" 
 
ERKEIEY 
 
 LITRARY 
 
 UNMVEXSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
THE TAPU OF <BANDERAH 
 
 
THE 
 
 TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUIS BECKE 
 
 AND 
 
 WALTER JEFFERY 
 
 Authors of 
 
 "A First Fleet Family," 
 "The Mutineer," etc., etc. 
 
 London 
 
 C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. 
 
 Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Compy. 
 
 1901 
 
'The Tapu of Bander ah 
 
 I 
 
 THE "STARLIGHT" 
 
 AS the rising sun had just begun to pierce the 
 misty tropic haze of early dawn, a small, 
 white-painted schooner of ninety or a hundred 
 tons burden was bearing down upon the low, 
 densely - wooded island of Mayou, which lies 
 between the coast of south-east New Guinea and 
 the murderous Solomon Group the grave of the 
 white man in Melanesia. 
 
 The white population of Mayou was not large, 
 for it consisted only of an English missionary and 
 his wife who was, of course, a white woman a 
 German trader named Peter Schwartzkoff and his 
 native wife ; an English trader named Charlie 
 Blount, with his two half-caste sons and daughters ; 
 and an American trader and ex-whaler, named 
 Nathaniel Burrowes, with his wives. 
 
2 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 Although the island is of large extent, and of 
 amazing fertility, the native population was at this 
 time comparatively small, numbering only some 
 three thousand souls. They nearly all lived at the 
 south-west end of the island, the rendezvous of the 
 few trading ships that visited the place. Occa- 
 sionally a surveying vessel, and, at longer intervals 
 still, a labour-recruiting ship from Hawaii or Fiji, 
 would call. At such times the monotony of the 
 lives of the white residents of Mayou was pleasantly 
 broken. Once a year, too, a missionary vessel 
 would drop anchor in the little reef-bound port, 
 but her visit was of moment only to the Rev. Mr. 
 Deighton, his wife, and their native converts, and 
 the mission ship's presence in the harbour was 
 taken no notice of by the three white traders ; for 
 a missionary ship is not always regarded by the 
 average trader in the South Seas as a welcome 
 visitor. 
 
 Almost with the rising of the sun the vessel had 
 been sighted from the shore by a party of natives, 
 who were fishing off the south end of the island, 
 and in a few minutes their loud cries reached other 
 natives on shore, and by them was passed on from 
 house to house along the beach till it reached the 
 town itself. From there, presently, came a deep 
 sonorous shout, " Evaka ! Evaka ! " (" A ship ! A 
 ship ! "), and then they swarmed out of their 
 thatched dwellings like bees from a hive and ran, 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 3 
 
 laughing and shouting together, down to the beach 
 in front of the village. 
 
 As the clamour increased, the Rev. Wilfrid 
 Deighton opened the door of his study and stepped 
 out upon the shady verandah of the mission house, 
 which stood upon a gentle, palm-covered rise about 
 five hundred yards from the thickly clustering 
 houses of the native village. He was a tall, thin 
 man with a scanty brown beard, and his face 
 wore a wearied, anxious expression. His long, 
 lean body, coarse, toil-worn hands, and shabby 
 clothing indicated, too, that the lines of the 
 Rev. Wilfrid had not been cast in a pleasant 
 place when he chose the wild, unhealthy island of 
 Mayou as the field of his labours. But if he 
 showed bodily traces of the hard, continuous toil 
 he had undergone during the seven years' residence 
 among the people of Mayou, his eye was still full 
 of the fire of that noble missionary spirit which 
 animated the souls of such earnest men as Moffat 
 and Livingstone, and Williams of Erromanga, and 
 Gordon of Khartoum. For he was an enthusiast, 
 who believed in his work ; and so did his wife, 
 a pretty, faded little woman of thirty, with a great 
 yearning to save souls, though at times she longed 
 to return to the comforts and good dinners of 
 semi-civilisation in other island groups nearer the 
 outside world she had been away from so long. 
 
 The .missionary stepped out on the verandah, 
 
4 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 and shaded his eyes from the glare with his rough, 
 sun-tanned hands, as he looked seaward at the 
 advancing vessel. Soon his wife followed him and 
 placed her hand on his shoulder. 
 
 " What is it, Wilfrid ? Surely not the John 
 Hunt. She is not due for months yet." 
 
 " Not her, certainly, Alice," he answered, " and 
 not a trading vessel either, I should think. She 
 looks more like a yacht. Perhaps she may be a 
 new man-of-war schooner. However, we will soon 
 see. Put on your hat, my dear, and let us go 
 down to the beach. Already Blount, Schwartzkoff, 
 and Burrowes have gone ; and it certainly would 
 not do for me to remain in the background when 
 the newcomers land. 
 
 Mrs. Deighton, her pale face flushing with gentle 
 excitement at the prospect of meeting Europeans, 
 quickly retired to her room, and making a rapid 
 toilette, rejoined her husband, who, white umbrella 
 
 in hand, awaited her at the gate. 
 
 ##*#* 
 
 " Good morning, gentlemen," said the reverend 
 gentleman, a few minutes later, as, accompanied 
 by Mrs. Deighton, he joined the three white traders, 
 " what vessel is it ? Have you any idea ? " 
 
 " None at all," answered Blount, with a short 
 nod to Mr. Deighton, but lifting his leaf hat to his 
 wife, " we were just wondering ourselves. Doesn't 
 look like a trader more like a gunboat." 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 5 
 
 Meantime the schooner had worked her way in 
 through the passage, and, surrounded by a fleet of 
 canoes, soon brought up and anchored. Her sails 
 were very quickly handled, then almost as soon as 
 she swung to her anchor a smart, white-painted 
 boat was lowered, and the people on shore saw the 
 crew haul her up to the gangway ladder. 
 
 Presently a white man, who, by his dress, was an 
 officer of the ship, followed by another person in a 
 light tweed suit and straw hat, entered the boat, 
 which then pushed off and was headed for the 
 shore. As she approached nearer, the traders and 
 the missionary could see that the crew were light- 
 skinned Polynesians, dressed in blue cotton jumpers, 
 white duck pants, and straw hats. The officer 
 who steered with a steer-oar wore a brass-bound 
 cap and brass-buttoned jacket, and every now and 
 then turned to speak to the man in the tweed suit, 
 who sat smoking a cigar beside him. 
 
 " By jingo ! she's a yacht, I believe," said Charlie 
 Blount, who had been keenly watching the ap- 
 proaching boat ; "I'm off. I don't want to be 
 bothered with people of that sort glorified 
 London drapers, who ask ' Have you ah got 
 good shooting heah ? ' ' 
 
 Then turning on his heel, he raised his hat to 
 Mrs. Deighton, nodded to the other white men, and 
 sauntered along the beach to his house. 
 
 " I guess Blount's kinder set again meetin' people 
 
6 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 like these," said Burrowes, nodding in the direction 
 of the boat and addressing himself to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Deighton. " Reckon they might be some all- 
 powerful British swells he knew when he was 
 one himself. Guess they won't scare me a cent's 
 worth." 
 
 "Id was brober dadt he should veel so," re- 
 marked the German; "if some Yerman shentle- 
 mans vas to come here und zee me dresd like vom 
 dirty sailor mans, den I too vould get me home to 
 mein house und say nodings." 
 
 " My friends," said Mr. Deighton, speaking 
 reproachfully, yet secretly pleased at Blount's 
 departure, "no man need feel ashamed at meeting 
 his countrymen on account of the poverty of his 
 attire ; I am sure that the sight of an English 
 gentleman is a very welcome one to me and Mrs. 
 Deighton." 
 
 " Wai," said Burrowes with easy but not offensive 
 familiarity, " I guess, parson, thet you and Mrs. 
 Deighton hed better form yourselves inter a com- 
 mittee of welcome, and tell them so ; I ain't much 
 in the polite speechifying line myself, neither is 
 'Schneider' here," nodding at the German, "and 
 you can sling in somethin' ornymental 'bout me 
 bein' the representative of the United States a 
 gentleman a-recrootin' of his health in the South 
 Sea Islands doorin' a perlitercal crisis in Wash- 
 ington." 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 7 
 
 By this time the boat had run her bows up on 
 to the white, sandy beach, and the straw-hatted, 
 tweed-suited gentleman jumped lightly out. Taking 
 off his hat with a graceful, circular sweep, which 
 included every one on the beach, white and native, 
 he said with languid politeness 
 
 " Good-day, gentlemen ; I scarcely hoped to have 
 the pleasure of meeting Europeans at this place 
 and certainly never imagined that pleasure would 
 be enhanced by the presence of a lady," he added 
 as he caught sight of Mrs. Deighton standing apart 
 some little distance from the others. 
 
 " I am pleased to meet you, sir," said the 
 missionary, constituting himself spokesman for the 
 others ; " you are welcome, sir, very welcome to 
 Mayou, and to anything that it lies in our power 
 to furnish you with for your schooner, or 
 should I say yacht, for such, by her handsome 
 appearance, I presume she is." 
 
 The visitor, who was a handsome, fair-haired 
 man, with a blonde moustache and blue eyes, 
 bowed his thanks, and then said, " May I have 
 the honour to introduce myself. My name is De 
 Vere." 
 
 "And I am the Rev. Wilfrid Deighton, mis- 
 sionary in charge of this island. My two " 
 
 (here he hesitated a moment before the next word) 
 " friends are Mr. Peter Schwartzkoff and Mr. 
 Nathaniel Burrowes," 
 
8 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 " Delighted to meet you," said Mr. de Vere, 
 bowing politely to the lady, but extending a white, 
 shapely hand to the men ; " and now I must tell 
 you that I shall be very glad to avail myself, 
 Mr. Deighton, of your kind offer. We are in want 
 of water, and anything in the way of vegetables, 
 etcetera, that we can get. We intend, however, to 
 stay here a few days and refit. Having been in 
 very bad weather coming through the southern 
 part of the Solomon Group we must effect 
 repairs." 
 
 " Might I inquire, mister," asked Burrowes, " ef 
 your vessel is a trader, or jest a pleasure schooner, 
 as the parson here says ? " 
 
 " Mr. Deighton is quite correct," said Mr. de 
 Vere, with another graceful bow; "the Starlight is a 
 yacht. I can quite understand your not being able 
 to make her out She was originally built for the 
 navy as a gunboat, but was sold in Sydney, after 
 some years' service. I bought her and had her 
 altered into a yacht to cruise about these delightful 
 and beautiful South Sea Islands. My friend, the 
 Honourable John Morcombe-Lycett, accompanies 
 me. Our English yachting experience had much 
 to do with our determination to make a cruise 
 down here. In fact," and here Mr. de Vere 
 showed his white, even teeth in a smile, and 
 stroked his drooping blonde moustache, " we left 
 London with the intention of chartering a vessel 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 9 
 
 in Sydney for a cruise among the islands. Mr. 
 Morcombe-Lycett is, however, very unwell to-day, 
 and so has not landed, but here am I ; and I am 
 very happy indeed to make your acquaintance." 
 
 Then, turning towards the boat, he called out 
 to the officer who had brought him, " Come ashore 
 for me at dinner-time, Captain Sykes." 
 
 II 
 
 A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION 
 
 A few hours later Mr. de Vere was on very 
 friendly terms with Mr. and Mrs. Deighton, who 
 had carried him off to the mission house, after 
 the boat returned to the schooner. Before he 
 accompanied them, however, he told Messrs. 
 Burro wes and Schwartzkoff, as he shook hands, 
 that he would not fail to visit them later on in the 
 day at their respective houses. And both Peter, 
 and the American, who on any other occasion 
 would have been justly indignant at any white 
 visitor not a missionary himself foregoing, even for 
 a short time, the pleasure of their society for that 
 of a " blarsted missionary," shook hands with him 
 most vigorously, and said they would be proud to 
 see him. Then they hurried off homewards. 
 
 Peter's house and trading station lay midway 
 
io THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 between that of Charlie Blount and the American's, 
 but instead of making for his own place, Peter, to 
 the surprise of Blount, who was now standing at his 
 door watching them, went inside Burrowes' house. 
 
