 'Te kaibuke, te katbuke ! " (A ship, a ship! ), and 
 a barque flying American colours came sailing 
 round the south point of the island. In half-an- 
 hour I was on board, and had made arrangements 
 for my passage to the Carolines. I found it hard 
 to say farewell to my friends, and little thought 
 we should never meet again. 
 
 I heard, long afterwards, that my poor friend 
 removed to another island (Peru), and whilst there 
 he accepted an offer to accompany 200 natives to 
 San Jose de Guatamala as overseer and interpreter. 
 They were to work on a plantation there. The 
 vessel in which they sailed was a crazy old, over- 
 masted brigantine named the 'Tahiti Maid. She 
 was never heard of again ; doubtless she capsized 
 in a squall, and every soul on board perished.
 
 Ill 
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 
 
 A BITTER wintry wind was churning the grey 
 
 waters of San Francisco Bay into foam, and 
 
 whistling shrilly through the cordage of nearly two 
 
 score vessels of all sizes and rigs that were lying 
 
 alongside the old Long Wharf, then standing 
 
 between the ends of Third and Fourth Streets. 
 
 Most of them were lumber carriers from Puo;et 
 
 Sound — ancient, disreputable-looking craft, old 
 
 harridans of the sea, with bow ports so worn from 
 
 constant" fleeting " through of the mighty baulks of 
 
 red pine that one wondered how they could be 
 
 ever made even fairly water-tight again for the 
 
 outgoing voyage along the gale-swept coasts of 
 
 Northern California and Oregon in the roaring 
 
 winter-time. Several of them had Norwegian 
 
 wind-mill pumps — they wanted them when they 
 
 set out on the return voyage with a heavy load of 
 
 sawn planks above, reaching to the sheer-poles with 
 
 279
 
 28o SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 but a narrow alley-way between each side. Such 
 God-forsaken-looking specimens of seagoing craft, 
 with an unwritten " Cheap Burial for Sailor Men " 
 upon their bulging, coal-tarred topsides and half- 
 open seams, with draglets of blackened oakum hang- 
 ing down, and " Starvation, Hard-work, Misery 
 and Hell " blazoned out in the clumsy standing 
 and the many-spliced running gear, the battered 
 deck-houses, the ricketty galley, the zig-zag 
 bulwarks, with the worn-out top-rail, and stanchions 
 wedged into the rotting waterways to keep them 
 firm — nothing about such sea-coffins to please the 
 eye but the clean white American cotton canvas 
 neatly stowed on yard and fore and aft spars, or 
 brailed up against the lower masts. 
 
 But, here and there among these lines of played- 
 out old-coffin sea-punchers, were other and more 
 pleasing craft— winged messengers of the ocean— ^to 
 look at and admire, as a man admires a sweet 
 and gracious woman. 
 
 * # * * * 
 
 It was, as I have said, a bitter wintry day, but I 
 had left my lodgings early on that Sunday morning 
 on a quest. I had seen in the previous day's Alta 
 California that a certain barquentine, then lying at 
 the Long Wharf, was to sail in a few days for the 
 Marquesas Islands, and I wanted — and had been
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 281 
 
 waiting — to go to the South Seas, either as a 
 passenger, or as an ordinary seaman, for many 
 weeks. For I was very young and had already 
 seen some of the isles of the Pacific, and wanted to 
 go there again, even though I knew that my elders 
 and betters would strongly disapprove of my so 
 doing — when they heard of it. But I was pretty 
 sure that they would not hear of it for at least a 
 year, and I meant to write them all conciliatory 
 and intelligent letters, telling them how much 
 better it would be for me to go to sea and become 
 a trader and learn navigation, and get thousands of 
 pounds' worth of pearl shell, and buy an island 
 filled with gorgeous trees, bearing fruits of all 
 kinds, and build a beautiful house, wherein all my 
 kith and kin should dwell for the term of their 
 natural lives — instead of my going into a com- 
 mercial house in San Francisco at ^100 per month. 
 But I was very young, and alas ! forgot to write 
 those letters. Had I done so they would have at 
 least made some people happy, as well as unhappy 
 — happy that I should write so lovingly, and un- 
 happy that I could be such a young fool. 
 
 ***** 
 As I walked slowly down the Long Wharf I 
 caught sight of a sweet little English barque named 
 the Gazelle. She was a wooden ship, quite new,
 
 282 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 and carried double-topgallant-sails — just then 
 coming into fashion. As I stood gazing at her 
 beautiful lines a heavy squall of rain swept across 
 the harbour from the Oakland side, and I saw that 
 I should get a soaking unless I found shelter 
 somewhere. On the quarter-deck of the barque 
 was an awning with deep weather cloths on each 
 side, and underneath I could see two hammocks 
 slung. I called out to the only man I could see 
 on deck, and asked if I might come on board, and 
 shelter. He gave a ready assent, and in a few 
 minutes the rain descended in torrents. The man, 
 I found, was the second mate, and we were soon 
 smoking and talking in his cabin, which was on 
 deck. He was a pleasant, handsome young fellow 
 of about 2 2 years of age. I told him my name, 
 and he gave me his, and told me he was the 
 captain's brother. 
 
 *' Come aft with me and see him," said my new 
 friend. " It is Sunday, and there is nothing doing 
 on board. Nearly all the hands are on shore on 
 liberty. My brother will be glad to meet an 
 Englishman in this rotten hole of iniquity." 
 
 We went aft under the awning, and I was 
 introduced to Captain Dollond and his wife, 
 who were lying in their hammocks. She was a 
 Japanese — one of the sweetest, daintiest little
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 283 
 
 women imag^inable, and in ten minutes the four of 
 us were chatting away as if we were old friends. 
 
 *' You must stay to dinner," said the captain. 
 
 I said I should be delighted, but I first wanted 
 to find the barquentine I had come to seek. The 
 little Japanese wife smiled, and told me that the 
 Constitution was lying at the very end of the Long 
 Wharf — for she had noticed her only the previous 
 day, and had said to her husband that she had 
 never before seen " such a funny leetle ship. 
 Looks very, very ol', and oh, so dirty — worser dan 
 any of de ol' timber ships." 
 
 " She must be a beauty," I said. " I was in 
 hopes that I would find a nice little vessel." 
 
 Then I told Captain Dollond of my intention 
 of taking a passage in the barquentine to the 
 Marquesas Islands to begin life as a trader. He 
 seemed very much interested, and then said : 
 
 " Now, don't do anything hastily as regards 
 taking your passage in that rotten old crate. I 
 want to have a yarn with you on the matter when 
 you come back." 
 
 Promising him that I would do nothing in 
 haste, I left him and his charming little fairy of a 
 wife, and set out along the wharf, at the tail end of 
 which I found the Constitution. She certainly was 
 the most extraordinary-looking specimen of a craft
 
 284 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 I had ever seen. She was very, very long, with a 
 low freeboard, and her thin spidery, and ill-stayed 
 masts were stepped so widely apart that she pre- 
 sented a most grotesque appearance, for she was 
 humped up amidships, and fell away towards bow 
 and stern — she was, in fact, badly hogged and 
 suggested the idea of an abnormally long dach- 
 shund, with a bad pain in its stomach, which made 
 it drop its nose and tail, and elevate its spine in 
 the centre. 
 
 I stepped on board and asked a dirty, ragged 
 ruffian who was pacing the after-deck, smoking a 
 green cigar, if the captain was on board. 
 
 " Guess he is, stranger. What the dew 
 
 yew want with me ?'' 
 
 " Are you the captain .^" I asked in astonish- 
 ment, for a more disreputable-looking vagabond I 
 had never seen. 
 
 '' Guess I try tew be, young feller. What dew 
 yew want r' 
 
 I told him that I thought of going to the Mar- 
 quesas Islands, and wanted to know what the 
 passage money would be. 
 
 In an instant the man's manner changed, and 
 he became oilily subservient — as the Down East 
 Yankee always is when he sees the vision of dollars 
 and cents in view. He asked me below into the
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 285 
 
 dark, ill-smelling and filthy den he called a cabin, 
 produced a bottle of Bourbon, and began to talk 
 business. He offered to land me at Nukuhiva in 
 the Marquesas for a hundred dollars. 
 
 " When do you sail .?" I asked. 
 
 " Guess abaout Wednesday. Yew see, mister, 
 I hev trouble in getting men. Jest now I and 
 the mate are the only people on board — " Here he 
 burst into a torrent of blasphemy about the crimp- 
 ing houses which demanded $50 a head for every 
 A.B. Then as soon as he had exhausted himself 
 he "guessed" I would give him $25 "jest ter 
 clinch the passage agreement." I " guessed not," 
 said I had not made up my mind, but would let 
 him know on the morrow. He showed his yellow 
 teeth at an attempt at a pleasant smile, and then 
 we parted. 
 
 Just as I was crossing the gangway I met a man 
 who I surmised was the mate, and bade him good- 
 morning. He was a short, squarely-built young 
 fellow, with a very dark complexion and jet-black 
 hair, beard and moustache, very regular features, 
 but with a stern, almost morose expression. I 
 took him to be a Spanish-American. He gave me 
 a polite good-morning and passed on. 
 
 Returning to the barque I found Captain 
 Dollond awaiting me, and told him that I did not
 
 2 86 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 think I would sail in the Constitution^ not liking 
 either the vessel or her skipper. 
 
 " I am glad of that," he said ; " now this is what 
 I have to say. I am bound to Sydney to load 
 wool for London. If you care to come with me 
 and lend a hand to work the ship, I'll give you a 
 free passage. Of course you wiU live aft, and I 
 shall be glad if you will accept my offer. At 
 Sydney you will find plenty of vessels running to 
 the Islands." 
 
 I thanked him for his kind offer, and said that 
 whilst I was very much tempted to accept it I had 
 an aversion to returning to Sydney, and explained 
 why. He pressed me to think the matter over. 
 " Sleep on it, and then come and have breakfast 
 with us to-morrow. To be quite frank, my offer 
 of a free passage is not an unselfish one. I am 
 very short-handed. Out of my crew of fourteen 
 only six are left — the others were enticed away by 
 these infernal crimps, and I cannot get any others 
 unless I consent to be robbed of $500. And even 
 then I would most likely get as A.B.s five men 
 who would be no good to me. If you come, I'll 
 put you in my brother's watch, and you can bunk 
 in his cabin. Now, think it over to-night." 
 
 Then we had dinner — the captain, his wife, and 
 first and second officers and myself. It was a very
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 287 
 
 pleasant meal, and I could see that the Gazelle was 
 a " happy " ship, for there was evidently a close 
 feeling of camaraderie existing between Dollond 
 and his officers. The steward was a jolly little 
 Japanese, and his wife, who was Mrs. Dollond's 
 maid^ assisted him to serve the dinner. 
 
 The Gazelle^ so Dollond told me, was his own 
 ship, was only two years old, and already had 
 made a name for herself by an extraordinarily 
 quick run from Glasgow to Yokohama. 
 
 I remained with my new friends until past four 
 o'clock. Never before had I met with so much 
 kindness from people who, a few hours before, had 
 been strangers. 
 