 " That's d d curious, now," said Blount, in 
 English, to one of his half-caste daughters, a girl 
 of eighteen ; " those two fellows hate each other 
 like poison. I've never known the Dutchman go 
 into the Yankee's house, or the Yankee go into his, 
 for the past two years, and here they are now as 
 thick as thieves ! I wonder what infernal roguery 
 they are up to ? " 
 
 Charlie Blount's amazement was perfectly natural. 
 The German and American did dislike each other 
 most intensely. Neither of them had lived so long 
 on Mayou as Blount, but each was trying hard to 
 work the other man off the island by accusing him 
 to the natives of cheating them. As a matter of 
 fact they were both scoundrels, but Banderah, the 
 chief of Mayou, who was fond of white men, 
 managed to keep a hollow peace between them. 
 He was perfectly well aware that both of them 
 cheated himself and his people, but as long as their 
 cheating was practised moderately he did not 
 mind. In Blount, however, he had the fullest con- 
 fidence, and this good feeling was shared with him 
 
 by every native on the island. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Perhaps, had Blount been a witness of wha.t 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH n 
 
 occurred when the boat landed, his suspicion of 
 his fellow- traders' honesty would have been con- 
 siderably augmented. For while the missionary 
 and Mr. de Vere were bandying compliments, the 
 German and American were exchanging signs 
 with the officer who was in charge of the boat, 
 and whom De Vere addressed as "Captain Sykes." 
 The American, indeed, had started down the beach 
 to speak to him, when Mr. de Vere called out to 
 him to return to the ship, and Captain Sykes, 
 with a gesture signifying that he would see 
 Burrowes later on, swung round the boat's head 
 and gave the word to his Kanaka crew to give 
 way. As if quite satisfied with this dumb promise, 
 the American returned to the group he had just 
 left, and then the moment the missionary, Mrs. 
 Deighton, and De Vere had gone, he and the 
 German started off together. 
 
 The moment they entered the American's house, 
 Burrowes sat down on the table and the German 
 on a gin case. 
 
 "Wai, Dutchy," said Burrowes, looking keenly 
 at his companion, " I reckon you know who the 
 almighty swell in the brass-bound suit is, hey ? " 
 
 " Yaw," replied Schwartzkoff, " it is Bilker, und 
 I thought he was in brison for ten years mit." 
 
 "Wai, that's true enough that he did get ten 
 years. But that's six years ago, an' I reckon 
 they've let him out Public feelin' in Australia 
 
12 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 agin nigger catchin' ain't very strong ; an' I reckon 
 he's got out after doin' five or six years." 
 
 " Dot is so," asserted the German ; and then he 
 leaned forward, " but vat vas he doing here in dis 
 fine, swell schooner mit ? " 
 
 " That's jest what you and me is goin' to find 
 out, Dutchy. An' I guess that you an' me can 
 find out darned easy. Bilker ain't going to fool 
 me ; if he's on to anything good, I guess I'm going 
 to have a cut in." 
 
 " Veil, ve see by und by, ven he comes ashore. 
 Von ding, I dells you, mine friend. Dot fine 
 shentleman don't know vat you und me knows 
 about Captain Bilker." 
 
 The American gave an affirmative wink, and 
 then going to a rude cupboard he took out a 
 bottle of gin and a couple of tin mugs. 
 
 "Look hyar, Peter, I guess you and me's goin\ 
 to do some business together over this schooner, 
 so let's make friends." 
 
 " I vas agreeable," said the German with alacrity, 
 rising from his seat and accepting the peace- 
 offering. He nodded to Burrowes and tossed it 
 
 off. 
 
 ***** 
 
 By lunch-time Mr. Morcombe-Lycett had been 
 brought ashore and had accepted Mr. Deighton's 
 invitation to remain for the night. He was a well- 
 dressed, good-looking man of about thirty-five, and 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 13 
 
 was, so Mr. Deighton sympathisingly announced 
 to his wife, suffering from a touch of malarial fever, 
 which a little quinine and nursing would soon put 
 right. Mr. Deighton himself, by the way, was 
 suffering from the same complaint. 
 
 At noon, as Charlie Blount was walking past 
 Burrowes' house, he was surprised to see that the 
 German was still there. He was about to pass on 
 for although on fairly friendly terms with the two 
 men, he did not care for either of them sufficiently 
 well to enter their houses often, although they did 
 his when the American came to the door and 
 asked him to come in and take a nip. 
 
 " Are you going to board the schooner ? " asked 
 Burrowes, as Blount came in and sat down. 
 
 "No, I'm going down to Lak-a-lak. I've got 
 some natives cutting timber for me there, and 
 thought I would just walk along the beach and 
 see how they are getting on. Besides that, my 
 little girl Nellie is there with her uncle." 
 
 "Why," said Burrowes, with genuine surprise, 
 ' won't you go aboard and see if they have any 
 provisions to sell ? I heard you say the other day 
 that you had quite run out of tinned meats and 
 nearly out of coffee." 
 
 " So I have ; but I don't care about going on 
 board for all that." Then looking the two men 
 straight in the face, he drank off the gin, set the 
 mug down on the table, and resumed, " I saw by 
 
14 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 my glass that that damned, cut-throat blackbirder, 
 Bilker, is her skipper. That's enough for me. I 
 heard that the infernal scoundrel got ten years in 
 gaol. Sorry he wasn't hanged." 
 
 "Vy," said the German, whose face was con- 
 siderably flushed by the liquor he had been 
 drinking, "you vas in der plackpird drade your- 
 selves von dime." 
 
 " So I was, Peter," said Blount quietly, " but we 
 did the thing honestly, fairly and squarely. I, and 
 those with me, when I was in the labour trade, 
 never stole a nigger, nor killed one. This fellow 
 Bilker was a disgrace to every white man in the 
 trade. He is a notorious, cold-blooded murderer." 
 
 The conversation fell a bit flat after this, for Mr. 
 Burrowes and Mr. Schwartzkoff began to feel un- 
 comfortable. Six or seven years before, although 
 then unknown to each other and living on different 
 islands, they each had had business relations with 
 Captain Bilker in the matter of supplying him 
 with "cargo" during his cruises for " blackbirds/' 
 and each of them had so carried on the trade that 
 both were ultimately compelled to leave the scene 
 of their operations with great haste, and take up 
 their residence elsewhere, particularly as the 
 commander of the cruiser which arrested Captain 
 Bilker expressed a strong desire to make their 
 acquaintance and let them keep him company to 
 the gallows. 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 15 
 
 " Wai," resumed the American, " I guess every 
 man hez got his own opinions on such things. I 
 
 hev mine Why, here's Mr. de Vere. Walk 
 
 right in, sir, an' set down ; and Mister Deighton, 
 too. Howdy do, parson ? I'm real glad to see you." 
 
 The moment the visitors entered Blount rose to 
 go, but the missionary, with good-natured, blun- 
 dering persistency, pressed him back, holding his 
 hand the while. 
 
 " Mr. de Vere, this is Mr. Blount, a most ex- 
 cellent man, I do assure you." 
 
 " How do you do ? " said Blount, taking the 
 smiling Englishman's hand in his, but quickly 
 dropping it. There was something in De Vere's 
 set smile and cold, watery-blue eyes that he 
 positively resented, although he knew not why. 
 
 However, as the somewhat dull-minded Deighton 
 seemed very anxious for him to stay and engage in 
 "doing the polite" to his guest, Blount resumed his 
 seat, but did so with restraint and impatience show- 
 ing strongly in his sun-burnt, resolute face. For 
 some ten minutes or so he remained, speaking only 
 when he was spoken to ; and then he rose, and 
 nodding a cool " good-day " to the handsome Mr. 
 de Vere and the two traders, he strode to the door 
 and walked out. 
 
 Before he was half-way from Burrowes' house to 
 the mission station, he was overtaken by the 
 Rev. Mr. Deighton. 
 
16 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 " Mr. de Vere has gone on board again," he said 
 in his slow, solemn way, " gone on board to get me 
 some English papers. A most estimable and kind 
 gentleman, Mr. Blount, an aristocrat to the back- 
 bone, but a gentleman, Mr. Blount, a gentleman 
 above all. His visit has given me the most 
 unalloyed " 
 
 " He may be very kind," said Blount, " but my 
 judgment has gone very much astray if he is what 
 he represents himself to be." 
 
 " Mr. Blount ! " and the missionary looked 
 genuinely shocked. "You are very unjust, as 
 well as very much in error. Mr. de Vere is a 
 scion of one of the noblest of our many noble 
 English families. He told me so himself." 
 
 " Ah, did he ! That just confirms me in my 
 opinion of him. Now, look here, Mr. Deighton," 
 and his tone became slightly irritated, " I'm not 
 surprised that this Mr. de Vere who, whatever he 
 is, is not a scion of any noble English family 
 should impose upon men like Burrowes and the 
 German, but that he should impose on you does 
 rather surprise me. And yet I don't know. It is 
 always the way, or nearly always the way, that 
 those whose education and intelligence should be 
 a safeguard to them against imposture, are as often 
 imposed upon as the ignorant and uncultured." 
 
 " Imposture, Mr. Blount ! Do you mean to 
 say " 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 17 
 
 " I mean to say that this man De Vere with his 
 flashy get-up and imposing name is not an English 
 gentleman. He may deceive you and the men we 
 have just left, but he doesn't deceive me. I once 
 lived in England a long time ago, Mr. Deighton," 
 here Blount turned his face away, and then added 
 dreamily, " a long time, a very long time ago, and 
 met .some fairly decent people. And I no more 
 believe that Mr. de Vere comes from a good 
 family than I do that Nathaniel Burro wes, a low, 
 broken-down New Orleans wharf-loafer, comes 
 from one of the ' first families in Virginia ' that 
 American newspapers are always blathering about." 
 " What is wrong with him, Mr. Blount ? " 
 " Nothing from your point of view everything 
 from mine. And, so far as I am concerned, I 
 don't mean to have anything to do with these two 
 English gentlemen and the yacht Starlight. Well, 
 here we are at the mission. Good-day, Mr. 
 Deighton ; I'm going to Lak-a-lak to see how my 
 timber-getters are doing." And with a kindly nod 
 at the troubled missionary, the big, dark-faced 
 trader strode along the beach alone. 
 
 Ill 
 
 BANDERAH 
 
 Banderah, the supreme chief of Mayou, was, vide 
 Mr. Deighton's report to his clerical superiors, " a 
 
 3 
 
i8 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 man of much intelligence, favourably disposed to 
 the spread of the Gospel, but, alas ! of a worldly 
 nature, and clinging for worldly reasons to the 
 darkness." In other words, Banderah, although 
 by no means averse to the poorer natives of the 
 island adopting Christianity in a very free and 
 modified form, and contributing a certain amount 
 of their possessions to the missionary cause, was 
 yet a heathen, and intended to remain one. For 
 Mr. Deighton he had conceived a personal liking, 
 mingled with a wondering and contemptuous pity. 
 During an intertribal war he had received a bullet 
 in his thigh, which the missionary had succeeded, 
 after much difficulty, in extracting. Consequently, 
 his gratitude was unlimited, and he evinced it in a 
 very practical manner, by commanding some hun- 
 dreds of his subjects to become Christians under 
 pain of death. And, being aware that polygamy 
 would not be tolerated by Mr. Deighton, he went 
 a step further, and ordered all those of these forced 
 converts who had more than one wife to send them 
 to his own harem. This addition to his family 
 duties, was, however, amply compensated for by 
 the labour of the surplus wives proving useful to 
 him on his yam and taro plantations. 
 
 In his younger days Banderah had once made a 
 voyage to Sydney, in the service of a trading 
 captain, one Lannigan, whose name, in those days, 
 was a name to conjure with from one end of 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 19 
 
 Melanesia to the other, and for whose valour as 
 a fighter and killer of men Banderah had acquired 
 a respect he could never entertain for a mis- 
 sionary. This captain, however, died in Sydney, 
 full of years and strong drink, and left the chief 
 almost broken-hearted, to return a year later to 
 Mayou. 
 
 In his curious, semi-savage character there were 
 some good points, and one was that in compliance 
 with the oft-expressed wishes and earnest en- 
 treaties of Blount and Mr. Deighton, he had 
 agreed to put down the last remnants of cannibalism 
 which had lingered among the coast tribes on the 
 island down to the time of this story. And 
 although the older men, and some of the priests of 
 the heathen faith, had struggled against his drastic 
 legislation, they finally gave in when Mr. Deighton, 
 weeping tears of honest joy at such a marvellous 
 and wholesale conversion, presented each convert 
 with a new print shirt and a highly coloured 
 picture of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. 
 