 I had not proceeded far along the wharf when I 
 heard footsteps behind me, and presently was over- 
 taken by the mate of the schooner. He was 
 carrying his bag, and was followed by a man with 
 his sea chest. He stopped and asked me if I 
 could recommend him decent lodgings. 
 
 " I have had a turn up wath the old man," he 
 said, " and have cleared out." 
 
 " You can get a room at my place in Howard 
 Street," I said ; " five dollars a week for a room is 
 what I pay, and there is a good restaurant close 
 to, where they feed you well for a dollar a 
 day."
 
 288 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 He thanked me, and then as we went on 
 together he told me that the skipper of the 
 schooner was an evil-tempered, mean old bully, 
 and treated his crew in the most inhuman 
 manner. 
 
 " About half-an-hour ago," he continued. " I 
 heard cries on deck, and running up from below I 
 found the skipper was ' booting ' the old cook, who 
 was lying senseless and bleeding outside the galley. 
 He said that the cook had ' sassed ' him — which 
 I knew to be a lie. Then I noticed that he 
 had a knuckle-duster on his hand, and that it was 
 blood-stained. I felt pretty mad, and gave him a 
 lift under the ear that sent him down with a dump. 
 Then I took ofF his knuckle-duster, and hove it 
 overboard, and left him to lie as he fell. After 
 attending to the cook, I got all my gear together 
 and cleared out." 
 
 " What a brute ! I went to see him this 
 morning about a passage, but his looks put me ofF. 
 And the schooner looks like a broken-down 
 hearse." 
 
 " She is an old coffin, and I am glad I'm clear 
 of her. 1 shipped on her at Papeite four months 
 ago. Before that I was second mate of the Sea 
 Breeze^ a New Bedford whaler, and one day my 
 boat was stove in by a whale I was lancing, and I
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 289 
 
 had two ribs broken. The skipper landed me at 
 Papeite, and when I got better and came out of the 
 hospital I met old ' yellow teeth,' whose mate had 
 left him, and I was fool enough to take his 
 place." 
 
 As soon as we reached my lodgings I saw my 
 landlady — a dear old soul — who at once gave my 
 new acquaintance a room. Then he and I went 
 to the restaurant for supper, and had a long talk 
 with the result that we agreed to become mates and 
 go to the South Seas together. 
 
 He told me his story and I told him mine. His 
 father was an Englishman, his mother a Maori, and 
 he was born at the island of Vella Lavella, in the 
 Solomon Archipelago, where his father had a trading 
 station. At fourteen years of age he went to sea 
 in a sperm whaler, rose to be boat-steerer, then 
 fourth, third and second mate, and taught himself 
 navigation. Then after six years of whaling life 
 he returned to Vella Lavella, and found that his 
 father and mother had been murdered by the 
 natives, and the trading station looted and burnt. 
 In a quiet, simple way he related the tale of the 
 bloody vengeance he wreaked upon his parents' 
 murderers. 
 
 *' I was well known to, and on very friendly 
 terms with, the natives of Rubiana Island — the 
 19
 
 2 90 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 fiercest fighters and greatest head-hunters in all the 
 Solomon Islands. I hired a cutter, sailed over 
 to Rubiana, and made a bargain with fifty picked 
 men. A week later, at dark, we anchored the 
 cutter in a little uninhabited bay five miles from 
 the village whose people had killed my father and 
 mother. I knew my way through the bush, and 
 just as daylight was breaking we fell upon the 
 place. Not a single grown man escaped, for our 
 attack was so sudden. We took as many women 
 and children prisoners as the cutter could carry 
 back to Rubiana, and let the others run away into 
 the bush. Then we burnt the village and destroyed 
 all the canoes. 
 
 '* I knocked about the North West Pacific for a 
 year or two after that, and then took to whaling 
 again — and here I am with about $360 in my 
 pocket, and ready for anything." 
 
 We agreed to make our way to either the 
 Marquesas, Tahiti or Samoa by the first chance that 
 offered ; then after spending an hour at the Bella 
 Union Theatre we returned to our lodgings and 
 turned in. 
 
 In the morning I went to breakfast on board the 
 barque, and told Captain Dollond that I had 
 decided not to accept his kind offer. He was 
 disappointed, but he did not again try to make me
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 291 
 
 change my mind. We walked up to town 
 together and parted at the Merchants' Exchange, I 
 promising to come and see him again before he 
 sailed. 
 
 Returning to my lodgings, I found my new 
 friend anxiously awaiting me. 
 
 " Look here," he cried excitedly, pointing to a 
 short paragraph in the shipping news column of the 
 Daily Alta^ " this ought to suit us. Let us hurry 
 ofF." 
 
 The paragraph was as follows : 
 
 "The Hawaiian schooner Kahina, Gosset, master, 
 has come out of dock. She is chartered to take 
 timber to Apia, Samoa, via Fanning Island." 
 
 We hurried down to the Kahina, and found 
 " Gosset, master," on board, and in five minutes 
 had come to an arrangement with him. He 
 agreed to land us at Apia for $50 each, and we 
 paid him half the sum down. He was a cheery, 
 little, red-faced tub of a man — an Englishman — 
 and his vessel was a smart fore-and-after of 200 tons. 
 Her crew were all Polynesians — Gosset and his 
 two officers being the only white men on Doard. 
 
 We did not sail for nearly three weeks, and then 
 we spun out of San Francisco Bay before a stiff
 
 292 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 breeze, with every stitch of canvas we could set. 
 The Knhina must have presented a fine appearance, 
 for, as we passed between Alcatraz Island and the 
 old Presidio, the crews of a number of ships lying 
 at anchor mounted the bulwarks to look at us as 
 we tore by, and several of them cheered — much to 
 Gosset's delight, for he was intensely and properly 
 proud of his craft, which he had had built under 
 his own supervision. 
 
 I must mention that the Gazelle had sailed six- 
 teen days previously. I had said farewell to 
 Captain Dollond, his wife and brother, with sincere 
 regret, for they had all been very kind to me ; 
 and, the day before the beautiful little barque 
 sailed, my newly-found comrade and I had had 
 supper with them, and then we all went to the 
 theatre together. 
 
 " I am quite sure we shall see each other again," 
 said Dollond to me as I bade him good-bye ; 
 ^ some day, when you have had enough of trading 
 in the South Seas you will go to Sydney to spend 
 your money, and I expect to make a good many 
 voyages to Sydney during the next five years. 
 Anyway I shall call and see your people there." 
 
 And so we parted — the little Japanese wife 
 telling me, smilingly, that she, too, hoped to see 
 me again.
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 293 
 
 For eight days we carried a strong north-easterly 
 breeze, the little Kahina sailing like a witch. Then, 
 after sighting the lofty cloud-capped mountains of 
 Hawaii, we kept a direct S. course for Fanning 
 Island — nearly a thousand miles distant, the strong 
 breeze gradually failing us till at last it died away 
 altogether, and for two days we were swept steadily 
 to the E. by the strong equatorial counter current ; 
 then suddenly the glass began to fall, and an 
 ominously long swell came rolling sullenly from 
 the South, and the schooner rolled so heavily that 
 nearly everyone on board began to feel seasick. 
 
 Gosset was a careful man, and made every pre- 
 paration for a hard blow, and well it was that he 
 did so, for by nine o'clock that night the vessel was 
 hove to on the port tack fighting a savage hurricane, 
 and a truly appalling sea, seething white under a 
 sky of inky blackness. For eighteen hours the 
 storm continued, the sprightly little Kahina be- 
 having most bravely through it all. Only once 
 did she ship a sea — just before daylight she took a 
 heavy plunge, and ere she could recover herself a 
 towering wall of water fell upon her amidships 
 with a mighty crash and smothered her completely. 
 She rose trembling and shook herself free, not a 
 bit the worse except that about 20 feet of her 
 bulwarks had gone, leaving only the tough green-
 
 294 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 heart stanchions, which seemed to say : " We are 
 all right and stood the racket, didn't we ? As for 
 your two-inch soft pine planking — bah ! what can 
 you expect of such poor stuff ! " 
 
 During the following week we had but faint 
 airs from the westward, and the easterly current 
 running at two knots continued to set us away 
 from Fanning Island and towards Christmas Island, 
 a vast atoll then uninhabited, though sometimes 
 visited by shark-catching schooners from Hono- 
 lulu. 
 
 One Sunday afternoon, as the Kahina was gently 
 and lazily pushing her sharp bows through the 
 placid sea under a faint air which just gave her 
 steerage way, we sighted the crowns of some 
 coconut trees, apparently growing out of the ocean, 
 and knew that it was Christmas Island. And 
 almost at the same time, an Hawaiian sailor who 
 was doing some work to the fore-rigging aloft 
 called out that he could see something: like a boat 
 a long way off on the port quarter. There were, 
 he said, a lot of sea-birds flocking about it. 
 
 " Lower away one of the boats, Mr. Watson, and 
 see what it is," said Captain Gosset to the mate, as 
 he brought his glasses to bear on the object — " it is 
 certainly a boat, low down in the water." 
 
 Bill and I went with the mate, and after an
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 295 
 
 hour's pull we drew near the derelict, which was 
 surrounded by an enormous number of birds, and 
 swimming round and round it were a score or 
 more of large sharks, their hideous forms showing 
 clearly through the still, glassy water. The boat 
 was very low down in the water, and when we ran 
 alongside and looked over the gunwale we saw a 
 terrible sight. Five dead people lay huddled 
 together in the bottom — four men and one woman 
 — presenting a most dreadful appearance, for they 
 had died of hunger and thirst, and the fierce rays 
 of a torrid sun had turned their bodies black. 
 
 Suddenly Bill placed his hand on my arm, and 
 pointed silently to the stern of the boat, where 
 was painted the words " Gazelle^ Glasgow." 
 
 It was impossible for us to stay near the boat 
 more than a few minutes, but during that time I 
 was able to recognise one of the poor creatures as 
 Captain Dollond's brother, and the woman as Mrs. 
 Dollond's maid. There were evidences in the way 
 of extra clothing, etc., that there had been at least 
 ten people in the boat. No doubt those that were 
 missing had jumped overboard in the agonies of 
 thirst. 
 
 '* We cannot leave them here," said the mate to 
 me in a low voice, and he pointed to the prowling 
 sharks, which were so close to both boats that the
 
 296 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 men were dealing them heavy blows with their 
 oars ; " we must tow the boat to the ship and 
 scuttle her properly after we are rid of these 
 brutes." 
 
 Taking the boat in tow we pulled back to the 
 schooner, followed by those hateful sharks, several 
 of which made savage rushes at the blade of the 
 mate's steer oar. As soon as we got alongside the 
 schooner, Watson and the captain held a hurried 
 consultation, and half-a-dozen Snider rifles and a 
 whaler's bomb-gun were passed down to us. In 
 ten minutes we had disposed of eight or nine of the 
 most daring of the sharks, which, as they sank in 
 the ensanguined water, were riven asunder by their 
 fellows. Then, when all was quiet, we brought 
 the derelict boat alongside, put in half a ton of iron 
 ballast, and passed a lot of half-inch rope right 
 round from stem to stern, to prevent the poor 
 remnants of mortality from floating out, and then 
 came on deck, where Gosset . was awaiting us, 
 prayer-book in hand. 
 
 In a husky voice the old man read the Service 
 for the Burial of the Dead at Sea, and, as he 
 concluded, raised his hand to Watson, who was 
 standing in the open gangway just over the boat 
 with the bomb-gun in his hand. A second more 
 and the loud report of the gun rang out, and the
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 297 
 
 bomb tore through the bottom timbers of the 
 boat, which sank quickly just as the tip of the red 
 sun vanished beneath the shining sea-rim astern of 
 our silent ship. 
 
 ***** 
 
 At dawn next morning 1 was aroused by Gosset. 
 
 " There is another boat in sight — less than a 
 mile away, and no signs of life about her. Will 
 you come with me ? 
 
 As the starboard quarter boat was lowered into 
 the still calm sea the sun was rising, and showed 
 us the long, long line of Christmas Island five 
 miles distant, with scarcely any surf breaking upon 
 the barrier reef, so motionless was the ocean. 
 
 Swifdy the whaleboat, manned by four of our 
 Kanaka crew, sped over the glasslike surface of 
 the water towards the silent boat, around which we 
 saw an ominous swarm of sea-birds — some wheel- 
 ing and circling in air, others resting upon the 
 water, and many perched upon the gunwales of the 
 boat itself. And there, too, were the " gaff top- 
 sails " of several very large sharks moving slowly 
 and noiselessly to and fro. 
 
 No one among us spoke as we came alongside 
 and glanced shudderingly at the huddled-up and 
 distorted forms of what had once been men. It 
 was the captain's boat, and he, I recognised, lying
 
 298 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 for'ard. The body of his wife was not there ; 
 though that she had been in the boat was evident, 
 for lying on the bottom boards was one of her 
 slippers, a long tortoiseshell hair-ornament, and her 
 watch and chain. 
 
 Taking the boat in tow we returned to the 
 schooner, and then as a light breeze sprang up we 
 stood away towards the boat entrance into the 
 lagoon of Christmas Island, where we anchored. 
 It had been our intention to bury the bodies on one 
 of the two small sandy islets near the passage, but 
 we found it impossible to do so. Searching about, 
 we found a deep, quiet pool almost surrounded by 
 coral boulders, and to this we took the derelict 
 boat, half-filled her with coral slabs from the beach, 
 and then scuttled her. 
 
 " I wonder what became of the barque ? " 
 I said to Gosset, as we were returning to the 
 schooner. 
 
 He shook his head : " Turned turtle, I fear. She 
 was too light, must have been caught by a sudden 
 squall, and gone over." 
 
 ***** 
 
 After calling at Fanning Island — one of the 
 loneliest and yet most interesting of the low-lying 
 atolls of the Pacific (it is now one of the connecting 
 stations of the new Pacific cable), the Kahina turned
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 299 
 
 her prow towards Samoa, and ere many days had 
 passed we had run into the glorious and lusty south- 
 east trade wind, and were galloping over the 
 white-horse-tipped billows to our destination. The 
 Kahina was certainly a " happv " ship, if there ever 
 was one that sailed the sunlit Pacific seas. Old 
 Gosset was not only a grand specimen of the 
 British sailor, but an even-tempered, well-educated 
 man, who studied the comforts of his officers and 
 crew as much as he did his own. Yet at times, 
 when occasion demanded, he could be rough — 
 very, but necessarily rough — and his right hand 
 never knew what his left hand did, so quick was 
 he with the latter, and the recipient of his attentions 
 never wanted any more. Then, too, the old 
 fellow had a good voice, and could sing — and 
 recite as well — and I well remember one night, 
 after we had arrived in Samoa, and half-a-dozen 
 skippers — Americans, English and German, and a 
 score of traders of all nationalities were gathered 
 together in " Charley the Russian's " saloon, how 
 Gosset gave us " Gray's Elegy," and how quiet 
 we became when he had finished. 
 
 *' There is another stanza," he said apologetically, 
 '' which isn't included in the regular ' Elegy,' but 
 which was left out by some sort of darned mistake. 
 Would you like to hear it.^"
 
 300 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " Give it to us, Gosset," said Channing, the 
 captain of a " blackbirder." 
 
 " Well, here it is — as well as I can remember it," 
 and old Gosset half-closed his eyes as he extended 
 his hand — a hand that swept away all our garish 
 surroundings, and brought back to us sweet 
 memories of home. 
 
 "There scatter'd oft (the earliest of the year) 
 By hands unseen, are show'rs of vi'lets found ; 
 
 The redbreast loves to bill and warble there, 
 And little footsteps lightly print the ground." 
 
 A fortnight after we reached Apia, Bill and I 
 bade farewell to Gosset and his officers and crew, 
 for the Kahina was returning to California with a 
 cargo of copra, and my comrade and I had decided 
 to go to the island of Tutuila, where Bill had a 
 friend who lived at Leone Bay. He was an 
 American ex-whaling skipper, who had settled 
 down as a trader in the South Seas twenty years 
 previously, and had married a Rotumah Island girl 
 of good family. My comrade had sailed as boat- 
 steerer with his brother, who was a New Bedford 
 whaling skipper. We thought that he would be 
 just the man to give us good advice as to our 
 starting as traders in Samoa, and we were not 
 mistaken.
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 301 
 
 He received us in the most hospitable manner, 
 and before twenty-four hours had passed my 
 comrade and I had fallen violently in love with 
 three of his charming half-caste daughters and their 
 mother as well, for, although she was nearly forty 
 years of age, she was one of the most beautiful and 
 graceful Polynesian women that I had ever seen, 
 and looked as young as her eldest daughter, who 
 was nineteen. To this girl my comrade was 
 particularly assiduous in his attentions, and, young 
 as I was, I could foresee that our agreement to 
 continue mates was in imminent peril of a quick 
 severance. 
 
 And so it did happen, for one evening, as Luita 
 and Sophie — the two younger girls — and I were 
 returning to the house from pigeon shooting in 
 the mountain forest, we caught sight of Maisie 
 Hutton and Mr. William Garde, of Vella Lavella, 
 seated under a big maso'i tree, which stood on a 
 spur of the mountains overlooking the quiet waters 
 of Leone Bay. Maisie's head was pillowed on the 
 broad bosom of Bill, and her right arm was clasped 
 around his neck. 
 
 Sophie giggled, and said in Samoan as she pinched 
 my arm : " Hush, do not speak, nor let them see 
 us. It is as my mother said, '■ Le sui alii ma Maisie
 
 302 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 e loto le fa aipoipoga ' (Maisle and the sailor are 
 agreed to marry). 
 
 And after supper that night my friend Bill came to 
 me, and in a silly, halting and dreadfully roundabout 
 way began to say something to the effect that our 
 host had asked him to remain at Leone and assist 
 him in the work of building a small schooner, 
 
 " So you see," he added lamely, " I think I had 
 better take his offer, as I am to take charge of the 
 schooner as soon as she is launched." 
 
 " Just so. Bill. And I suppose you'll have 
 charge of Miss Maisie Hutton as well } " 
 
 " Er, er — -yes. That is, I think so," and he 
 rose hurriedly and left me to chase some fowls out 
 of the garden. 
 
 The wedding took place a week later, and then 
 I said good-bye to my kind friends and Bill, and 
 took passage in a small schooner for Vavau in the 
 Friendly Islands, where, I had heard, there was a 
 good opening for a trader. But after a stay of 
 two weeks I left the place in disgust. The natives 
 were such a canting lot of snuffling hypocrites, and 
 such abject imitators of the Methodist Chadbands, 
 who practically ruled the Friendly Islands, that I 
 foresaw I should soon be in hot water if I settled 
 there as a trader. As it was I got into trouble.
 
 BILL GARDE, OF VELLA LAVELLA 303 
 
 One Sunday morning I went out along the cliffs 
 for a walk, and returned to the village (Niafu) just 
 as the people were coming out of church. In the 
 mornins; two burly native policemen came to the 
 house where I was staying, arrested me, and 
 marched me off to the court-house, where I was 
 charged with " breaking the Sabbath " and fined 
 five dollars. I protested very strenuously, but 
 was advised by a friendly white trader to take it 
 quietly, or I should only have my fine increased, 
 and perhaps be imprisoned as well. 
 
 " It is the white missionary's doing," he added, 
 " the miserable little beast spoke of your ' bad 
 conduct ' at the afternoon service, and said that 
 the matahuli (councillors) should make an example 
 of any godless Sabbath-breakers." 
 
 I paid mv fine in silence, wishing that I " could 
 utter the thoughts that arose in me," However, 
 I bided my time. 
 
 On the morning that the schooner was to sail 
 for Fiji I called on the reverend gentleman in his 
 own house, and expressed my opinion of his action 
 in very vigorous language. I am sure it did him 
 good — it certainly did me. 
 
 From Vavau we sailed direct to Levuka in Fiji, 
 where I remained nearly a year. Then Samoa — 
 for which I have always cherished an affection —
 
 304 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 lured me away from the frizzy-haired Fijians, and 
 I found myself back in Apia. 
 
 My first thought was of Bill Garde, and after I 
 had taken a room at Joe D'Acosta's hotel I began 
 a long letter to him. Whilst I was writing it an 
 American storekeeper named Parker came in to 
 see me. I told him to whom I was writing. 
 
 " Then you haven't heard about the poor 
 fellow ^ " he said. " Six months ago the schooner 
 sailed on her first voyage to Sydney. Your friend 
 Garde was in command, and had his young wife 
 with him. They have never been heard of since. 
 I thought when I first saw that schooner that she 
 was overmasted."
 
 IV 
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP OF MADURO 
 LAGOON 
 
 The great atoll of Maduro is one of the 
 Marshall Island Archipelago in the North Pacific, 
 and consists of a number of low-lying, narrow 
 islets, densely clothed with coco-palms, and con- 
 nected with each other by the coral reef which 
 encompasses the noble lagoon. At the present 
 time it is German territory, and its Malayo- 
 Polynesian native inhabitants are under the 
 " fatherly " care of a few of the Kaiser's officials, 
 who rule them with a rod of iron, and make them 
 long for the days of a few years ago, when the 
 now expelled English and American traders dwelt 
 among them in happiness and peace. 
 
 On the eastern side of the atoll there is a broad 
 
 ship passage into the lagoon, and near this entrance 
 
 is a wondrously beautiful and well-wooded island 
 
 called Karolin, about three miles in length and 
 
 20 305
 
 3o6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 one in width. In the native language Karolin 
 means " Peaceful Sleep," and it is indeed a place 
 where one can sleep peacefully, lulled by the 
 murmur of the surf on the outer reef, and the 
 soft rustle of the palm fronds as they sway gently 
 to the almost sleeping trade wind at night. 
 
 I know the island well, and love it, for it has 
 many happy memories for me. 
 