 An hour after Blount had walked along the 
 beach to Lak-a-lak, Banderah saw the captain of 
 the schooner come ashore and walk up the path to 
 Nathaniel Burrowes' house, where he was warmly 
 greeted by Burrowes and the German. He re- 
 mained there for nearly an hour, and then came 
 out again, and looking about him for a few 
 moments, made direct for Banderah's house, which 
 
20 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 stood about three hundred yards back from that of 
 the American trader. 
 
 When close to the chiefs house the captain of 
 the Starlight raised his head, and Banderah caught 
 sight of his features and recognised him. 
 
 " How are you, Bandy ? " said the seaman, walk- 
 ing smartly up to the chief, who was sitting on a 
 mat inside his doorway, surrounded by a part of 
 his harem and family, " you haven't forgotten me, 
 have you ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, sir. I no forget you," said the native, 
 civilly enough, but without warmth. " How are 
 you, Cap'en Bilker?" 
 
 " Sh', don't call me that, Bandy. I'm Captain 
 Sykes now." 
 
 "Yes?" and Banderah's face at once assumed 
 an expression of the most hopeless stupidity. "All 
 right, Cap'en Sike. Come inside an' sit down." 
 
 " Right, my boy," said Bilker genially, fumbling 
 in his coat pocket, and producing a large flask of 
 rum,. "I've brought you a drink, Bandy; and I 
 want to have a yarn with you." 
 
 " All right," and taking the flask from the 
 captain's hand without deigning to look at it, he 
 passed it on to one of his wives. " What you want 
 talk me about, Cap'en ? You want me to get you 
 some native for work on plantation?" and he 
 smiled slily. 
 
 " No, no, Bandy. Nothing like that, I don't 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 21 
 
 run a labour ship now. I'm a big fellow gentleman 
 now. I'm captain of that yacht." 
 
 The chief nodded, but said nothing. He knew 
 Captain "Sykes" of old, and knew him to be an 
 undoubted rascal. Indeed, about ten years before 
 the cunning blackbirder captain had managed to 
 take thirty of Banderah's people away in his ship 
 without paying for them ; and the moment the 
 chief recognised the sailor he set his keen native 
 brain to work to devise a plan for getting square 
 with him. And he meant to take deadly vengeance. 
 
 " Banderah, old man," and the captain laid one 
 hand on the chief's naked knee, " I meant to pay 
 you for those men when I came back next trip. 
 But I was taken by a man-of-war," here Bilker 
 crossed his wrists to signify that he had been hand- 
 cuffed ; " taken to Sydney, put me in calaboose 
 ten years." 
 
 " You lie," said Banderah quietly, but with a 
 danger spark in his eye, " man-o'-war no make you 
 fas' for a long time after you steal my men. Plenty 
 people tell me you make two more voyage ; then 
 man-o'-war catch you an' make you fas'." 
 
 "Don't you believe 'em, Banderah," began the 
 ex-blackbirder, when the chief interrupted him 
 
 " What you do with my brother ? " he said 
 suddenly; "he die too, in Fiji?" 
 
 The white man's face paled. " I don't know, 
 Banderah. I didn't know your brother was aboard 
 
22 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 when my mate put the hatches on. I thought he 
 had gone ashore. I never meant to take him away 
 to Fiji anyway." 
 
 " All right ; never mind that. But what you 
 want talk to me about?" And then, as if to put 
 his visitor at his ease, he added, " You dam rogue, 
 me dam rogue." 
 
 " Yes, yes," assented Captain Bilker cheerfully ; 
 " but look here now, Bandy, I'm not only going to 
 pay you for those men I took, but give you a lot 
 of money as well any amount of money ; make 
 you a big, rich chief; big as Maafu Tonga. 1 But 
 I want you to help me." 
 
 " You speak me true ? " inquired the chief. 
 
 " I swear it," answered the captain promptly, 
 extending his hand, which, however, Banderah did 
 not appear to see. 
 
 " All right," he said presently, after a silence of 
 a few moments; then making a sign for his women 
 and slaves to withdraw to the further end of the 
 room, so that their muttered talk might not disturb 
 the white man and himself, he lit his pipe and said, 
 " Go on, tell me what you want me to do, Cap'en." 
 
 " Look," said the ex-blackbirder, laying a ringer 
 on the chiefs arm and speaking in a low voice, 
 " these two white men on board the yacht have 
 got any amount of money, gold, sovereigns boxes 
 
 1 Maafu of Tonga, the once dreaded rival of King Cacobau of 
 Fiji. He died in 1877. 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 23 
 
 and boxes of it. They stole it ; I know they stole 
 it, although I didn't see them do it." 
 
 Banderah nodded his huge, frizzy head. " I 
 savee. These two fellow rogue, all same you an' 
 me." 
 
 "See, now, look here, Banderah. I mean to 
 have that gold, and I want you to help me to get 
 it. As soon as these men on board are dead I 
 will give you a thousand golden sovereigns five 
 thousand dollar. Then I'll go away in the schooner. 
 Now, listen, and I'll tell you how to do it. The 
 Yankee and Peter are going to help." 
 
 Then Captain Bilker, alias Sykes, unfolded his 
 plan as follows : Banderah was to entice De Vere 
 and his friend some miles into the interior, where 
 there was a large swamp covered with wild-fowl. 
 Here they were to be clubbed by Banderah and 
 his people, and the bodies thrown into the swamp. 
 Then Bilker, accompanied by SchwartzkofT and 
 Burrowes, were to go on board the schooner and 
 settle the mate and the white steward. 
 
 " How much sovereign you goin' to give Peter 
 and Missa Burrowes ? " asked Banderah. 
 
 " Five hundred," answered Bilker ; <{ five hundred 
 between them. But I will give you a thousand." 
 
 " You no 'fraid man-o'-war catch you by and 
 by?" inquired Banderah. 
 
 " No. Who's going to tell about it ? You and 
 your people won't." 
 
24 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 "What 'bout Missa Blount? What 'bout 
 mission'ry ? " 
 
 Bilker grinned savagely. " Peter and Burrowes 
 say they will kill Blount if I give them another 
 five hundred sovereigns." 
 
 "What 'bout mission'ry and mission'ry woman?" 
 
 For a moment or two Bilker, crime-hardened 
 villain as he was, hesitated. Then he raised his 
 head and looked into the dark face of the native 
 chief. Its set, savage expression gave him con- 
 fidence. 
 
 " Plenty missionaries get killed. And, all the 
 man-o'-war captains know that the Mayou bush- 
 men x are very savage. Some day in about a 
 week after I have gone away in the schooner, you 
 will take the missionary and his wife to the little 
 bush town, that Peter and Burrowes tell me he 
 goes to sometimes. They will sleep there that 
 night. You and some of your people will go with 
 them and sleep in the same house with them. You 
 do that sometimes, Banderah, eh ? " . 
 
 " Yes, sometimes." 
 
 This was perfectly true. The bush tribes on 
 Mayou, although at war with Banderah and his 
 coast tribes, yet occasionally met their foes in an 
 amicable manner at a bush village called Rogga, 
 which had been for many decades a neutral 
 
 1 " Bushmen," a term applied to natives living in the interior of 
 the Melanesian Islands. 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 25 
 
 ground. Here Banderah and his people, carrying 
 fish, tobacco, and bamboos filled with salt water, 1 
 would meet small parties of bush people, who, in 
 exchange for the commodities brought by Ban- 
 derah, would give him yams, hogs, and wild 
 pigeons. At several of these meetings Mr. 
 Deighton had been present, in the vain hope 
 that he might establish friendly relations with the 
 savage and cannibal people of the interior. 
 
 " Well," resumed the ruffian, " you will sleep at 
 Rogga with the missionary and his wife. In the 
 morning, when you and your people awake, the 
 missionary and his wife will be dead. Then you 
 will hurry to this place ; you will go on board the 
 man-of-war and tell the captain that the bad 
 bushmen killed them when they were asleep." 
 
 " I savee. Everybody savee Mayou man-a-bush 
 like kill white men." 
 
 " That's it, Bandy. No one will say you did it." 
 
 " What 'bout Peter an' Burrowes ? Perhaps by 
 and by those two fellow get mad with me some 
 day, and tell man-o'-war I bin kill three white 
 man and one white woman." 
 
 "Banderah," and Bilker slapped him on the 
 shoulder, " you're a damned smart fellow ! There's 
 no mistake about that. Now look here, I want 
 
 1 Having no salt, the bush tribes of Melanesia, who dare not 
 visit the coast, buy salt water from the coast tribes. They meet a 
 a spot which is always sacredly kept as a neutral ground. 
 
26 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 you to get another thousand sovereigns the 
 thousand I am going to give to Burrowes and 
 Peter. And after the man-a-bush have killed the 
 missionary and his wife, they are coming down to 
 the beach one night soon after, and will kill the 
 two white men. Then there will be no more white 
 men left, and you'll be the biggest chief in the 
 world as big as Maafu Tonga." 
 
 A curious smile stole over the grim features of 
 the chief. 
 
 " By God ! Cap'en, you savee too much ; you 
 dam fine man altogether." 
 
 " Well, look here now, Banderah. Are you going 
 to do it ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do it right enough." 
 
 " When ? " 
 
 " To-mollow." 
 
 " To-morrow will do. And, look here, Bandy, 
 I'm going to give you ten sovereigns each for the 
 men I took away from you." 
 
 "All right," answered the chief, "now you go 
 away. I want go and look out for some good men 
 come along me to-mollow." 
 
 "Right you are, Banderah. Take plenty good 
 men. You know what to do white men walk 
 along swamp to shoot duck, then one, two" and 
 Captain Bilker made a motion with his right hand 
 that was perfectly comprehensible to the chief. 
 
 Banderah sat perfectly quiet on his mat and 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 27 
 
 watched the captain return to Burrowes' house, 
 from where a short time after he emerged, accom- 
 panied by his two fellow-conspirators. Then the 
 three of them hailed the schooner. A boat put off 
 
 and took them on board. 
 
 ***** 
 
 An hour or two later Blount returned along the 
 beach from Lak-a-lak, and walked slowly up the 
 path to his house. Just as he entered the door the 
 sounds of revelry came over to him from the 
 schooner, whose lights were beginning to glimmer 
 through the quick-falling darkness of the tropic 
 night. Some one on board was playing an accor- 
 dion, and presently he caught the words of a song 
 
 " Remember, too, the patriots' gore 
 That flecked the streets of Baltimore ; 
 Maryland, my Maryland." 
 
 " Burrowes only sings that when he's very 
 drunk," he said to himself, as he sat down to 
 drink a cup of coffee brought to him by his 
 eldest daughter Taya. " No doubt he and that 
 anointed sweep Bilker are having a very happy 
 time together." 
 
 " Father," said the girl in the native tongue, as 
 he put down his cup, " Banderah is here. He 
 came but now, and will not come inside, but waits 
 for thee in the copra-house, lest he be seen talking 
 to thee." 
 
28 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 " What the devil is wrong ? " muttered Blount, as 
 without waiting to touch the coffee prepared for 
 him he went outside to the copra-house. 
 
 In half an hour he and the native chief came out 
 together, and as they stood for a minute in the 
 broad streak of light that streamed out from the 
 lamp on the table in the big room, Taya, who sat 
 in the doorway, saw her father's face was set and 
 stern-looking. 
 
 " Shed thou no blood, Banderah," he said in the 
 native tongue, " not even that of these two dogs 
 who have eaten and drunk in my house for four 
 years." 
 
 " Challi, 1 that is hard. Already are my people 
 thirsty for the blood of this dog of a captain he 
 who stole thirty and one of my people. And 
 because of my brother, who was stolen with them, 
 have I promised them vengeance. But the other 
 two who are with him on the ship I will spare." 
 
 " As you will. And as for these two dogs who 
 have planned to kill me, with them I shall deal 
 myself. If, when the schooner saileth away from 
 here, these men go not with her, then shall I shoot 
 them dead." 
 
 "Good," and then grasping the white man's hand, 
 the chief pressed his nose to his, and vanished in 
 the darkness. 
 
 1 Charlie. 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 29 
 
 IV 
 " DEATH TO THEM BOTH ! " 
 
 Early on the following morning Messrs, de 
 Vere and Morcombe-Lycett the latter being 
 now quite recovered informed Mr. and Mrs. 
 Deighton that, having heard from the two traders 
 there was good shooting at the big swamp, they 
 were going there under the guidance of Banderah 
 and a party of natives ; and shortly after break- 
 fast the chief, accompanied by a number of his 
 people, appeared. 
 
 " I will send with you two of my best men," said 
 Mr. Deighton, indicating a couple of his pet 
 converts, who stood by dressed for the occasion in 
 white starched shirts and black coats, but minus 
 trousers, of which garments the pet converts had 
 divested themselves, knowing that they should 
 have to wade through the swamp. 
 
 But suddenly, to the missionary's astonishment, 
 Banderah, with a savage look, bade them stay 
 where they were. He had, he said, plenty of 
 men, and did not need Mr. Deighton's servants. 
 
 Presently the two yachting gentlemen, arrayed 
 in a very stylish sporting get-up, appeared with 
 their breach-loaders and cartridge-belts, and waving 
 their hands gracefully to the missionary and his 
 
30 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 wife, disappeared with Banderah and his dark- 
 skinned companions into the dense tropical jungle, 
 the edge of which was within a very short distance 
 of the mission station. 
 
 For about an hour the Honourable Morcombe- 
 Lycett and Mr. de Vere, with Banderah leading 
 the way, walked steadily onward through the 
 jungle. Not a word was spoken among the 
 natives who followed close at their heels, and 
 Banderah himself, in answer to their frequent 
 questions, replied only by monosyllables. 
 
 At last they came out of the stifling heat of the 
 thick jungle, and saw before them a great reedy 
 swamp, the margin fringed by a scanty growth of 
 cocoanut and pandanus palms. Out upon the open 
 patches of water, here and there showing upon the 
 broad expanse of the swamp, they saw large flocks 
 of wild duck feeding and swimming about, betray- 
 ing not the slightest fear at their approach. 
 
 "By Jove, Baxter," said Mr. de Vere to his 
 friend, " looks good enough, doesn't it ? I wonder 
 if these blasted niggers will go in for us." 
 
 " Of course they will. But let us have a drink 
 first. Here, you, bring us that basket. I wonder 
 what sort of tucker old Godliness has given us. 
 He's not a bad sort of an ass. His wife, too, isn't 
 bad." 
 
 " Bah," and Mr. de Vere twirled his long, yellow 
 moustache, " you're always finding out something 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 31 
 
 nice in the face of every woman you come across. 
 Wait until we get up to Japan ; then you can amuse 
 yourself with a new type of woman. Be a bit of a 
 change for you after the Melbourne and Sydney 
 peroxided-hair beauties. Here, nigger, give me 
 that corkscrew." 
 
 " I say, Dalton," suddenly remarked his friend, 
 " 'pon my soul I believe we are making a mistake in 
 going to Japan. You may be sure that we'll have 
 a lot of trouble awaiting us there." 
 
 " Not a bit of it. Before we get there every one 
 will have read the cable news that we have been 
 seen in Callao, and no one in Yokohama will ever 
 think of associating Mr. Herbert de Vere and the 
 Honourable Morcombe-Lycett just arrived from 
 Manila via Singapore in the Spanish mail-steamer 
 with er hum the two gentlemen who arrived 
 at Callao from Tahiti, after successfully diddling 
 the Australian financial public of thirty thousand 
 quid." 
 
 " But what are we going to do with the schooner 
 at Manila ? " 
 
 " Sell her, my innocent ! Sell her to our esteemed 
 friend, Mr. Moses Steinberg, who has assisted me in 
 previous financial transactions before I had the 
 pleasure of meeting my present valued colleague, 
 the Honourable Mr. Morcombe-Lycett and who is 
 now taking care to inform the world that we are 
 living in South America." 
 
32 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 "And how are we going to account for our boxes 
 of sovereigns? Two mining speculators don't 
 usually carry about heavy sums in gold." 
 
 " All managed, my boy. My friend, Mr. Moses 
 Steinberg, will see to that. The ten thousand 
 sovereigns will be valuable gold specimens from 
 Queensland, and will be placed on board the North 
 German Lloyd's steamer at Singapore for safe 
 conveyance to London, where you and I, my dear 
 boy, will follow it. And there also we shall find, I 
 trust, an additional sum of fifteen thousand lying 
 to our credit the proceeds of our honest toil." 
 
 " What are you going to do with Sykes ? " 
 
 "Give him .500 and tell him to hold his tongue. 
 He's a thundering rascal, and we must pay to shut 
 his mouth." 
 
 Then the two proceeded to discuss their lunch, 
 and as they ate and drank and talked and 
 laughed, Banderah and three or four of his men 
 whispered together. 
 
 " Seize them from behind and bind them tightly," 
 said the chief, " but kill them not, for that I have 
 promised to Challi." 
 
 The Honourable Morcombe-Lycett had just 
 finished his last glass of bottled beer and wanted 
 to smoke. He had taken out his cigar-case, and, 
 wondering at the sudden silence which had fallen 
 upon their native guides, turned round to see 
 where they were, and saw swiftly advancing upon 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 33 
 
 himself and his companion some half a dozen 
 stalwart natives. In that momentary glance he 
 read danger, and quick as lightning for he was no 
 coward he seized his loaded gun, which lay beside 
 him, and fired both barrels one after another, at not 
 ten yards' range. 
 
 A chorus of savage yells answered the shots, as 
 two of the natives fell, but ere he could reload or 
 Dalton could fire there came a fierce rush of all 
 the dark-skinned men upon them, and, struggling 
 madly for their lives, they were borne down. 
 
 And then the lust of slaughter overcame their 
 fierce assailants, and despite Banderah and two or 
 three of his most trusted men, a club was raised 
 and fell swiftly upon the white, fair forehead of 
 " Mr. de Vere " as he sought to tear away his 
 hands from the vice-like grasp of two huge natives 
 who held them. 
 
 "Death to them both!" cried a thin-faced, 
 wrinkled old man named Toka ; " hutu : I for the 
 lives of the thirty and one." Then springing out 
 from the rest, he swung a short-handled, keen- 
 bladed hatchet over his head, and sank it into 
 the brain of the wretched Baxter. 
 
 " Stand thou aside, Banderah, son of Paylap," 
 screamed the old man, waving the bloody hatchet 
 fiercely at him. " I, old Toka, the priest, will to- 
 
 1 Synonymous with Maori utu revenge. 
 
 4 
 
34 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 day again show the men of Mayou how to drink 
 the blood and eat the flesh of the long pigs the 
 gods have given into our hands," and again he 
 buried the weapon in Baxter's breathless body. 
 And as Banderah looked at the old man's working 
 face, and saw the savage mouth, flecked with foam, 
 writhing and twisting in horrible contortions, and 
 then saw the almost equally dreadful visages of the 
 rest of his men, he knew that the old, old lust for 
 human flesh had come upon them. 
 
 So, with the one idea of saving Blount and the 
 missionary and his wife, he turned and fled through 
 the forest towards the beach. 
 
 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 The Rev. Wilfrid and Mrs. Deighton were at 
 lunch, talking about the genial manners and other 
 qualifications of their guests, when suddenly they 
 heard a rapid step on the verandah, and Blount 
 dashed into the room. 
 
 His face was white with excitement, and they 
 saw that he carried his revolver in his hand. 
 
 " What in heaven's name is wrong, Mr. Blount ? 
 Why are you armed " 
 
 " For God's sake don't ask me now ! Our lives 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 35 
 
 are in danger deadly, imminent danger. Follow 
 me to my house ! " 
 
 " But, my dear sir," began Mr. Deighton, " I do 
 not see I fail " 
 
 " Man, don't talk ! Do you think I do not 
 know what I am saying? Your two friends are 
 both murdered. Banderah is now at my house, 
 too exhausted to tell me more than to come and 
 save you." 
 
 " Dear, dear me ! Oh, this is dreadful ! Let us, 
 Alice, my dear, seek Divine " 
 
 " You fool ! " and the trader seized the missionary 
 by the arm as he was about to sink upon his knees. 
 " Stay here and pray if you like and get your 
 throat cut. In ten in five minutes more, every 
 native except Banderah will be here ready to burn 
 and murder. I tell you, man, that our only chance 
 of safety is to reach my house first, and then the 
 schooner. Come, Mrs. Deighton. For God's sake, 
 come ! " 
 
 Pushing past the missionary, he seized Mrs. 
 Deighton by the hand and descended the steps. 
 They had scarcely gone two hundred yards when 
 they heard a strange, awful cry peal through the 
 woods ; and Mr. Deighton shuddered. Only once 
 before had he heard such a cry, and that was when, 
 during the early days of the mission, he had seen a 
 native priest tear out the heart of a victim destined 
 for a cannibal feast, and hold it up to the people. 
 
36 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 Suddenly little Mrs. Deighton gasped and tottered 
 as they hurried her along; she was already ex- 
 hausted. Then Deighton stopped. 
 
 " Mr. Blount ... go on by yourself. We have 
 not your strength to run at this speed. I will help 
 my wife along in a minute or two. Some of the 
 mission people will surely come to our aid." 
 
 "Will they?" said Blount grimly. "Look for 
 yourself and see ; there's not a soul in the whole 
 
 village. They have gone to see " and he made 
 
 an expressive gesture. 
 
 Mr. Deighton groaned. " My God, it is terrible ! " 
 then suddenly, as he saw his wife's deathly features, 
 his real nature came out. " Mr. Blount, you are a 
 brave man. For God's sake save my dear wife ! I 
 am too exhausted to run any further. I am too 
 weak from my last attack of the fever. But we are 
 only a quarter of a mile away from your house 
 now. Take her on with you, but give me your 
 revolver. I can at least cover your retreat for a 
 time." 
 
 Blount hesitated, then giving the weapon to the 
 missionary, he lifted the fainting woman in his 
 arms, and said 
 
 " Try and come on a little ; as soon as I am in 
 sight of the house your wife will be safe; you must 
 at least keep me in sight." 
 
 As the trader strode along, carrying the uncon- 
 scious woman in his strong arms, the missionary 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 37 
 
 looked at the weapon in his hand, and shuddered 
 again. 
 
 " May God forgive me if I have done wrong," he 
 muttered. "But take the life of one of His creatures 
 to save my own I never will. Yet to save hers I 
 must do it." 
 
 Then with trembling feet but brave heart he 
 walked unsteadily along after the trader and his 
 burden. So far, no sound had reached him since 
 that one dreadful cry smote upon his ear, and a 
 hope began to rise in his breast that no immediate 
 danger threatened. A short distance away, em- 
 bowered among the trees, was the house of Burrowes. 
 The door was closed, and not a sign of life was dis- 
 cernible about the place. 
 
 " Heavens, were they asleep ? " He had heard 
 that Burrowes and the German had been carousing 
 all the morning with the captain of the Starlight. 
 Likely enough they were all lying in a drunken 
 slumber. " God, give me strength to warn them," 
 he said to himself ; and then with a last glance at 
 Blount and his wife, he resolutely turned aside and 
 began to ascend the hill. 
 
 But before he gained the summit, Blount had 
 reached the fence surrounding his house, and 
 Banderah and Taya and her two young brothers, 
 rifles in hand, met the trader. 
 
 " Quick, take her ! " and he pushed Mrs. Deighton 
 into Taya's arms and looked back. 
 
38 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 " My God ! he's going up to Burrowes' house ! 
 Come, Banderah," and he started back again, " he'll 
 be speared or shot before he gets there." 
 
 Just as the missionary reached the door and 
 began in feeble, exhausted tones to call out, Blount 
 and the chief caught up to him, and seizing his 
 hands dragged him away again down the hill. 
 
 " Don't bother about them, they are all on 
 board," was all Blount said. And there was no 
 time to talk, for now fierce cries were heard in the 
 direction of the mission house, and Blount and 
 Banderah, looking back, saw black, naked figures 
 leap over the low stone wall enclosing the mis- 
 sionary's dwelling and disappear inside. 
 
 " Just in time," muttered the trader, as dragging 
 Mr. Deighton between them they gained the house, 
 and sat the missionary down beside his wife, who 
 with a cry of thankfulness threw her arms about 
 his neck and then quietly fainted. 
 
 ***** 
 
 For nearly half an hour Blount, with Banderah 
 and the missionary by his side, looked out through 
 the windows and saw the natives plundering and 
 wrecking the mission house and the dwellings of 
 Schwartzkoff and Burrowes. A mile away, 
 motionless upon the glassy waters of the harbour, 
 lay the schooner, with her boat astern, and every 
 now and then Blount would take a look at her 
 through his glass. 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 39 
 
 " I can't see a soul on deck," he said to Mr. 
 Deighton. " I heard that Peter and Burrowes went 
 off this morning with the captain, all pretty well 
 drunk. Would to God I knew what is best to do ! 
 To go on board would perhaps mean that those 
 ruffians would shoot us down before we were along- 
 side. No, we'll stay here and take our chance. 
 Banderah says he feels pretty sure that he can 
 protect us from his own people. They'd never 
 dare to hurt him ; and I think that will steady 
 them a bit," and he pointed to the fence, upon 
 which, at intervals, were tied green cocoanut 
 boughs. These had just been placed there by 
 Banderah himself, and meant that the house was 
 tapu it and all in it were sacred. 
 