 When I first visited Karolin — I was then 
 engaged in trading on the main island of Maduro 
 — I was surprised to find that although the island 
 was so fertile it was uninhabited, although it 
 contained everything to make it attractive to the 
 native mind — many thousands of coco-palms, all 
 richly fruited, groves of pandanus and jack-fruit 
 trees, and acres of ground covered with splendid 
 arrowroot plants. Yet in former years it had been 
 densely populated, as was shown by the traces of 
 what had once been extensive plantations of 
 bananas, and of a vegetable named puraka^ stone- 
 lined wells, and the coral foundations of hundreds 
 of houses, now overgrown with creepers, vines 
 and jungle. 
 
 At that time I was unable to speak the Marshall 
 Islands language, and could not, therefore, learn 
 from the natives the reason of their desertion of 
 such a beautiful spot : and, indeed, to all my
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 307 
 
 inquiries I had but mystifying answers. One was 
 that Jibberick (the king of Maduro) did not wish 
 any ot his people to Hve there, as they might be 
 surprised by a war party from the neighbouring 
 atoll of Ahrnu and cut off ; another was that the 
 island was unhealthy (a pure fiction), and a third 
 that all the fish about the reef of Karolin were 
 highly poisonous — this was certainly true. A 
 fourth reason was that the king liked to have all 
 his subjects settled near him on his own islet of 
 Egit, and a fifth that Lailik, the chief of the town 
 in which I lived, and the king's successor in the 
 event of his death, had quarrelled over the owner- 
 ship of the island, and had agreed to leave it 
 uninhabited, though twice every year they sent a 
 fleet of canoes there, manned by some hundreds of 
 natives. They stripped the coco-trees of their 
 nuts, divided the produce between them, turned it 
 into oil, and sold it to the white traders. This 
 latter story I believed to be the true one. 
 
 Lailik and I were good friends. It had so hap- 
 pened that two years before I came to Maduro I 
 had rendered him a good service. He was 
 voyaging from Maduro to Milli Lagoon in his 
 great double canoe with seventy people, when they 
 were first overtaken by a hurricane, which nearly 
 wrecked them. Then followed a calm of thirteen
 
 3o8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 days, during which many of their number perished 
 from hunger and thirst. The vessel in which I 
 was supercargo met them two hundred miles out 
 of their course, and I gave the survivors water and 
 provisions, and many months afterwards Lailik and 
 his people returned safely to Maduro. 
 
 A few days after I had settled on Maduro as a 
 trader and had been warmly received by Lailik, 
 another event occurred which made him more 
 grateful. His second wife (he had three), a young 
 and graceful woman named Nadup, had a severe 
 attack of ophthalmia, which I was able to cure by 
 a simple solution of nitrate of silver. 
 
 With the old king Jibberick I was not persona 
 grata^ having offended him by selling some arms 
 to his hereditary enemies of Ahrnu. It was no 
 use my explaining to him that my employers' 
 interests had to be considered, and that my instruc- 
 tions were to sell arms to anyone who could pay 
 for them, and also that he himself had bought 
 rifles and ammunition from both my predecessors 
 and myself. The old man sulked, and one day 
 when I sent him a present of a small keg of salt beef 
 he returned it to me — subjecting me to about the 
 greatest insult he could devise, for to decline^agift 
 of food is regarded as a serious matter by all 
 Malayo-Polynesians.
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 309 
 
 One day, shortly after Lailik's wife's eyes were 
 better, I asked him to tell me the real reason why 
 no one lived on Karolin. He hesitated a few 
 moments, and then told me that the island " was 
 full of ghosts " — haunted, and that for many years 
 it had been impossible for anyone to sleep there at 
 night, and that even in the day-time these ghosts 
 had appeared, walking about in the jungle or 
 sitting on the beach on the inner or lee side of the 
 island. 
 
 " Have you seen any of these ghosts, Lailik ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes," was the emphatic reply, " twice have I 
 seen one of them when I was a boy. Once it was 
 at sunset, and I saw the ghost come out from 
 behind a big gur (banian tree) and walk towards 
 the beach. The second time I saw the same man 
 swimming close to the shore. I knew him by his 
 red beard." 
 
 " A red beard ! " 
 
 " Aye, even so — a red beard, for it was the 
 ghost of a white man," was the quiet response. 
 
 I looked at Lailik steadily, and his eyes met 
 mine unwaveringly. He was a strikingly hand- 
 some man of about forty years of age, with a jet- 
 black beard. 
 
 " You doubt me," he said, " and it gives me no
 
 3IO SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 surprise. Yet to no other white man would I 
 speak as I now speak to you, for you will not 
 laugh, nor tell me that I am lying. But it is true. 
 There are many ghosts on Karolin — ghosts of 
 white men who died there before I was born. 
 Many people have seen them. Many have seen 
 the man with the red beard, who carries a cutlass 
 in his hand, and many have seen the ghost of a 
 Shina ^ — a man with a long tail of hair hanging 
 down his back, and his garments red with blood, 
 for his throat is cut, and with one hand he seeks 
 to stay the blood. And there are other ghosts of 
 white men. But it is hard for me to speak of 
 these things." 
 
 *' Lailik, you can trust me. What you tell me 
 no one shall know. It will be hidden in my 
 heart. I shall speak of it to no one." 
 
 Again he hesitated, but after some more pressing 
 he told me the whole story of a tragedy that had 
 been enacted on Karolin during his father's life- 
 time, and when there were no Europeans resident on 
 Maduro. I listened to him intently. That he 
 believed that he had actually seen a ghost there was 
 no doubt, and equally there was no doubt in the 
 imaginative minds of many others of his people 
 that they too had seen the disembodied spirits of a 
 ^ Chinaman.
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 311 
 
 number of white men, who had all met with a 
 violent death in the space of a week or so. The 
 aversion of all the natives to speak of the tragedy to 
 any white man was easily explainable, for they 
 feared that they would be regarded as murderers, 
 and their villages destroyed and burnt, and them- 
 selves killed by an English or American ship of 
 war. In those days the people of some of the 
 Marshall Islands had earned for themselves an evil 
 reputation for the cutting off of whaleships and 
 trading vessels, and the massacre of their crews, 
 and when they were punished for their misdoings 
 it sometimes happened that absolutely innocent 
 communities were shot down with the guilty. 
 Naturally, therefore, the people of Maduro kept the 
 story of what had happened on Karolin to them- 
 selves, and, indeed, destroyed all traces that would 
 lead to its ever coming to light. 
 
 As nearly as possible I will repeat Lailik's own 
 words. He told me the story when he and I 
 were alone, fishing in the lagoon. We paddled 
 out from my own station directly across the atoll 
 for a distance of eight or nine miles till we were 
 within rifle-shot of the white beach of Karolin 
 with its fringe of lofty coco-palms. 
 
 After we had lowered our mat sail, and anchored 
 and eaten, Laillk pointed out to me the dark
 
 312 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 green tops of a grove of jack-fruit trees near the 
 centre of the island, and asked me if I knew the 
 place. 
 
 " Yes," I replied, " I have twice shot pigeons 
 there. There are a lot of very high trees growing 
 out of the banks which surround an old puraka 
 plantation." 
 
 He nodded. " Aye, and in between the butts 
 of the trees, deep down in the ground, lie some of 
 the white men — others went into the bellies of the 
 sharks. No one of us will take bread-fruit from 
 those trees now, even if there was a famine in the 
 land. Didst ever hear of Lol, son of the brother 
 of Jibberick?" 
 
 I shook my head. 
 
 " Lol was a very strong and daring young man. 
 He feared nothing, and jested always at sacred 
 things and the gods. One day there came to 
 Maduro a great canoe from Milli Lagoon with a 
 hundred people in it. They came as friends to 
 stay two months. Among them was a young 
 woman named Le-juan, and she and Lol became 
 lovers, and there was talk of marriage, and prepa- 
 rations were made. Now, by reason of the 
 continual feasting that had happened for many 
 weeks, all the ripe jack-fruit had been eaten, and 
 there were none left but those that were ripe and
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 313 
 
 falling from the grove on Karolin, which no one 
 dared to gather. Le-juan, who was incensed, 
 said that to be without jack-fruit at her wedding 
 feast was an insult. She did not know why no 
 one dared to pluck the fruit from those trees. 
 Then Lol told her and she called him a coward. 
 
 " That night he came to me and said : ' To- 
 morrow I go to Karolin to get jack-fruit for my 
 wedding feast. I fear nothing,' 
 
 " So he took a canoe and went alone after sun- 
 rise. We could not stay him, for he jeered at us, 
 and when he did not jeer he cursed, and Le-juan 
 stood near and laughed, and gave him words of 
 encouragement. He hoisted his mat sail, and set 
 off, beating against the wind, and long before the 
 sun was in mid-sky he landed on the beach, just 
 there before us. 
 
 " The night came, and he did not return. In 
 the morning seven young men, of whom I was one, 
 went to seek him. We found his canoe on the 
 beach, and a little higher up on the bank was Lol. 
 He was lying on his back, dead. His hands were 
 clenched and his eyes wide open, and his face was 
 bad to look upon, though in life he had been a 
 handsome man. 
 
 " Although he was so godless, he had many 
 friends, and because of his death we took the girl
 
 314 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Le-juan and strangled her — for she had caused it. 
 Her own people were not angry because we did 
 this. They knew it was right and proper, for why 
 should a silly girl bewitch and destroy a strong 
 man ? And she died with but little pain and much 
 honour ; for those who strangled her were chiefs' 
 wives, and it was done as she slept." 
 
 " Perhaps it was as well, Lailik. Such women 
 as was Le-juan bring much trouble upon men by 
 their beauty. Now tell me why the ghosts haunt 
 Karolin." 
 
 * * ^ ^ ^ 
 
 " This thing happened when there were many 
 hundreds of people living on Karolin, in one large 
 village under my father, who also ruled at Molok " 
 (the large town in which my trading station was 
 situated, and which was ruled by Lailik) — " how 
 many hundreds I do not know — perhaps ten. 
 
 " One morning, when the rain came down very 
 heavily and the wind was strong, a ship swept in 
 through the passage. She was kdtoa (full-rigged) 
 with yards on all three masts. When she was well 
 into the lagoon, and in smooth water, she came to 
 the wind, and waited as if expecting a pilot. So my 
 father and his brother, who could both speak Eng- 
 lish, went off in a canoe, and the captain made 
 them very welcome, and asked them to take his
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 315 
 
 ship to an anchorage. This they well knew how 
 to do, for my uncle had been to sea in an American 
 whaleship for many years, and was a good sailor- 
 man. 
 
 *' When the ship was safely anchored, close to 
 the beach of the little bay on the north end of the 
 island, the captain was very pleased, and my father 
 and his brother were taken into the cabin and mven 
 
 o 
 
 grog to drink, and presents of a musket with fifty 
 bullets, and a can of fine, black powder. 
 
 *' He told them that the ship came from Sydney, 
 and was going to Manila with a rich cargo, and he 
 had put into Maduro to fill the water-casks, and 
 also to repair the bowsprit, which had been injured 
 in a storm and was loose. He had been told of 
 Maduro by another ship captain, who said that the 
 passage into the lagoon was safe, and the people 
 could be trusted not to try and take the ship. 
 
 " In the cabin, lying on a soft couch in the stern, 
 was the captain's wife, and seated by her were her 
 two daughters ; the captain told my father that 
 his wife was ill, and that he was glad that his 
 ship would be in smooth water for six or eight 
 days so that the sick woman could be rested. 
 