 " God grant it may ! " said Mr. Deighton, and 
 looking at the mystic sign, the use of which he 
 had so often tried to put down as a silly, heathenish 
 practice, he felt a twinge of conscience. 
 
 At last the work of plunder was over, and 
 then Blount saw a swarm of black, excited sav- 
 ages, led by two or three " devil-doctors " or 
 priests, advance towards the house. At the same 
 moment Banderah, looking seaward, saw that the 
 boat had left the schooner and was pulling ashore. 
 He was just about to point her out to the trader 
 when, for some reason, he changed his mind, turned 
 away, and joined his white friends at the other end 
 of the room. 
 
40 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 Following the lead of the " devil-doctors," who, 
 stripped to the waist, and with their heads covered 
 with the hideous masks used in their incantations, 
 looked like demons newly arisen from the pit, the 
 yelling swarm of natives at last reached the fence 
 outside Blount's house ; and Mr. Deighton, with 
 an inward groan, saw among them some of his pet 
 converts, stark naked and armed with spears and 
 clubs. 
 
 Leaping and dancing with mad gyrations, and 
 uttering curious grunting sounds as their feet 
 struck the ground, the devil-doctors at last came 
 within a few feet of the gate in the trader's fence. 
 Then, suddenly, as they caught sight of a branch of 
 cocoanut leaf twisted in and around the woodwork 
 of the gate, they stopped their maddened whirl as 
 if by magic ; and upon those behind them fell the 
 silence of fear. 
 
 " Thank God ! " muttered Blount, " we are safe. 
 They will not break Banderah's tapu" 
 
 Then, rifle in hand, and with quiet, unmoved 
 face, Banderah opened the trader's door and came 
 out before them all. 
 
 "Who among ye desires the life of Banderah 
 and those to whom he has given his tapu f" he 
 said. 
 
 The smaller of the two priests dashed aside his 
 mask, and revealed the face of the old man Toka, 
 who had struck Baxter his death-blow. 
 
THE TAPU OP BANDERAH 41 
 
 "Who indeed, O chief? If it be to thy mind 
 to make tapu this house and all in it, who is there 
 dare break it ? To the white man Challi and his 
 sons and daughters we meant no harm, though 
 sweet to our bellies will be the flesh of those 
 whom we have slain and who now roast for the 
 feast. But more are yet to come ; for I, Toka, lost 
 my son, when thou, Banderah, lost thy brother ; 
 and the gods have told me that I shall eat my fill 
 of those who stole him." 
 
 The savage, bitter hatred that rang through the 
 old man's voice, and the deep, approving murmur 
 of those who stood about him, warned both 
 Banderah and Blount that the lust for slaughter 
 was not yet appeased ; so it was with a feeling of 
 intense surprise and relief that he and the 
 missionary saw them suddenly withdraw, and 
 move rapidly away to the rear of the house 
 among the thick jungle. 
 
 " That's d d curious ! " said Blount, turning 
 to Banderah and speaking in English ; a^nd then the 
 chief took him by the arm and pointed towards the 
 shore the boat, pulled by Schwartzkoff and Bur- 
 rowes, with Captain Bilker sitting in the stern, had 
 just touched the beach. Then it flashed across his 
 mind in an instant why the natives had left so 
 suddenly they were lying in ambush for the three 
 men ! 
 
 " By God ! bad as they are, I can't let them walk 
 
42 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 to their deaths," said Blount, jumping outside, so as 
 to hail and warn them, But before he could utter 
 a sound, Banderah sprang upon him and clapped 
 his hand to his mouth. 
 
 " Challi," he said, " they must die. Try to save 
 them, and we all perish. For the sake of thy 
 daughters and of thy sons, raise not thy voice nor 
 thy hand. Must all our blood run because of these 
 three dogs' lives ? " 
 
 Even as he spoke the end came. Staggering up 
 the beach in drunken hilarity, the three whites did 
 not notice, as they headed for the path, a file of 
 natives, armed with spears and clubs, walk quietly 
 along between them and the water's edge. There 
 they sat down and waited. But not for long, for 
 presently from out the thick, tangled jungle in 
 front came a humming whirr of deadly arrows 
 and in a few seconds the three white men were 
 wallowing in their blood. Then came that blood- 
 curdling shout of savage triumph, telling those who 
 heard it that all was over. Before its echoes died 
 away the bleeding bodies were carried to where a 
 thick, heavy smoke rising from the jungle told the 
 shuddering missionary that the awful feast was 
 preparing. When he looked again not a native 
 was in sight. 
 
 Standing apart in the room from the others, 
 Blount and Banderah spoke hurriedly together, 
 and then the trader came to the missionary. 
 
THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 43 
 
 " Mr. Deighton, if you wish to save your wife's 
 and your own life, and escape from this slaughter- 
 house, now is your time. As God is my judge I 
 believe we shall never be safe again, and I would 
 gladly go with you if I could. But my daughter 
 Nelly is at Lak-a-lak, and well, that settles it. 
 Banderah here will tell you that he dreads your 
 staying, as the priests may plot your death at any 
 moment. I implore you, sir, to think of your wife. 
 See, there is the boat, drifting along the beach with 
 the tide. For God's sake be advised and get on 
 board the schooner, and whatever port you do 
 reach, send a vessel to take me away ! " 
 
 Then, before the missionary and his wife could 
 realise what was happening, Banderah had run to 
 the beach, swam to the boat, seized the painter, 
 gained the shore again, and pulled her along till 
 opposite the trader's house, just as Blount and 
 Taya, supporting Mrs. Deighton between them, 
 were leaving the house to meet him. 
 
 In twenty minutes more they were close to the 
 Starlight, and saw that her crew were weighing the 
 anchor. On the after deck stood the mate and 
 steward with rifles in their hands. 
 
 " What in the name of God is wrong ? " said the 
 mate, as the boat ranged up alongside, and the 
 missionary and his wife were assisted on deck. 
 
 " Don't ask now, man. Get your anchor up as 
 quick as you can and put to sea. Your captain 
 
44 THE TAPU OF BANDERAH 
 
 and the two passengers are all dead. Clear out at 
 once if you don't want the ship to be taken." 
 
 " I thought something was wrong when I saw 
 the native dragging the boat along. Lend us a 
 hand to get under weigh, will you ? " and the mate 
 sprang forward. 
 
 In another five minutes the Starlight's anchor 
 was up, and then Blount and Banderah, with a 
 hurried farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Deighton, sprang 
 into the boat and pushed off. 
 
 " May God bless and keep you," called out the 
 missionary to Blount, " and may we meet again 
 soon ; " then sinking on his knees beside his wife, 
 he raised his face to heaven, and the trader saw 
 that tears were streaming down his worn and 
 rugged cheeks. 
 
 Blount never heard of the missionary and his 
 wife again. Long, long afterwards he did hear 
 that some wreckage of a vessel like the Starlight 
 had been found on Rennel Island, and that sove- 
 reigns were discovered among the pools and 
 crevices of the reef for many years after. Whether 
 she ran ashore or drifted there dismasted for a 
 heavy gale set in a week after she left Mayou 
 is one of those mysteries of the sea that will never 
 be solved. 
 
The Beginning of the Sea Story 
 of Australia 
 
 TO many people in England the mention of 
 Australia conjures pictures of tented gold- 
 fields and tall, black-bearded, red-shirted bush- 
 rangers ; of mounted police recruited from " flaxen- 
 haired younger sons of good old English families, 
 well-groomed and typically Anglo-Saxon " ; of 
 squatters and sheep runs ; of buckjumpers ridden 
 by the most daring riders in the world ; and of 
 much more to the same purpose ; but never is pre- 
 sented a picture of the sea or sailor folk. 
 
 Yet the first half-century of Australian history is 
 all to do with the ocean. The British sailor laid 
 the foundation of the Australian nation, and, in the 
 beginning, more than any other class, the sailorman 
 did the colonising and did it well. This, how- 
 ever, is the story of most British possessions, and 
 generally it is gratefully remembered and the sailor 
 
 45 
 
46 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 duly credited and kindly thought of for his work. 
 But in these days the dry west wind from the back 
 blocks seems to have blown the taste of brine and 
 the sound of the seethe of the curling " white 
 horse" out of the mind of the native-born Aus- 
 tralian ; and the sailing day of a mail boat is the 
 only thing that the average colonial knows or 
 cares to know about salt water. 
 
 To write on such a subject as this, one has to 
 leave out so much, that it is necessary to begin 
 almost in the middle in order to reach an ending. 
 Sea exploration and coast surveying opened the 
 ways ; whaling it may surprise the reader, but it 
 is nevertheless true was once the main support of 
 Australia and New Zealand ; and runaway sailors 
 formed a very considerable part of the back country 
 population, such men making handier and better 
 farm labourers, stockmen, and, later on, miners, by 
 reason of their adaptability to strange surround- 
 ings, than ticket-of-leave men or the average free 
 emigrant. 
 
 The first four successive Governors of Australia 
 in the beginning, be it remembered, the continent 
 was one colony were captains in the Navy. 
 Governing in those rough days was not a mere 
 master-of-the-ceremonies appointment, and Phillip, 
 Hunter, King, and Bligh, if they made mistakes, 
 considering their previous training, the populations 
 they governed and the times in which they lived, 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 47 
 
 amply justify Palmerston's words that if he wanted 
 a thing done well in a distant part of the world ; 
 when he wanted a man with a good head, a good 
 heart, lots of pluck, and plenty of common sense 
 he would always send for a captain of the Navy. 
 
 Phillip, the first of these Governors, was sent out 
 to found " a penal settlement at Botany Bay, on the 
 coast of New Holland," and did the work in such 
 fashion, in spite of every discouragement from the 
 forces of nature, the Home Government, and his 
 own officers, as to well entitle him to a place among 
 the builders of Greater Britain. What was known 
 of Australia, or rather New Holland the name of 
 Australia was still in futurity in 1788, when 
 Phillip first landed on its shores? 
 
 Let us say nothing of Spanish, Portuguese, and 
 Dutch voyages ; of wrecks and piracies ; of maroon- 
 ings, and massacres by blacks ; of the discoveries of 
 Dampier and of Cook, but sum the whole up thus : 
 the east coast of Australia, from its northernmost 
 extremity to its southernmost, was practically un- 
 known to the world, and was absolutely unknown 
 to Englishmen until Cook's first voyage. Cook, in 
 the Endeavour, ran along the whole east coast, 
 entering a few bays, naming many points, and par- 
 ticularly describing Botany Bay where he stayed 
 some little time ; then he sailed through Torres 
 Straits, and thence, via Batavia, home to England, 
 where he arrived in June, 1771. The English 
 
48 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 Government took no advantage of his discoveries 
 until 1786, when Botany Bay was fixed upon as 
 the site of a new penal settlement ; and this choice 
 was determined, more than anything else, by the 
 advice of Sir Joseph Banks, who, from the time 
 of his voyage with Cook in the Endeavour till his 
 death, took the keenest interest in the continent ; 
 and colonists are more indebted to the famous 
 naturalist for his friendly services than to any other 
 civilian Englishman of the time. 
 
 Phillip's commission ordered him to proceed to 
 Botany Bay, but authorised him to choose another 
 site for the settlement if he considered a better 
 could be found. He arrived with his fleet of trans- 
 ports in 1788, after a voyage of many months' dura- 
 tion, so managed that, though the fleet was the first 
 to make the passage and was made up of more 
 ships and more prisoners than any succeeding fleet, 
 there was less sickness and fewer deaths than on any 
 of the convoys which followed it. Phillip made a 
 careful examination of Botany Bay, and finding it 
 unsuitable for planting, the settlement was removed 
 to Port Jackson. After landing the exiles, the trans- 
 ports returned to Europe via China and the East 
 Indies, and their route was along the north-east 
 coast of Australia. The voyages of these returning 
 transports, under the navy agent, Lieutenant Short- 
 land, were fruitful in discoveries and adventures. 
 Meanwhile Phillip and his officers were working 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 49 
 
 hard, building their homes and taking their recrea- 
 tion in exploring the country and the coast for 
 many miles around them. And with such poor 
 means as an indifferent Home Government pro- 
 vided, this work of exploration went on continually 
 under each naval governor, the pressing want of 
 food spurring the pioneers ever on in the search for 
 good land ; but that very need, with the lack of 
 vessels, of men who could be trusted, of all that 
 was necessary for exploration, kept them chained 
 in a measure to their base at Sydney Cove. 
 