 " In a little while the boats were lowered to get 
 water from the four wells, which were in the 
 village. They are but small wells, as you know,
 
 3i6 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 and the sailors grumbled at the water, which was 
 just a little brackish, and the captain told my 
 father that his men were a lazy and worthless lot, 
 and that when he got to Manila he would send 
 them all to prison, for they were continuously rude 
 to him and his officers, often refused to work, and 
 had threatened him with violence. The man who 
 was most mutinous of all he pointed out — he was 
 very tall and strong, and had a great red beard 
 which hid his chest from view. 
 
 " Towards the evening the captain asked our 
 people if they would lend him a house wherein his 
 wife and daughters and he might sleep at night, 
 for the cabin of the ship was very hot, even with' 
 the great stern ports open, and the sick woman 
 longed to rest on the land. 
 
 " My father and our people were pleased, especi- 
 ally the women, who clapped their hands with 
 delight, for but very few of them had ever before 
 seen a white woman, and in a little while the whole 
 village was in commotion, the women and children 
 running to get fine mats to lay upon the floor of 
 the house my father had pointed out to the captain. 
 It stood just above the margin of the beach, under 
 the shade of two great bread-fruit trees, and, 
 the ground being high, the wind blew about it 
 more than any other house and made it cool. At
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 317 
 
 the back was a grove of plantains, and in front 
 was a wide open space covered with fine pebbles, 
 which was always kept clean and free from dead 
 leaves. 
 
 " Before sunset the three white ladies came on 
 shore, and the two girls laughed at the manner in 
 which our young women surrounded them as they 
 stepped out of the boat. Many of them touched 
 their hands, their hair, their feet, and kissed their 
 clothes, for they had never before seen such a beauti- 
 ful sight as these two white English girls, who were 
 tall and straight and so like each other that only their 
 father and mother could have discerned between 
 them ; and the captain, who laughed continuously 
 at the way in which his daughters were worshipped, 
 told my father they were masaga (twins). One 
 was named Marie, and the other Toarisi (Doris. f')^ 
 and in a little while they let some of our young 
 girls put their arms round their waists, and so all 
 together they came to the house, the sick woman 
 being carried on a litter by four sailors. Every- 
 thing that we could offer in the way of food was 
 taken to them, until at last the captain prayed us 
 to send no more ; and then, because he was grate- 
 ful, he brought on shore a whole unopened case of 
 twist tobacco, and gave it to my father to be 
 divided among the people.
 
 3i8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " For two days and nights the captain — who was 
 an old man — never left the house, except to go 
 outside and smoke, for his wife did not get 
 better, but lay and moaned, and sometimes laughed 
 and sang, and the two girls, Marie and Toarisi, 
 wept silently as they sat beside her, for her 
 sickness was so great that she did not know 
 them. 
 
 " On the morning of the third day the captain 
 came to my father, and said, ' I pray you that no 
 noise be made near the house, for my wife sleeps, 
 and the fever that has run so long in her veins 
 abates.' 
 
 " Soon after the ship's bell had struck eight 
 times, the second mate came on shore and begged 
 the captain to come quickly to the ship, for the 
 man with the red beard and five other sailors had 
 taken a keg of rum from the cabin in the night, 
 and had become drunk, and beaten the Chinese 
 steward, and struck down the mate and third mate 
 with belaying pins, so that they were then as dead 
 men. 
 
 "As the second mate spoke in whispered tones 
 to his captain, the sick woman awakened and 
 stretched out her hands, and cried out loudly, 
 ' Dick, Marie, Toarisi, come quickly, quickly, for 
 I am leaving thee.'
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 319 
 
 " And as her hands fell, and they gathered about 
 her, she died. 
 
 " The captain and the second mate stayed a little 
 while with the dead lady, and then left her with 
 the two girls. Then they went on board with ten 
 strong young men of the village, and bound and put 
 in irons all the crew, who were dulled with liquor, 
 and attended to the first and third mates and the 
 Chinese steward. Then the captain told the boat- 
 swain that he must take care of the ship until the 
 morning, as the two officers were too badly hurt 
 to stand, and that he (the captain) was leaving five 
 or six of our young men to help him watch the men 
 in irons, and see that they did not break their 
 fetters and do further mischief. 
 
 " Then he loaded the wounded officers' pistols — 
 they each had two — and placed them beside their 
 pillows, and told them to shoot dead any one of 
 the sailors who might force his way into the cabin. 
 After this was done he took ten rifles from where 
 they stood around the mizzen mast in the cabin, 
 and put them into the boat, together with plenty of 
 powder and ball ; the rest of the rifles, and all the 
 cutlasses, he carried into the mates' cabins. Then 
 he returned to the shore with the ship's carpenter, 
 who was a man of Shina like the steward. The 
 carpenter brought with him planks and tools, and
 
 320 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 by noon he had made a coffin for the dead woman, 
 and our people dug a grave under a grove of kul 
 (pandanus-palms) and lined it strongly with smooth 
 slabs of coral stone. Then at sunset four of our 
 young men lifted the coffin, and the captain and 
 his two daughters and the carpenter followed, and 
 after them came all the people in the village, 
 walking very slowly and sadly, for they were 
 grieved to see how the girls wept. 
 
 " The old man read from the book, and then 
 when he had finished he motioned to some young 
 women to lead his daughters away, back to their 
 house, and then when the grave was filled in he fol- 
 lowed them, and all three sat there together in the 
 darkness for many hours. Then the lamp was lit, 
 and they slept. 
 
 " Just as dawn broke the people in the village 
 were awakened by the sound of shots on the ship, 
 and then by wild cries, and running to the beach, 
 together with the captain and his daughters, they 
 saw two of the five men who had been left on 
 board to guard the officers swimming to the shore, 
 and as they swam they were fired at by the sailors ; 
 the ship was so close to the beach that they soon 
 reached it, and then, unhurt, ran up the slope 
 crying for my father. 
 
 *' ' The white men have broken their bonds,'
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 321 
 
 they cried, * and have killed the two officers, the 
 boatswain, the man of Shina, and our three com- 
 rades, with axes.' 
 
 " As they spoke the mutineers ceased firing 
 with their muskets, and gathered together on the 
 after deck, and began to drag about and load four 
 brass cannons that were there — two on each side. 
 That ship had eight cannons, four on the lower 
 and four on the upper deck. 
 
 " ' Tell all your people to run to the right and 
 left away from the houses,' cried the captain to 
 my father and his brother, and then he and his 
 daughters and the Shina carpenter (who had slept 
 on shore) sped to their house, which was very 
 exposed, and quickly gathered together the guns 
 and bullets and powder that were there, and began 
 to run with them to where there was a high bank 
 covered with kul trees. Just as they neared the 
 top and were descending to safety on the other 
 side, one of the cannons on the ship was fired and 
 hundreds of round iron bullets swept around them, 
 and the captain and carpenter both fell. Before 
 any of our terrified people could go to their help 
 the girls had carried their father behind the ridge, 
 then they went back for the carpenter, and then 
 again for the guns and ammunition. They were 
 brave girls, and they gave our people courage. 
 21
 
 322 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 '* * My father's leg is wounded with a bullet,' 
 cried Toarisi to my father, ' is there anyone among 
 you who can help me stay the blood ? ' 
 
 " But the old man bade her have no fear, as the 
 wound was not a bad one, and then, as it was 
 being bound up, he directed my father what to do 
 and how to beat oiF the mutineers should they try 
 to land. As he was speaking three more cannons 
 were fired into the village, and the bullets and 
 square bits of iron tore through the sides of the 
 houses and made a great noise like the breaking of 
 trees in a high wind. But no one was hurt, for 
 all had fled from the houses as they had been 
 told. 
 
 " *From here we can shoot them down with my 
 rifles,' cried the captain to the chiefs, ' bring quickly 
 some coconut logs and lay them on the top of the 
 bank so that we can lie behind in safety. Have 
 no fear ; trust to me. My daughters can shoot well. 
 But let no one show himself, but keep behind the 
 bank. How many of you have muskets, and 
 know how to use them } ' 
 
 " Our people had but four, and they were so old 
 and foul that the captain said they were better 
 without them. The rifles which he had brought on 
 shore were of a kind none of us had before seen. 
 They each had four chambers, which went round
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 323 
 
 like those of a revolver, and they fired long, heavy 
 bullets. 
 
 " As quickly as possible we raised a heavy 
 barricade of coconut logs on the top of the bank, 
 and whilst this was being done no more cannons 
 were fired from the ship, for the mutineers had 
 gone below to the cabin, and none of them could 
 be seen. But the captain told us he was sure that 
 they knew what was being done. 
 
 ' ' ' They have gone below to get grog to drink,' he 
 said, ' and it is in my mind that presently they will 
 load the eight cannons with round shot and fire them 
 at us. But no one of us can be hurt if ye all obey 
 me. And I will take a bloody revenge upon these 
 cruel murderers,' and his eyes, which were blue, 
 and under heavy white brows, flashed with rage. 
 
 "All this time the two girls were sitting beside 
 the carpenter, who was dying, for many bullets 
 from the first cannon had entered his back and gone 
 into his bowels, and as the girls put water to his 
 mouth the captain's dog — a great, fierce animal — 
 came over to the dying man and sought to lick 
 away the blood from his wounds. 
 
 " Presently the murderers came up on deck 
 again, dragging with them the bodies of those 
 they had slain, shouting out curses to the captain, 
 and telling him they would soon have his daughters
 
 324 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 to entertain them. They threw all the bodies over- 
 board save that of the Shina steward — who was a 
 man they hated. This they took, and, although the 
 man's throat was cut, they put a rope round his 
 neck, and with much singing and jeering hoisted 
 it to the end ot the main yard of the ship, so that 
 it could be well seen from the shore. 
 
 " Then the man with the red beard hung a board 
 over the side, with writing upon it in large letters, 
 and the two girls, as they saw it, covered their 
 faces with their hands and wept, for the words 
 were foul and shameful to them, and their father 
 set his teeth and cursed, yet although his hands 
 gripped his rifle he would not fire. 
 
 " * If I kill but one of them now, as I could easily 
 do,' he said to my father, * the others may slip the 
 cable and let the ship drift before the wind far out 
 into the lagoon, and then make sail and escape, 
 and I should lose not only my revenge, but my 
 ship as well. And they have too many arms for 
 us to try and re-take the ship just now. Let us 
 watch and wait.' 
 
 " The captain was right, as you shall see 
 presently. 
 
 " After they had thrown the bodies of the 
 murdered men overboard to the sharks, they 
 loaded all the eight cannons and began firing with
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 325 
 
 round balls at the houses in the village and the 
 great canoes on the beach. The canoes they soon 
 destroyed, and some of the people wept with rage 
 when twenty or thirty great cannon balls destroyed 
 ten ocean-going canoes that each carried a hundred 
 and fifty people, and .had each taken two whole 
 years to build. As for the cannon shot that 
 passed through the houses, we did not mind, for 
 they hurt no one, and houses are easy to build. 
 But when the shot crashed into, and utterly 
 destroyed, the great canoes, it was as if they went 
 through our hearts, for what is an island people 
 like us without a fleet to fight in time of war, and 
 to voyage to other lands in time of peace ? 
 
 *' After the mutineers had destroyed the canoes, 
 they turned the cannons on the barricade we had 
 made, and fired many shots, all of which struck 
 the logs and made a great noise, but did no harm. 
 Then they seemed to tire of further firing, for 
 they could see no sign of life anywhere about the 
 village, and gathered together on the after deck, 
 and ate and drank, and presently two of them 
 went aloft and scanned the shore closely, trying to 
 discover what had become of our people and the 
 captain and his party. When they descended to 
 the deck again they joined the others, and they 
 talked together, and then all of them but Red Beard
 
 326 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 left the poop — some 'going forward to the windlass, 
 and some aloft to cast loose the sails. 
 
 " * Shoot those who are aloft,' cried the captain 
 to his daughters, as, dragging himself to the 
 barricade, he rested his rifle on the topmost log 
 and fired at four of the men who were m one of 
 the yards ; but his aim was not good, and although 
 he fired four times quickly no one of the sailors 
 was hit. 
 
 "The girls Toarisi and Marie knelt beside him, 
 and each fired, and two of the men fell from the 
 yard upon the deck, and all the people of the 
 village shouted. And again they fired, and a third 
 man for a moment stood erect on the foot-rope, 
 and then swayed and fell backward ; the fourth 
 ran down the rigging and hid under the bulwarks. 
 
 '* *■ Quick, girls, quick ! ' shouted the captain, 
 * get these people to help thee up into the branches 
 of that tree, and shoot at those who are forward. 
 Haste, haste, lest they slip the cable and the ship 
 drifts out into the lagoon, for the breeze 
 strengthens.' 
 
 " The tree of which he spoke still stands — it is 
 a lofty jack-fruit — and the two girls, who were as 
 strong and active as men, scarce needed any help 
 to clamber up into the thick branches, where at a 
 height of six fathoms from the ground they had
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 327 
 
 a clear view of the ship's decks, and in a little 
 while they began to fire at the men who were 
 gathered about the windlass, seeking to unshackle 
 the chain cable. Two of them fell and lay still 
 upon the deck, and the others fled and ran below 
 to the cabin, the girls firing at them as they ran. 
 Red Beard was the last to descend, and presently 
 he came up again with a musket, and, taking shelter 
 in the companion, pointed his gun at the thickly- 
 leaved tree. But ere he could pull the trigger one 
 of the girls fired, and he fell headlong down the 
 steps. It was thought he was killed, but after- 
 wards it was found that the girl's bullet had struck 
 him on the top of the shoulder and passed through 
 without breaking any bones. 
 
 *' Till long past noon the two girls, together 
 with those of our men who had muskets, remained 
 in the tree, and whenever one of the mutineers 
 showed his head out of the cabin they all fired 
 together. And as they sat and watched, my father 
 and his head men and the captain held council as to 
 what should be done, for the old man feared 
 greatly that when darkness came on the mutineers 
 would slip the cable and so escape. And then he 
 offered a rich reward to my father if he would 
 lead thirty of his men, and capture the ship as soon 
 as it became dark. My father shook his head.
 
 32 8 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " ' It cannot be done. We have now no canoes, 
 and to swim off would mean to meet death half- 
 way. See,' and he pointed to the fins of many- 
 sharks that swam to and fro, ' the sharks have 
 already eaten the bodies of those cast overboard, 
 and look for more. See how they gather beneath 
 the body of the dead man who hangs from the 
 main yard. It is because that they note and smell 
 the few drops of blood that must still be falling 
 upon the water. And even if we had canoes, 
 what could our men, who have no guns, do 
 against even but a few men on the ship, who have 
 small guns in plenty and eight big cannons as 
 well.?' 
 
 " As the sun began to lower the old man's 
 spirits were greatly vexed, for he feared to lose 
 his ship in the night ; and heedless of danger, and 
 wounded as he was, he crawled to the top of the 
 barricade of logs, and sat and gazed at the ship 
 which lay very silent and quiet on the water. 
 Presently one of his daughters came down from 
 the tree and sat beside him, and they talked 
 earnestly together. Then, at their bidding, the 
 other girl, Marie, came down, and all three care- 
 fully drew the charges from their pistols, and from 
 that of the dead carpenter, and reloaded them 
 again, and made other preparations in silence.
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 329 
 
 My father asked the captahi what it was that lay 
 in his mind. 
 
 " ' This I ' he replied ; * I have lost my wife, and 
 it is better for me and my daughters that we 
 should all die together if I am to lose my ship as 
 well, for then would we be cast out upon the 
 world in poverty. Now, I pray you, get your 
 young men to build me a raft strong enough to 
 carry us to the ship when it is dark.' 
 
 " ' What would you do ? ' asked my uncle 
 Ru. 
 
 " * What business is that of thine ! ' cried the 
 old man fiercely, ' thou and thy people are too 
 cowardly to help me and two girls to take my 
 ship from half-a-score of drunken men, so we 
 shall try to do it ourselves. Build me the raft — 
 and thou shalt be well paid.' 
 
 " Then, to the shame of the young men, a girl 
 named Najin rose and said, * I cannot fight, but I 
 and my sister will go with the white girls and 
 paddle the raft.' 
 
 " A silence fell upon the people, and then, for 
 very shame's sake, four young men stood up, and, 
 without a word, began to tie up their long hair on 
 tne tops of their heads,' as is the custom when we 
 go to fight. 
 
 " ' Give us swords,' they said to the captain ; 'we.
 
 330 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 too, will go with thee. But our spears are of no 
 use, and we cannot fire guns.' 
 
 " ' Good,' cried the old man, * thou art brave 
 fellows, and I shall do well with thee,' and his 
 daughters brought four sharp cutlasses and placed 
 them in the hands of the young men, who were 
 now pleased and proud, for each of the girls kissed 
 them on the cheek. 
 
 '* Planks of bread-fruit trees were quickly got 
 together, and carried to a place half-a-league away 
 from the village, where they were lashed together 
 and made into a raft, in readiness to launch when 
 it was dark, for it was the captain's design to 
 paddle it far out into the lagoon and then turn 
 and board the ship from the side from which the 
 mutineers would look not for danger. When the 
 men, carrying the planks for the raft, had gone, 
 the captain opened six bottles of grog and gave 
 some each to all that cared to drink, and then, 
 through my father, told the four young men who 
 were coming with him on the raft what to do 
 when the ship was reached. 
 
 *' ' Follow my daughters,' he said ; * it is in my 
 mind that thou wilt find all the sailors in slumber 
 or off their guard. But, if it is not so, and they 
 are awake, they will be sober enough to make a 
 strong fight. If they yield, bind them with the
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 331 
 
 strips of green bark thou art taking with us on 
 the raft ; bind them so tightly that they cannot 
 free themselves ; if they do not yield, kill them. 
 The swords I have given thee are sharp, very 
 sharp. But, although I cannot walk strongly, ye 
 must, first of all, put me on the deck, so that I 
 can see what is being done.' 
 
 *' A little before sunset, as we watched, the 
 mutineers suddenly came on deck from the cabin, 
 and with loud cries and curses began firing their 
 muskets at the village and the barricade. 
 
 " ' Let them fire,' said the captain to my father ; 
 ' the more they fire now the better it will be for 
 us to-night.' 
 
 '* Then the mutineers, some of whom were stag- 
 gering about the decks, half-drunk, began to load 
 the cannons again under the direction of Red 
 Beard, and although the two white girls could have 
 easily shot at and killed them, their father stayed 
 their hands, for he desired no more blood to be 
 shed — even that of the bad man, Red Beard. But 
 Toarisi said some words to her father, whose face 
 was white with pain of his wound, and he said, 
 ' As you will, Toarisi. I must save our good ship, 
 which is our home and all to us.' 
 
 " As darkness came on rain clouds gathered to 
 windward, and this pleased us greatly, for the rain
 
 332 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 would hide the raft from the vision of the muti- 
 neers. And then, as the first rain squall came 
 roaring and hissing over the sea and tore through 
 the trees on the land, the two girls, their father, 
 the girl Najin and her sister, and the four young 
 men, set off through the palm groves to where the 
 raft lay, the old man being carried in a litter of 
 boughs. It was still raining when they came to 
 the raft, and quickly in the darkness it was 
 launched, and the nine people left the shore. 
 
 " When they had paddled a little while the old 
 captain changed his plans, and made direct for 
 the ship, for the rain squalls were so fierce that 
 he was afraid that they might drive the raft so 
 far into the lagoon that they would be unable to 
 paddle against them and approach the ship from 
 the other side. 
 
 '* Very carefully they paddled straight to the 
 ship, peering through the blinding, driving rain, 
 and presently they discerned her. She had swung 
 round to her anchor and was lying head on to the 
 shore, and the raft came under her bows very 
 gently and was made fast to the guys that run 
 from the dolphin-striker, as you call it, to the 
 sides of the bows. For a while they all listened, 
 but heard no sound from the decks. Then the 
 white girl Marie, and Najin, and two of our young
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 233 
 
 men, very gently clambered up and looked over 
 the ship's head down upon the main deck, which 
 was running with water, pouring out through the 
 scuppers. No one was to be seen, but from the 
 companion there was a dull shaft of light, blurred 
 by the rain, coming from the cabin, and presently 
 they heard the voice of a man singing. 
 
 *' The girl Marie leant over the bows and called 
 softly to her father, who was then helped up on 
 deck, and quickly taken to the companion door. 
 He had a pistol in one hand and his own sword in 
 the other — not a cutlass, such as common sailors 
 use, but a long, thin knife in a fine, black leather 
 sheath, with a hilt like that of the swords of the 
 man-of-war officers who now come to Maduro 
 — covered with wire of gold. 
 
 " ' I keep guard here,' he said to his daughters 
 in a whisper ; ' no one of those men shall pass me.' 
 
 '*Then the man who had been singing when 
 the raft came to the ship ceased, and there was 
 clapping of hands and clinking of glasses heard, 
 and Toarisi crept to one of the open flaps, and, 
 kneeling, peered down, with a pistol in her right 
 hand. Then, with her left hand, she motioned to 
 those beside her to keep away, and be silent, for 
 the man with the red beard was speaking. 
 
 " * Let us cease this foolery,' he said, ' and see
 
 ^34 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 to the ship. My wound burns like fire, and we 
 must not delay. So let us drink once more, and 
 then to work and slip the cable, so that we can get 
 away from here. Sorry am I to lose the two girls, 
 but it cannot be helped. Six of you presently go 
 aloft and loose the fore topsail, then come down 
 and hoist and sheet home, together with some of 
 the head sails, so that, when the cable is slipped, 
 the ship cants to the north. The lagoon is wide 
 and clear of danger, so when we are well out I 
 shall heave to until daylight, so that we can beat 
 through the passage. To-morrow is time enough 
 for us to count and divide the money in the 
 iron box.' 
 