 Phillip, white-faced, cold and reserved, but with 
 a heart full of pity, was responsible for the lives of 
 a thousand people in a desolate country twelve 
 thousand miles from England so desolate that his 
 discontented officers without exception agreed that 
 the new colony was " the most God-forsaken land in 
 the world." The convict settlers were so ill-chosen, 
 and the Government so neglected to supply them 
 with even the barest necessities from Home, that 
 for several years after their landing they were in 
 constant distress from famine ; and disease and 
 death from this cause alone was an evil regularly to 
 be encountered by the silent, hard-working Phillip. 
 The only means of relief open to the starving 
 settlement was by importing food from Batavia and 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and to procure such sup- 
 plies Phillip had but two ships at his disposal the 
 worn-out old frigate Sirius (which was lost at Nor- 
 
 5 
 
50 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 folk Island soon after the founding of the settle- 
 ment) and a small brig of war, the Supply which 
 for many weary months were the only means of 
 communication with civilisation. 
 
 The Home Government, when they did despatch 
 a second fleet, instead of sending supplies for the 
 starving people under Phillip's care, sent more 
 prisoners, and very little to eat was sent with them. 
 The authorities seem to have had an idea that a 
 few hundred shovels, some decayed garden seeds, 
 and a thousand or two of Old Bailey men and 
 women criminals, were all the means needed to 
 found a prosperous and self-supporting colony. 
 How Phillip and his successors surmounted these 
 difficulties is another story ; but in the sea history 
 of Australia the work of the naval governors occu- 
 pies no small space in it. Remember, too, that 
 the Torres Straits route and the Great Barrier 
 Reef, now as well charted as the Solent, were only 
 then being slowly discovered by clumsy old sailing 
 craft, whose masters learnt to dread and avoid the 
 dangers of the unknown coast as children grow 
 cautious of fire, by actually touching it. 
 
 Hunter, the second Governor of New South 
 Wales, and King, the third Governor, both did 
 remarkable surveying work on the coast while 
 serving under Phillip, and both made still more 
 remarkable voyages to England. Hunter was the 
 senior naval officer under Phillip, and was in com- 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 51 
 
 mand of the Sirius when she was lost on Norfolk 
 Island. 
 
 This is how the dauntless Hunter got home with 
 the crew of the Sirius, after waiting six months 
 on Norfolk Island for the chance of a passage. The 
 Waaksamheyd) a Dutch snow I of 3OO-tons burden, 
 which had brought supplies to Sydney from Batavia, 
 was engaged to take Hunter and his shipwrecked 
 crew to England. She was thirteen months on the 
 voyage, and here are some extracts from Hunter's 
 letter to the Admiralty, written from Portsmouth 
 on the 23rd of April, 1792 : 
 
 " ' I sailed from Port Jackson on the 27th of 
 March, 1791, victualled for six months and with 
 sixty tons of water. We were one hundred and 
 twenty-three people on board all told " (remember 
 this vessel was of three hundred tons burden). " The 
 master was directed to call at Norfolk Island to 
 receive despatches, but contrary winds prevented 
 us carrying out these orders. We steered to the 
 northward and made New Caledonia, passing to the 
 westward of it, as the master (a Dutchman) did not 
 feel himself qualified to navigate a vessel in these 
 unknown seas. He had, upon leaving Port Jack- 
 son, requested my assistance, which I gave him. In 
 sailing to the northward we fell in with several 
 
 1 A snow differed somewhat slightly from a brig. It had 
 two masts similar to the fore and mainmasts of a brig or 
 ship, and, close abaft the mainmast, a topsail mast. 
 
$2 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 islands and shoals, the situations of which we deter- 
 mined, and it is my intention, if the Navy Board 
 will permit me, to lay a short account of this 
 northern passage before the Board, when the dis- 
 coveries will be particularly mentioned. No ship 
 that I have heard of having sailed between New 
 Britain and New Ireland since that passage was 
 discovered by Captain Carteret in Her Majesty's 
 sloop Swallow, I was the more desirous to take that 
 route. . . . We passed through the Straits of 
 Macassar and arrived at Batavia after a tedious and 
 distressing passage of twenty-six weeks." 
 
 After burying an officer and two seamen at 
 Batavia, Hunter left that place on October 2Oth, 
 reached the Cape on the I7th of December, and 
 was driven to sea again after the loss of two anchors, 
 till the 3Oth. So weak and ill were his men from 
 the effects of their stay in the unhealthy climate of 
 Batavia, that he had to remain at the Cape till the 
 1 8th of January, when he again put to sea and 
 sailed for England. 
 
 Hunter's brief and precise official account of his 
 voyage discloses little of the great distress of that 
 thirteen months' passage ; but it shows how the 
 spirit of discovery was in the man ; how, in spite of 
 the care of one hundred and twenty-three people 
 in a 3OO-ton vessel, and half rations, he had time 
 and energy enough to think of surveying. One 
 result of his voyage was his strongly expressed 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 53 
 
 opinion that the proper route home from Australia 
 was via Cape Horn now the recognised homeward 
 route for sailing vessels. 
 
 The name of King ought never to be for- 
 gotten, for the services of father and son in 
 Australian waters were very great. King, the 
 elder, came out with Phillip as second lieutenant 
 of the crazy old Sinus. He had previously served 
 under Phillip in the East Indies, and soon after the 
 arrival of the first fleet in " Botany Bay," as New 
 South Wales was then called, he was sent with a 
 detachment of Marines and a number of convicts 
 to colonise Norfolk Island. His task was a hard 
 one, but he accomplished it in the face of almost 
 heartbreaking difficulties. 
 
 Phillip, finding that his despatches failed to 
 awaken the Home Government to a sense of the 
 deplorable situation of the colony he had founded 
 at Port Jackson, determined to send home a man 
 who would represent the true state of affairs. He 
 chose King for the service. Every other officer 
 both naval and military was ready to go, and 
 would have eloquently described the miseries of 
 the colonists, and harped on the necessity for an 
 instant abandonment of the settlement they were 
 writing letters to this effect by every chance they 
 could get to forward them but this was not what 
 Phillip wanted. He, and he alone, recognised the 
 future possibilities of New South Wales, writing 
 
54 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 even at the time of his deepest distress : " This 
 will be the greatest acquisition Great Britain has 
 ever made." All he asked was for reasonable help 
 in the way of food and decent settlers who could 
 work. All he got in answer to his requests was the 
 further shipment of the scum of the gaols and the 
 hulks and some more spades and seeds. King 
 believed in his chief and cordially worked with 
 him and King was the silent Phillip's one friend. 
 
 So King went home, his voyage thither being 
 one of the most singular ever made by naval 
 officer. He left Sydney Cove in April, 1790, and 
 after a tedious passage reached Batavia. Here he 
 engaged a small Dutch vessel to take him to the 
 Cape of Good Hope, sailing for that port in August. 
 Before the ship had been a week at sea, save four 
 men, the whole crew, including the master, were 
 stricken with the hideous "putrid fever" a common 
 disease in " country " ships at that time. King, a 
 quick and masterful man, took command, and with 
 his four well men lived on deck in a tent to escape 
 contagion. The rest of the ship's company, which 
 included a surgeon, lay below delirious, and one 
 after another of them dying seventeen of them 
 died in a fortnight. 
 
 King tells how, when handling the bodies to 
 throw them overboard, he and his men covered 
 their mouths with sponges soaked in vinegar to 
 prevent contagion. In this short-handed condition 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 55 
 
 he navigated the vessel to the Mauritius, where, 
 " having heard of the misunderstanding with 
 the French" the gallant officer refused to take 
 passage in a French frigate ; but procuring a new 
 crew worked his way to the Cape, where he arrived 
 in September, reaching England in December, 
 after a passage which altogether occupied eight 
 months a letter from England to Australia and 
 a reply to it now occupies about ten weeks. 
 
 In England King was well received, being con- 
 firmed in his appointment as Commandant of Nor- 
 folk Island, and he succeeded in getting some help 
 for his fellow-colonists. Upon his return to his 
 island command the little colony proved a great 
 worry. The military guard mutinied, and King 
 armed the convict settlers to suppress the mutiny ! 
 This act of* his gave great offence in some quarters. 
 Phillip had resigned the command at Sydney, and 
 the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, who was in 
 charge, was the commanding officer of the New 
 South Wales Regiment more celebrated in the 
 records for its mutinies than its services and the 
 degradation of the Norfolk Island detachment by 
 King was never forgiven by the soldiers, but the 
 Home Government quite approved his conduct. 
 
 But King made one very serious mistake. He 
 had sent a vessel to New Zealand, and from thence 
 had imported certain Maori chiefs to instruct the 
 settlers on Norfolk Island in flax cultivation. 
 
56 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 King had pledged his word to these noble savages 
 to return them to their native country, and in order 
 to do so, and make sure of their getting there, he 
 himself embarked in a vessel, leaving his command 
 for a few days to the charge of his subordinate, 
 while he sailed the thirteen hundred miles to New 
 Zealand and back. For this he was censured, but 
 was notwithstanding afterwards appointed the third 
 Governor of New South Wales, succeeding Hunter. 
 
 King's son, who was born at Norfolk Island in 
 1791, entered the Navy in 1807, an ^ saw anv 
 amount of fighting in the French war ; then went 
 to Australia in 1817, and surveyed its eastern coast 
 in such a manner that, when he returned to Eng- 
 land in 1823 there was little but detail work left for 
 those who followed him. Then he was appointed 
 to the Adventure, which, in conjunction with the 
 Beagle, surveyed the South American coast. In 
 1830 he retired and settled in Australia, dying there 
 in 1856. His son in turn entered the service, but 
 early followed his father's example, and turned 
 farmer in Australia. He still lives, and is a mem- 
 ber of the Legislative Council or Upper House of 
 the New South Wales Parliament. 
 
 Here is a family record ! Three generations, all 
 naval officers, and all men who have taken an 
 active share in the founding and growth of Greater 
 Britain ; and yet not one man in a thousand in 
 Australia, much less in England, has probably the 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 57 
 
 remotest idea of the services rendered to the 
 Empire by this family. 
 
 The fourth and last naval Governor, Bligh, is 
 more often remembered in connection with the 
 Bounty mutiny than for his governorship of New 
 South Wales. He was deposed by the military in 
 1 808, for his action in endeavouring to suppress the 
 improper traffic in rum which was being carried on 
 by the officers of the New South Wales Regiment. 
 This second mutiny, of which he was the victim, 
 certainly cannot be blamed against the honesty of 
 his administration ; and the assertion, so often 
 repeated, that he hid himself under his bed when 
 the mutinous soldiers who had been well primed 
 with rum by their officers marched to Government 
 House, can best be answered by the statement that 
 Nelson publicly thanked him for his skill and 
 gallantry at Copenhagen, and by the heroism which 
 he showed in the most remarkable boat voyage in 
 history. He may have been the most tyrannical 
 and overbearing naval officer that ever entered the 
 service, but he was not the man to hide himself 
 under a bed. 
 
 There were other naval officers of the early 
 Australian days whose services were no less 
 valuable to the infant colony. Think of the 
 men associated with this time, and of the names 
 famous in history, which are in some way linked 
 with Australia. Dampier, Cook, La P^rouse, 
 
58 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 Bligh, Edwards and the Pandora, Vancouver, 
 Flinders, Bass all these are familiar to the world, 
 and there are others in plenty; for example, 
 Grant, who in his vessel, the brig Lady Nelson, 
 did such work in Australian waters as, if performed 
 nowadays say in Africa, would have been re- 
 corded in hundreds of newspaper interviews, many 
 process-work pictures and a 2 is. book with cheap 
 editions ! 
 
 What a story is that of Bass and Flinders ! 
 Such noble, disinterested courage ! Such splendid 
 service to English colonisation, and such a sad 
 ending to it all. 
 