 "The girl Toarisi whispered all this to her 
 father, who told her what to do, and she and her 
 sister crept up to the skylight, and just as Red 
 Beard rose from his seat, glass in hand, and cried 
 out * Good luck to us ! ' Toarisi fired, and the 
 bullet entered his stomach, and Marie shot another 
 man, who was young and handsome, through the 
 chest, and then again they fired — for their pistols 
 had two barrels — and two other men fell, either 
 dead or wounded. 
 
 " In an instant wild cries and groans arose, and 
 the mutineers who were not hurt seized some 
 loaded pistols which lay on the cabin table and
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 335 
 
 fired wildly up through the skylight, but their 
 bullets hit no one, and as they ran hither and 
 thither around the cabin the captain gave Marie 
 his pistol, and she, fearless of danger and mad 
 with rage, ran down the companion steps and shot 
 dead a man who was rushing up cutlass in hand. 
 
 " The cabin was well lit, and the girl Najin saw 
 all that was happening, and she afterwards told my 
 father that when the man whom the girl Marie 
 had shot fell back dead upon the cabin floor the 
 captain called out and asked the others if they 
 would yield. They hesitated, and again the girls 
 fired, and then the men ran, some into the side 
 cabins and closed the doors, and others down 
 into the lazzarette by the hatch under the cabin 
 table. 
 
 " The four young men followed them, and the 
 captain, first reloading the pistols, told them to 
 break open the doors with axes. 
 
 " * Kill them all,' he said. 
 
 " It was soon done. One by one they were 
 dragged out and killed, either by pistol-shot or 
 cutlass-thrust. Then the lazzarette hatch was put 
 on and secured. 
 
 " * As for those three fellows down there, they 
 can do no harm,' said the captain, * we have them 
 like rats in a trap.' Then he turned to Red
 
 :^26 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Beard, who was sitting on the floor, groaning with 
 pain. 
 
 " ' Thou dog,' cried the old man fiercely, ' dost 
 still breathe ! ' and he thrust his sword twice into 
 the man's heart. 
 
 " Then he bade Marie light and hoist a lantern on 
 the fore stay to let the people on shore know that 
 all was well. The girl Najin went with her to 
 help, and all the others stayed in the cabin, and the 
 captain then gave the girl Toarisi some wine, and 
 he and the others drank grog, for all were very 
 wet, as well as weary. Presently the captain bade 
 the young men carry the dead men up on deck and 
 cast them overboard. The sight of so much blood 
 terrified Najin's sister, who ran out of the cabin 
 and went forward to be with her sister and the 
 white girl, who were getting ready the light. 
 This was how her life was saved. 
 
 " After that no one knew what happened in the 
 cabin. 
 
 *' But the girl said that just as she reached the 
 fore part of the ship, and was speaking to her 
 sister, she thought she heard the sound of a shot 
 from the cabin, and then in an instant the ship 
 trembled, and with a sound of thunder a mighty 
 pillar of flame leapt up from the stern, and all the 
 after deck was thrown high in air, and the
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 337 
 
 blast of the wind that it caused blew the three girls 
 from ofF the upper fore deck into the water, half 
 stunned and bruised, and when they reached the 
 beach they were all but exhausted, and had to be 
 lifted up and carried to the bank, 
 
 " As the people on shore ran hither and thither 
 in great alarm, not knowing what to do, flames 
 burst out all about the after part of the ship, and 
 burnt with great fierceness, spreading everywhere, 
 although it still rained a Httle, and the vessel still 
 rode head to wind. In an hour she was ablaze 
 from one end to the other, and then all the rigging 
 and sails caught, and the lagoon became as light as 
 if it were broad daylight. All this time the body 
 of the man whose throat was cut was still hanging 
 from the yard arm, but the flames crept along and 
 caught the block through which the rope was 
 passed, and the dead man fell into the water and 
 sank. Before this two of the eight guns which 
 had been loaded went ofl^, and three of our people 
 who were gathered on the beach were killed by iron 
 bullets, and many wounded. Some cried out that 
 the guns had been fired purposely, but the white 
 girl Marie, who was weeping as she watched the 
 ship burn, said that everyone on board was killed, 
 and that the cannons went off because of the fire 
 which encompassed them. And this indeed was 
 22
 
 338 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 true, for had there been any one man alive and 
 moving about the decks he would have been seen 
 from the shore, because of the great light. And 
 Marie told us that in the lazzarette were more than 
 a score of barrels of powder, and many kegs of 
 leaden bullets, and it was her thought that the 
 mutineers who had fled there had perhaps broken a 
 barrel of powder to load their pistols, and that her 
 father, hearing the noise, had lifted the hatch and 
 shot down to terrify them. 
 
 " All through the night the ship continued to 
 burn, and towards dawn, after the fore and main 
 masts had fallen, red pillars of fire, into the water, 
 there was another, but much smaller, explosion in 
 the hold amidships. It rent the sides of the ship 
 asunder, and she sank quickly. And in the morn- 
 ing naught was to be seen but bits of charred 
 timber, and some of the uncharred portions of the 
 after part of the ship, which had been blown in the 
 air at the first. But there were still many sharks. 
 
 " For two months the girl Marie lived with us, 
 always very quiet and sad. Then, to our great 
 sorrow, she sickened and died, and was buried with 
 her mother." 
 
 * # * * * 
 
 Here Lailik's story ended. I asked him many 
 questions, and gathered from his replies that the
 
 THE UNKNOWN SHIP 339 
 
 ship must have been a vessel of about 800 or 1000 
 tons. She had painted ports, and carried studding 
 sails. One thing that had impressed the natives 
 was the beautiful decorations of the main cabin. 
 Between each state-room, he said, the sides were 
 lined with mirrors, " a fathom high and half-a- 
 fathom wide — very beautiful and set in squares or 
 gold " (gilded frames). Then in the captain's own 
 state-room were many pictures of ships, painted by 
 the girls Doris and Marie. Another thing that the 
 natives well remembered was that, besides the 
 captain's dog, the boatswain had a very savage bull 
 dog — an animal of a breed they had never before 
 seen — and that the creature howled very much 
 when the captain, his wife and daughters, came on 
 shore, for he was much attached to the girls.
 
 V 
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE "MILLY" 
 
 One day, towards sunset, in March 1889 — a 
 week previous to the great Calliope hurricane at 
 Apia, which destroyed the German and American 
 squadrons, I was becalmed off Sophia Island, an 
 uninhabited spot a few hundred miles north-west 
 ot Samoa. It is a very small island, less than 
 three miles in circumference, well-wooded, of an ex- 
 tremely picturesque appearance, and is the southern 
 outlier of that group of low-lying coral atolls known 
 as the Ellice Group. More than a hundred years 
 ago it was inhabited by some two or three hun- 
 dred of light-skinned Polynesians speaking a lan- 
 guage akin to Samoan, but for some unknown 
 reason they left their native land and went to the 
 neighbouring atoll of Nukulaelae and never returned 
 to it. The place is the resort of millions of sea- 
 birds, and abounds with green turtle. Twice 
 before I had visited it, on each occasion spending 
 several days and nights there, catching turtle and 
 
 340
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE 'MILLY' 341 
 
 hundreds of huge uga (robber crabs), both of these 
 creatures bringing good prices in Samoa — the natives 
 competing keenly with the European residents, 
 especially over the turtle, which are scarce in Samoa. 
 
 Little did I then imagine that this lonely spot in 
 the South Pacific held a fortune in its bosom, and 
 that I had been walking over it day after day. 
 Had I possessed at that time the knowledge that 
 came to me years afterwards I would not now be 
 writing these " Notes from My South Sea Log." 
 " Ulakita," as the natives call Sophia Island, had 
 rich guano deposits, and it fell to the lot of an 
 American resident in Samoa to discover their value. 
 But he was a good fellow and deserved his luck — 
 which should have been mine. 
 
 We were, as I have said, becalmed. The day 
 had been swelteringly hot, so hot that even a 
 temporary awning I had on the after deck gave 
 but little relief. Had we been anywhere on 
 soundings I would have anchored the schooner 
 and gone on shore in the boat and spent the night 
 on the island, sleeping on the cool carpet of leaves 
 under the big banian trees. But five miles was 
 rather a long pull on such a day, so I gave up the 
 idea. I must mention that I was bound from 
 Samoa to Naura (Pleasant Island), a populous 
 island situated 25 miles south of the Line, for a 
 cargo of copra (dried coconut) and sharks' fins.
 
 342 
 
 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 Just as the mate and I had finished our supper 
 — it was then dark — one of our native hands 
 reported that he saw a fire on Ulakita. Going on 
 deck we saw it plainly, and in a few minutes it 
 increased in size and brightness, and a dense 
 volume of black smoke ascended through the 
 windless atmosphere. 
 
 " It is right down at the water's edge," said the 
 mate ; " perhaps it is a signal from some ship- 
 wrecked people. But if so it is queer they did 
 not light it long ago. We have been in sight of 
 the island ever since daylight." 
 
 Taking our night glasses he went aloft to get a 
 better view, and in a few minutes he called out to 
 me excitedly to come up. 
 
 " It's a small craft on fire. She is either on 
 shore or close in to the beach." 
 
 Going aloft I soon satisfied myself that the 
 mate was correct, ror every moment the flames 
 became more brilliant, and we could see the black 
 hull of the burning vessel silhouetted against the 
 white beach of the little bay in which she lay. 
 
 Within ten minutes we had a boat provisioned, 
 lowered and manned, and I started for the island, 
 leaving the schooner in charge of the mate, who 
 was to lower the second boat, and tow the vessel 
 in close to the land and then anchor. 
 
 In half-an-hour I was close enough to the burning
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE ' MILLY ' 343 
 
 vessel to see that she was a cutter of about 20 tons. 
 Her mast was still standing but aflame to the 
 truck, the wire stays having kept the topmast 
 erect, though it was near its collapse. 
 
 We approached as near as possible as the heat 
 of the flames would permit, and hailed again and 
 again, directing our voices to the shore, but nothing 
 broke the silence of the night but the dull roar of 
 the flames. 
 
 " Pull in for the beach, men," I said to my crew, 
 '' whoever was on board must have escaped to the 
 shore long ago." 
 
 The beach was only a hundred yards distant, 
 and it and the belt of palm and banian trees were 
 clearly revealed, and in a few moments we saw a 
 small boat, with one man in it, coming round a 
 wooded point some little distance from where we 
 had grounded our own boat. He was sculling 
 vigorously and coming directly towards us, and we 
 hailed each other simultaneously. He came up 
 alongside, and, before he replied to my ofi^er of 
 assistance, he looked at the burning vessel and 
 swore deeply. Then he turned to me : 
 
 " No, thank you. I saved all I could when I 
 found the fire had got beyond me, tumbled it into 
 the dinghy and sculled on shore — just round the 
 point there — and then hurried back in the hope of 
 getting another load, but it is too late."
 
 344 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 *' You look pretty well done up," I said, " and 
 so I won't bother you with questions just now. 
 Will you have a glass of grog or some beer — I 
 have both here." 
 
 He drank off a pannikin full of bottled beer and 
 then sat down in the stern sheets, and began a curious 
 story. But he first ascertained from me where I was 
 bound to, etc. Here is the yarn that he spun us. 
 