 Bass and Flinders, in their tiny open boat, the 
 Tom Thumb, and in the sloop Norfolk, dotting 
 the blank map of Australia with the names of 
 their discoveries it is not necessary surely to 
 remind the reader that Bass began, and together 
 the two men completed, the discovery and passage 
 of the straits between Van Dieman's Land and 
 the main continent. Bass surveyed something 
 like six hundred miles of the Australian coast 
 in a whaleboat with a crew of six men ! And one 
 cannot summarise Flinders' work in the Norfolk 
 and in the Investigator before the old ship was 
 condemned and converted into a hulk to rot in 
 Sydney Harbour. 
 
 How were these men rewarded for their services, 
 and what has posterity done to keep their names 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 59 
 
 in remembrance? In 1803 Flinders started for 
 England, was wrecked, and making his way to 
 the Mauritius was there, to the everlasting disgrace 
 of Napoleon's Island governor, detained a prisoner 
 for more than six years. Of course the English 
 Government ultimately procured his release, but 
 it took them all that time to do it ; and when 
 he did get back they promoted his juniors over 
 his head. When he died in 1814, a broken heart 
 was as much as anything else the cause of his 
 death. 
 
 Bass, after leaving Australia, went to England 
 and sailed in an armed merchantman bound 
 to South America. At Valparaiso the Governor 
 of the town refused to allow the vessel to trade. 
 Bass, who was then in command of the ship, 
 threatened to bombard the town, and the refusal 
 was withdrawn ; but, watching their opportunity 
 the authorities seized him when he was off his 
 guard, and it was supposed he was sent to the 
 interior. As the years passed by there were one 
 or two reports that he was seen working in the 
 mines, but it seems to have been no one's business 
 to inquire into his fate. It is more than probable 
 that the brave Bass died a slave. 
 
 But the whalers, "South Seamen" and East 
 Indiamen, did no less good service than the King's 
 ships in the early days, and yet even the old books 
 do "them but scant justice. For the first fifty 
 
60 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 years of Australian colonisation the merchantmen 
 charted reefs, discovered harbours, and did just 
 those things for the desert waters of the Aus- 
 tralasian Pacific as were afterwards done by land 
 explorers, in their camel and pack-horse journey- 
 ings into the waterless interior of the continent. 
 And the stories that could be told ! The whalers 
 and sealers who were cast away on desert islands, 
 and lived Robinson Crusoe lives for years ! The 
 open boat voyages. The massacres by blacks. 
 The cuttings-off by the savage islanders of the 
 South Pacific. The mutinies and sea fights ! 
 
 Hobart in Tasmania, Twofold Bay in New 
 South Wales, and many New Zealand ports were 
 the great whaling stations, and Sydney the com- 
 mercial headquarters. Fifty years ago there were 
 something like twenty whalers in the Hobart 
 Fleet alone ; now, one or two hulks lying in 
 Whaler's "Rotten Row" is practically all that 
 survives of the trade. 
 
 The Americans took a leading part in the 
 industry, and ships with New Bedford or Nan- 
 tucket under their sterns traversed the Pacific 
 from one end to the other. Australian whaling 
 was begun (Dampier reported whales as early 
 as 1699) in Governor Phillip's time, by some of 
 the convict transports coming out with whaling 
 equipment in their holds, and after disembarking 
 their human freight, departing for the " Fisheries." 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 61 
 
 Some of these ships often remained in the 
 Pacific for years, making cruises of twelve or 
 eighteen months' duration, returning to Sydney 
 when full ships to discharge and refresh, their 
 cargoes being sent to England in some returning 
 " favourite fast clipper," while the whalers went 
 back to their greasy and dangerous vocation, until 
 they were lost, or cut off by the savages, or worn 
 out and converted into hulks. 
 
 What numbers of them were lost ! and what 
 wonderful and blood-curdling experiences their 
 crews underwent when they were castaways, or 
 deserted, or were marooned on " the islands " ! 
 Here is a story of a vessel lost in Torres Straits 
 in 1836 not a whaler, but an East Indiaman. 
 Some of her crew and passengers managed to 
 land on the mainland of North Australia and 
 were there captured by blacks. Six months later 
 a few survivors were rescued and landed in 
 Sydney ; and this is what had happened to the 
 only woman of the party, Mrs. Fraser, wife of 
 the captain : She had seen her child die, her 
 husband speared to death before her face, the 
 chief mate roasted alive, the second mate burned 
 over a slow fire until he was too crippled to walk, 
 and otherwise horribly and indescribably tortured, 
 and she herself was made to climb trees for honey 
 for her captors by having lighted gum branches 
 applied to her body. 
 
62 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 In another instance a vessel was wrecked on 
 the North Australian coast in 1846, and nearly 
 twenty years later the sole survivor turned up 
 at a cattle station near Port Denison, in North 
 Queensland. He had been all this time living 
 among the blacks, unable to escape, and civilisa- 
 tion had found its way, in the years that had 
 elapsed, far enough into the back country to reach 
 him. The stockman who first saw the man took 
 him for a black and levelled his rifle at him, 
 when he was stopped from shooting the poor 
 fellow by the words, " Don't fire, I am an English- 
 man." 
 
 Here, told in a few words, is the story of the 
 first landing in Victoria, and the' first discovery 
 of coal in New South Wales : On the map of 
 Tasmania, in the north-east corner, is marked 
 the Furneaux Group of islands in Bass's Straits. 
 Dotted about the cluster are such names as 
 Preservation Island, Clarke Island, and Armstrong 
 Channel. These names all commemorate the 
 wreck of the Sydney Cove, Captain Hamilton, 
 bound from Calcutta to Sydney, and lost in 
 February, 1797. She sprang a leak on the I3th 
 of December, 1796, and her crew, chiefly Lascars, 
 managed to keep her afloat till the 9th of the 
 following February, when the skipper made Pre- 
 servation Island, and there beached her. All the 
 people landed safely, and got what stores they 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 63 
 
 could ashore. Then it was decided to despatch 
 the long boat to Port Jackson for help. 
 
 Thompson the mate, Clarke the supercargo, 
 three European seamen, and a dozen Lascars 
 manned the boat and left the island on the 29th 
 of February. On the 1st of March the boat was 
 driven ashore and battered to pieces close to Cape 
 Howe (near the present boundary line of Victoria 
 and New South Wales) three hundred miles from 
 Sydney, in a country never before trodden by the 
 feet of white men. All hands were saved, and 
 after a fortnight's rest, feeding on such shellfish as 
 they could obtain, the party set out to walk to 
 Sydney. 
 
 Clarke kept a rough diary of this journey, telling 
 of encounters with blacks, of death and madness 
 by starvation and other privations ; of how they 
 crossed wide and shark-infested rivers by building 
 rafts of tree branches cut down and fashioned with 
 jack knives ; of how the lives of men were pur- 
 chased from the blacks by strips of clothing ; and 
 of how they counted the buttons on their ragged 
 garments, and thus reckoned how many lives could 
 be bought from the savages with what remained. 
 
 The terrible march lasted until the 1 5th of May ; 
 then three exhausted men, horrible to look upon, 
 and the only survivors of seventeen who had, sixty 
 days before, begun the journey, were picked up a 
 few miles to the south of Sydney by a fishing boat, 
 
64 THE BEGINNING QF 
 
 The spot where they were seen walking along the 
 beach was close to Port Hacking, and Clarke, three 
 days before his rescue, had lit a fire and cooked 
 some fish with coal he picked up. This was the 
 first discovery of the great southern coal-fields 
 of New South Wales. 
 
 There are other less gruesome stories than these ; 
 for example that of the Sydney whaler Policy, 
 which, sailing under a Letter of Marque for the 
 Moluccas, was set upon by a Dutch private ship 
 of war the Swift at one time a formidable and 
 successful French privateer. Captain Foster of 
 the Policy, though his armament was very inferior 
 and many of his crew were prostrated with fever, 
 engaged the Dutchman, fought him for some hours, 
 and brought his ship a prize into Sydney Harbour. 
 Two Spanish vessels were captured in the same 
 way by armed Sydney whalers ; so that Australian 
 waters have seen a little fighting. 
 
 On board the convict ships of those early days 
 there were often mutinies, desperate and some- 
 times bloody, and some of these led to remark- 
 able results. In one instance the soldiers not 
 the prisoners rose upon the crew and the ship's 
 officers, turned them adrift in an open boat, and 
 carried off the ship. They were recaptured after- 
 wards by a man-of-war in the Indian Ocean and 
 brought to justice. Convict mutinies often were 
 only suppressed after desperate hand-to-hand 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 65 
 
 fighting ; then a day or two later the ringleaders 
 would be hanged from the yardarm, and a dozen 
 or more convicts flogged at the gratings. And 
 these things, be it remembered, were going on only 
 an old man's lifetime ago. 
 
 New Zealand is fertile in adventure stones, and 
 the well-known Boyd massacre is paralleled by two 
 or three other tragedies equally as dreadful, if less 
 often told. The whaling history of that colony 
 would make a book not of the kind suitable for 
 young ladies seminaries, 'tis true, but mighty strong 
 in human interest, and presenting the race as well 
 as the sex problem for the study of the reader. 
 
 Statistics are terribly dry reading, but by way 
 of contrasting the condition of Australian shipping 
 then and now, it is worth while quoting a few 
 figures. 
 
 In 1835, the heyday of the colonial whaling trade, 
 when the smoky glare of the whaleships' try- works 
 lit up the darkness of the Pacific ocean night, there 
 were forty-one vessels, of a total tonnage of 9,257 
 tons, registered in New South Wales, employed in 
 the fishery. In the same year twenty-two vessels 
 arrived in Sydney from the various grounds, their 
 cargoes of whalebone, sealskins, and sperm and 
 black oil valuing altogether about 1 50,000. Now 
 the whaling trade in Southern Seas is represented 
 by two or three small and poorly equipped ships 
 from Hobart, though the whales sperm, right, 
 
 6 
 
66 THE BEGINNING OF 
 
 and humpback are again as plentiful as they 
 were in the first years of the fishery. One of the 
 present writers, less than four years ago, counted 
 over three hundred humpbacks passing to the 
 northward in two days on the coast of New 
 South Wales, while there were ten times that 
 number of the swift and dangerous " fin-back " 
 whales travelling with them. 
 
 But, though the whale fishery is extinct, there is 
 something to be shown instead. 
 
 It has been said that twenty-two whalers entered 
 Sydney in 1835, which means that during that 
 year not twice that number of vessels of all 
 descriptions entered the port for the whaling 
 was then the trade. But the steamer was begin- 
 ning to count, and the beginning of the Sydney 
 steam trade is not without a peculiar interest for 
 Londoners at any rate. 
 
 The Sophia Jane was the first steamer in Aus- 
 tralasian waters. She arrived in Sydney from 
 London, via the Cape of Good Hope, with cargo 
 and passengers, on the I4th of May. This vessel 
 was built on the Thames by a well-known ship- 
 builder of the time, William Evans, who was the 
 builder of many other notable early steamers. 
 She was running for a summer or two as a 
 passenger steamer between Gravesend and London ; 
 then between different ports in the south of Eng- 
 land ; and then, under a Lieutenant Biddulph, of the 
 
THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 67 
 
 Royal Navy, she was sent to Sydney. The little 
 vessel was 126 feet long by 20 feet beam, drew 
 6 feet of water, was of 256 tons burden, and had 
 accommodation for fifty-four passengers ; her 
 engines were of 50 horse-power, and her speed 
 eight knots an hour. This was the first steamer 
 in the Southern Seas the forerunner of a fleet of 
 mighty leviathans. 
 
In the Far North 
 
 " Out on the wastes of the Never Never 
 
 Thafs where the dead men lie ! 
 There where the heat-waves dance for ever 
 Thafs where the dead men lie ! " 
 
 (BARCROFT BOAKE, 
 
 in the Sydney Bulletin?) 
 
 I 
 
 JACK BARRINGTON, nominal owner of 
 Tinandra Downs cattle station on the Gil- 
 bert River in the far north of North Queens- 
 land, was riding slowly over his run, when, as the 
 fierce rays of a blazing sun, set in a sky of 
 brass, smote upon his head and shoulders and 
 his labouring stock-horse plodded wearily home- 
 wards over the spongy, sandy soil, the lines of 
 Barcroft Boake came to his mind, and, after he 
 had repeated them mentally, he cursed aloud. 
 