 " That cutter is the Milly^ and belonged to me. 
 My name is Kelly. I was chartered in Auckland 
 to take a load of stores and provisions down to 
 Flint Island. There were only four others on 
 board besides myself — a white mate and three 
 Kanaka A.B.s. The mate was a lazy, useless 
 scamp, and when I got to Flint Island I kicked 
 him ashore to shift for himself. The three Kanaka 
 were Tongans, and only one of them was any good, 
 and I had my hands pretty full, I can tell you, 
 when I left Flint Island for the Bank's Group, 
 where I was certain of picking up a full cargo on 
 freight to Levuka. But I managed to get along 
 till we reached Puka Puka (Danger Island), 700 
 miles to the westward. I ran in and let go close 
 to the reef, as I wanted to buy some fresh pro- 
 visions from the natives. Leaving one fellow on 
 board to keep ship and see that the natives who 
 might come on board did not steal anything, I 
 went on shore with the other two. The moment
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE 'MILLY' 345 
 
 the boat touched the beach my two beggars bolted 
 from me and ran away into the bush, telling the 
 natives I had been Saua (cruel) to them. And I 
 could not get them back — the swine." 
 
 '* Couldn't you get a couple of men from Puka 
 Puka ? " I asked. 
 
 " Tried my hardest. No use. They were all 
 too scared to come. And when at last, after 
 buying all the provisions I wanted, I went on 
 board, I found the cutter deserted — the other 
 fellow had cleared out as well. So there was 1 left 
 single-handed, with a big lump of a cutter to make 
 a run of 1 800 miles to Nitendi, in the Santa Cruz 
 Group, and — hallo, there goes the last of the MiUyT 
 
 As he was speaking there was a muffled report 
 and then a sudden burst of flame from the after part 
 of the burning vessel, which sank in a few seconds. 
 
 "Sounded and looked like a case of kerosene 
 catching and going off, captain," I observed. 
 
 " Yes, either that or spirits. There were half-a- 
 dozen tins of oil and a half-barrel of rum on board. 
 Well, it has ended her." 
 
 We were all very silent for a few moments, for 
 to watch a ship sink is hard, even to the mind of 
 the roughest and most unsentimental sailor-man. 
 
 " Captain," I said, " let us go up on the bank 
 and camp there until morning — if there is really 
 nothing we can do for you until then."
 
 346 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 He nodded : " Might as well make ourselves 
 comfortable. My gear around the point is all 
 right — nothing but the heavy dew to harm it. 
 But what about your own ship ? " 
 
 I told him of the orders given to the mate to 
 tow in and anchor, and then sent back our own 
 boat to help. Then I lit a fire, and the stranger and I 
 had coffee and some biscuits and sardines, and during 
 the rough meal he told me the rest of his story. 
 
 Leaving Puka Puka single-handed, he kept 
 steadily on a due west course for the next seven 
 days, heaving to at night but very seldom. Then 
 he sighted Sophia Island and determined to anchor 
 and spell for a few days. He did not know that 
 it was uninhabited, but did know from hearsay 
 that there was fresh water to be had and a safe 
 anchorage somewhere on the lee side. 
 
 " I have been here two days," he said as he 
 puffed away at his pipe, " and intended to stay for 
 another two, even if a good breeze sprang up, for 
 I was in want of a good rest. Yesterday, after 
 having dinner on board, I came ashore, intending 
 to climb to the top of the island and then go all 
 over it. I left everything safe and sound. There 
 certainly was a little fire burning in the galley 
 stove, but I slid-to the door and I cannot imagine 
 how the fire broke out. There was not a rat on 
 board to my knowledge to cause the mischief, and
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE ' MILLY ' 347 
 
 I can only conclude that the fire started in some 
 inexplicable way in the cabin or hold. 
 
 " Unfortunately for me, when I landed I struck 
 right across the island to the weather side, where 
 for two or three hours I was shooting plover and a 
 sort of landrail. If I had kept to the lee side I 
 could not have failed to have seen your vessel, and 
 then I would have gone back to the cutter to get 
 another oar and pull out to you, and the chances 
 are that my little hooker would still be afloat, for 
 that cursed fire must have started some hours 
 before I saw it." 
 
 I remarked that v/e did not see it until after 
 sunset. 
 
 " And just a little before, I had got back from 
 the weather side of the island and was descending 
 the hiU when I first caught sight of my cutter and 
 saw that she was on fire — smoke was pouring out 
 of the hold through the open hatch — and presently 
 I saw that the galley was alight. 
 
 *' I jumped into the boat and sculled off, just in 
 time to save most of everything of value in the 
 cabin and pitch it into the boat. It was no use my 
 trying to fight the fire — it had too firm a grip. 
 And — well, that's all," and he threw out his hands 
 with a gesture of indifference. 
 
 I walked with him to the place where he had 
 landed his salved gear and assisted him to stow it
 
 348 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 In a more compact form, and then, as we returned 
 to our camp to await daylight, gave him, in 
 response to his inquiries, all the information I 
 could about Ulakita. 
 
 "It's a mighty fine little place" he said musingly, 
 "fresh water, turtle and fish, birds galore and 
 coconuts. A man could live here like a fighting 
 cock, eh ? " 
 
 I laughed : " He could indeed, even without 
 Beauty by his side to share his loneliness." 
 
 He turned on me swiftly and gave me a searching 
 glance, for I could see the glitter of his eyes in the 
 darkness. Then he, too, laughed. 
 
 " Aye, aye, as you say. Now when is it that the 
 sperm whalers touch here ? " 
 
 " Not for some months yet. But only two 
 of them, as far as I know — the California and 
 the Niger. They usually lie off and on here for a 
 day or two, on their way to the North-West, to cut 
 firewood and let the crews have a run over the 
 Island. You see, Samoa is a bad place for a 
 whaler's crew — so many of 'em desert there." 
 
 " Just so, just so. Well, I think I'll stay on 
 here — hang it out until one of the blubber-hunters 
 comes along, and then get her skipper to drop me 
 somewhere up in the North-West." 
 
 I could not repress my astonishment. 
 
 " Why, man alive, what is the use of your sticking
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE ' MILLY ' 349 
 
 here by yourself for a couple of months — or 
 longer ! I'll be only too pleased to have you with 
 us. We'll be back in Samoa in eight weeks, I 
 thought you would know that you could have a 
 passage with us — as a matter of course. I am 
 bound to give you one whether I wanted to 
 or not." 
 
 " I know that. But the fact is this. I have had 
 such a knock-out that I would rather stay here on 
 this quiet little island for a couple of months, or 
 much longer, than go to Samoa. Here I can be 
 quiet and settle down in content and live clean. 
 If I went to Samoa I would just go around on a 
 " tear " and sling away every dollar I possess. No, 
 I guess I'll stay here, and wait for one of the 
 whalers. I can amuse myself in no end of ways. 
 I've saved my tool chest and my guns and ammuni- 
 tion, and if you will sell me some provisions I'll 
 get along bully." 
 
 I saw that he was determined and not likely to 
 reconsider his decision. 
 
 " Very well, captain. Do as you please. But 
 I can't sell you provisions. I can give you some." 
 
 " I can pay." 
 
 " But you shall not. There is only one thing 
 I must ask. You must give me a written state- 
 ment that it was your own wish to remain here — 
 else I would get talked about."
 
 350 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 " Just as you like — certainly I will. Write out 
 anything you like and I'll sign it." 
 
 #^ ^ ^ ■^ 
 
 n^ yf^ 'TV' -TV" 
 
 Just before daylight my boat returned, the 
 schooner having anchored about a mile off the 
 south-west point. I pressed my new acquaintance 
 to come on board and have breakfast, and get what 
 provisions I could spare him. To my surprise, 
 he declined. 
 
 " No, I thank you, but I would rather not. I 
 would just hate to put foot on the deck of another 
 vessel so soon after losing my own. Guess I'm a 
 sentimental mule in some things. No, I won't come 
 on board, thank you ; but if you will send me what 
 provisions you can spare I'll be very grateful." 
 
 I stayed conversing with him for nearly half-an- 
 hour longer, then a breeze sprung up and I bade 
 him good-bye. 
 
 " Good-bye, captain. There is a breeze at last 
 and it is going to hold out, so I won't come on 
 shore again with the boat. If the calm kept up I 
 would have come on shore and spent at least a day 
 with you. But I must not lose more time than I 
 can help." 
 
 We shook hands and parted, and I returned to 
 the schooner, and whilst the mate was putting a keg 
 of beef, some tins of biscuits, a bag of flour, some 
 coffee, tea and sugar, with a few bottles of spirits
 
 CAPTAIN KELLY OF THE 'MILLY' 351 
 
 and some tobacco, into the boat, I wrote out a 
 statement in the log-book for my new acquaintance 
 to " sign and return." 
 
 An hour later the boat returned, and we lifted 
 anchor and stood away on our course to Ocean 
 Island. 
 
 " He's a queer sort of a chap," said the mate to 
 me with a backward wave of his hand to the 
 island, " wouldn't let the men even carry the 
 provisions up the beach and put them under one 
 of the big trees for shelter from the sun. Said it 
 didn't matter, that he would see to them, and that 
 he would not like to keep you waiting for the boat 
 when there was such a fine breeze, and you were 
 anxious to get away. And he asked me if I would 
 accept this as a memento of our meeting." 
 
 " This " was an old Mexican gold piece with 
 a hole drilled through it. 
 
 " He certainly is a curious sort of man. But I 
 can quite understand his not liking to come on 
 board. No doubt he feels the loss of his vessel 
 very much. And he will be as happy as a sand- 
 boy on Ulakita for the next seven or eight 
 weeks — nothing to do but amuse himself with 
 fishing and shooting. I would not mind changing 
 places with him, if my wages as skipper of this 
 loathly schooner were going on." 
 
 * TT V TT ^
 
 352 SOUTH SEA LOG 
 
 For nearly five years I heard nothing definite of 
 the man. When I returned to Samoa from Ocean 
 Island I was almost immediately transferred as 
 recruiter to another vessel — -a big barque engaged 
 in the labour trade between Apia and the Solomon 
 Islands, and for nearly a year I was out of the 
 world of hearing any news. 
 
 One day I found myself in Auckland, New 
 Zealand, and made some inquiries from the ship- 
 ping master there about the Milly. No vessel of that 
 name or rig had ever come into or left the port ! 
 
 Kelly of Ulakita was another '' Daley " or 
 Drummonds Island — the Daley of whom I have 
 before written. 
 
 Then; nearly five years later, as I was telling 
 this story of my rencontre with the eccentric 
 Captain Kelly to an English merchant in Sydney, 
 who had an agency in Singapore, he said : 
 
 *' My agents in Manila and Singapore knew 
 the man. He came to the Philippines in an 
 American whaleship, accompanied by a Tahitian 
 half-caste girl — his wife, of course. He had plenty 
 of money. From Manila he went to Singapore, and 
 after staying there for a month or two he bought a 
 small schooner and went away — * somewhere.' " 
 
 " Somewhere " ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Richard Clay Cr So)is, Limited, London and Bungay,
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY F 
 
 A A 001 405 643 
 
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