 " * Thafs where the dead men lie.' Poor Boake 
 must have thought of this God-forsaken part of 
 an utterly God-forsaken country, I think, when he 
 wrote c Out where the Dead Men Lie.' For I believe 
 
 68 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 69 
 
 that God Almighty has forgotten it ! Oh for rain, 
 rain, rain ! Rain to send the Gilbert down in a 
 howling yellow flood, and turn this blarsted spinifex 
 waste of scorching sand and desolation into green 
 grass and save me and the youngsters from giving 
 it best, and going under altogether. . . . Boake 
 knew this cursed country well. ... I wonder 
 if he ever ( owned ' a station one with a raging 
 drought, a thundering mortgage, and a worrying 
 and greedy bank sooling him on to commit suicide, 
 or else provide rain as side issues. ... I don't 
 suppose he had a wife and children to leave to 
 the mercy of the Australian Pastoralists' Bank. 
 D n and curse the Australian Pastoralists' Bank, 
 and the drought, and this scorching sand and 
 hateful spinifex and God help the poor cattle ! " 
 
 He drew rein almost under the shade of a clump 
 of stunted sandalwood, which had, in good seasons, 
 been a favourite mustering camp, and looked about 
 him, and then he passed his hand over his eyes 
 to shut out for a few moments the melancholy 
 spectacle before him. 
 
 I have said that he pulled up "almost" under 
 shelter ; further he could not advance, for the hard, 
 parched ground immediately under the shade of 
 the sandalwoods was thickly covered by the stif- 
 fened sun-dried carcasses of some hundreds of dead 
 cattle, which, having become too weak to leave 
 the sheltering trees in search of food and water 
 
70 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 had lain down and died. Beyond, scattered singly 
 and about in twos and threes, were the remains of 
 scores of other wretched beasts, which, unable to 
 drag themselves either to the sandy river-bed or 
 to the scanty shade of the stunted timber, had 
 perished where they fell. 
 
 With a heavy sigh Harrington dismounted, took 
 off his water-bag from the saddle, and pouring a 
 little water into his hat, gave his horse a drink. 
 Then he drank a few mouthfuls himself, filled and 
 lit his pipe, and sat down, to rest awhile until the 
 sun had lost its fierce intensity and think. 
 
 And he thought despairingly of the black pro- 
 spect which for the past six or seven months had 
 tormented him by day, and haunted him at night, 
 broken now and then with a gleam of hope when 
 the pitiless blue of the sky changed to grey, and 
 rain seemed near, only to be followed by renewed 
 and bitter disappointment. 
 
 " It cannot last much longer/' he thought ; " even 
 if rain came within a week the rest of the poor 
 brutes left alive will be too weak to recover and 
 there's not hands enough on the station to cut 
 leaves for them. Even the blacks have cleared 
 out lower down the river . . . found a good water- 
 hole I daresay, and, like wise niggers, are camping 
 there. Why doesn't Providence give a poor honest 
 bullock as much show for his life in a drought as a 
 damned, filthy blackfellow ! Instead of hoofs in 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 71 
 
 this part of the country at any rate cattle ought 
 to have feet like a bandicoot, then the poor beasts 
 could worry along by digging waterholes in the 
 river bed." 
 
 Then, sick at heart as he was, a faint smile 
 flitted over his sun-bronzed face at the fancy. 
 
 An hour passed, and Harrington, with another 
 weary sigh, rose and saddled his horse one of the 
 few now remaining to him and able to carry a rider. 
 Five miles away from the sandalwood camp was 
 another and larger patch of timber tall, slender 
 brigalows, which grew on the edge of a dried-up 
 swamp, once the haunt and breeding place of 
 countless thousands of wild duck, teal, and geese. 
 This was another of the mustering camps on 
 Tinandra, and as it lay on his way home, he 
 decided to go there and see if any of the "Big 
 Swamp " cattle were still alive. As he rode slowly 
 over towards the fringe of timber, the westering 
 sun turned from a dazzling, blinding gold to a 
 gradually deepening red ; and his sweating horse 
 gave a snort of satisfaction as the soft, spongy, and 
 sandy spinifex country was left behind, and the 
 creature's hoofs struck upon the hard sun-baked 
 plain of yellow earth which lay between the two 
 camps. Looking down at the great, widely 
 spreading cracks in the hungry soil, the result of 
 a seven-months' continuous drought, Harrington 
 almost unconsciously bent his head and thought 
 
72 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 that surely God would send rain. He was not a 
 religious man in the conventional sense he had 
 never been inside a church in his life but the 
 memory of his dead mother's belief in God's mercy 
 and goodness was still strong within him. 
 
 The brigalow scrub was about half a mile in 
 length, and stood between the swamp and the high 
 river bank. At the dried-up bed of the swamp 
 itself he did not care to look a second time ; its 
 once reedy margin was now a sight of horror, for 
 many hundreds of cattle had been bogged there 
 long months before, as they had striven to get 
 further out to the centre where there was yet left 
 a little water, saved from evaporation by the broad 
 leaves of the blue water-lilies. 
 
 Skirting the inner edge of the scrub till he 
 reached its centre, he looked carefully among the 
 timber, but not a beast was to be seen ; then dis- 
 mounting he led his horse through, came out 
 upon the river bank, and looked across the wide 
 expanse of almost burning sand which stretched 
 from bank to bank, unbroken in its desolation 
 except by a few ti-trees whose roots, deep down, 
 kept them alive. 
 
 " Bob, old fellow," he said to his horse, " we've 
 another ten miles to go, and there's no use in 
 killing ourselves. I think that we can put in half 
 an hour digging sand, and manage to raise a drink 
 down there in the river bed." 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 73 
 
 Still leading the animal, which seemed to know 
 his master's intention, Harrington walked down 
 the sloping bank, his long riding-boots sinking 
 deeply into the fine, sandy soil, and Bob pricked 
 up his ears and gave a true stock-horse sigh of 
 weariness and anticipation combined. 
 
 On the opposite side of the river bed and close 
 under the bank were growing two or three heavy 
 ti-trees, and here, just as the sun had set, he halted, 
 again unsaddled, and after lighting a fire, began to 
 scoop out a hole with his quart pot in between the 
 roots of the trees. For some minutes he worked 
 on with energy, then he stopped and listened, and 
 Bob, too, turned his head inquiringly, for he also 
 had heard the sound it was only the cry of a 
 beast, but it seemed so near that Harrington ceased 
 his digging and stood up to look. 
 
 Not a hundred yards distant he saw, by the light 
 of the now brightly blazing fire, four gaunt steers 
 and a skeleton heifer, staggering and swaying 
 over the river sand towards him in their weak- 
 ness and agony of hunger and thirst. The poor 
 creatures had seen the man and the horse ! 
 As they toiled towards the light of the fire, a 
 dreadful, wheezing moan came from the parched 
 throat of the leading steer as it laboured pantingly 
 over to something human something it associated 
 with water, and grass, and life, and presently the 
 wretched animal, with one last effort, fell in its 
 
74 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 tracks almost at Harrington's feet. It lay there 
 quiet enough for a minute or two, with lean, out- 
 stretched neck and one horn buried in the sand, 
 its fast glazing eye turned to the man, and seem- 
 ing to say, " Give me water or death." 
 
 Harrington, wrought up and excited to the last 
 pitch, flung himself upon his knees, and placed his 
 cheek against that of the dying steer, and a sob 
 burst from his bosom. 
 
 " O God, if there is a God ! have mercy upon 
 these Thy dumb creatures who suffer such agony." 
 
 He stepped up to his horse, took his revolver 
 out of the pouch, and then a merciful bullet ended 
 the sufferings of the thirst-stricken animal at his 
 feet. 
 
 " Steady, Bob, old man ! Steady there ! " he 
 said brokenly, " I may have to do the same to 
 you before long." And then, tearing off a long 
 piece of dried ti-tree bark from one of the trees, 
 he thrust it into the fire. Then, with the blazing 
 torch in his left hand, and his pistol in his right, 
 he tramped over the sand to the remaining cattle, 
 and shot them dead one by one. 
 
 Then back to his digging again. A drink of 
 thick, muddy water for his horse, and then with a 
 dull sense of misery in his heart he led Bob up the 
 bank and began the last stage of his ride home 
 home to his anaemic, complaining, shallow-brained 
 wife and the weakly children who, instead of being 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 75 
 
 the consolation of his life in his misfortunes, were 
 an added and ever-present source of misery and 
 despair. 
 
 II 
 
 A few years before, Harrington had bought 
 Tinandra Downs, and had stocked the run with 
 three thousand head of store cattle ; for half of 
 which number he had paid, the remainder he had 
 bought on long terms from a neighbouring squatter 
 a man who knew his sterling merits, and was 
 confident that he (Harrington) would make 
 Tinandra one of the best cattle stations in the 
 far north. Fortune had smiled upon him from 
 the first ; for within two years came the discovery 
 of the famous Palmer River goldfields, only a 
 few hundred miles distant, and cattle and station 
 properties doubled -in value, for in less than half 
 a year there were six thousand diggers on the field, 
 and more came pouring in from the southern 
 colonies by every steamer to Cooktown. New 
 townships sprang suddenly into existence, pro- 
 visions of all kinds brought an enormous price, 
 and Harrington cleared off his debt to his squatter 
 friend almost ere he could realise having done so, 
 and that he had several thousands of pounds to 
 the good as well, And his good luck stuck to 
 
76 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 him, for it was attended by careful management, 
 and every mob of fat cattle he despatched to the 
 goldfield instead of sending them on a three- 
 hundred league journey to Brisbane, meant another 
 couple of thousand sovereigns. 
 
 Then he began to improve the head station 
 and to think of Myra, a girl whom he had once 
 met in Sydney, and who sent him newspapers, 
 and, once or twice, at long intervals, had written 
 him letters. He had answered these letters with a 
 secret hope that, if all went well with him, he 
 would take another trip to Sydney, and then 
 well, he could at least ask her. If she said no, 
 why, who was there to chaff him ? He was not 
 a communicative man, had very few intimate men 
 friends, and the few women whom he knew were 
 not the sort he could possibly talk to about a lady. 
 Both his parents had died before he was ten years 
 of age, leaving him utterly alone in the world. 
 Born in a bush town, in the interior of New South 
 Wales, he had turned to the bush and to the wide, 
 open, grassy plains, as an infant would have turned 
 to its mother in its distress ; and the bush and 
 the plains and the grey mountain ranges had taken 
 him to their bosoms ; and the silent, reserved boy 
 became the resolute, hardy bushman, stock-rider, 
 and then miner a man fit and ready to meet the 
 emergencies of his rough life. Of the outside 
 world he was as ignorant as a child, as indeed 
 
IN THE PAR NORTH 77 
 
 were most of the men with whom for many years 
 he had associated. But there was nothing des- 
 picable in his ignorance ; and when as time went 
 on, and his improved circumstances threw him in 
 contact with men and women of refinement and 
 culture, he was quick to take advantage of such 
 opportunities; but the honest, simple nature of 
 the man always remained the same. 
 
 Before he was thirty, Harrington was known as 
 one of the most experienced and fortunate over- 
 lander drovers in Australia, and he became as 
 familiar with the long and lonely stock-route 
 from the stations on the Gulf of Carpentaria to 
 Sydney and Melbourne, in his many journeys, as 
 if it were a main road in an English county. 
 
 At the conclusion of one of these tedious drives 
 of seven months' duration, the brown-faced, quiet 
 drover was asked by an acquaintance with whom 
 he had business transactions, to spend the evening 
 with him at his house. He went, and there met 
 Myra Lyndon. He was attracted by her bright 
 manner and smiling face, and when she questioned 
 him about his life in the Far North, his adventures 
 among the blacks, and the many perils of a drover's 
 existence, he thought her the fairest and sweetest 
 woman in the world. And Miss Myra Lyndon 
 encouraged him in his admiration. Not that she 
 cared for him in the least. She had not reached 
 eight-and-twenty years of age to throw herself 
 
78 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 away on a man who had no other ambition 
 than to become a squatter and live amongst a 
 lot of "horrid bellowing cattle." But he was 
 nice to talk to, though terribly stupid about some 
 things, and so she did not mind writing to him 
 once or twice it would reward him for the horse 
 he had one day sent to her father with a lamely 
 worded note, saying that it was one of a mob 
 he had just bought at the saleyards, and as he 
 had no use for a lady's hack, he thought that 
 perhaps Miss Lyndon would be so kind as to 
 accept it. Mr. Lyndon smiled as he read the 
 note, he knew that drovers did not usually buy 
 ladies' hacks ; but being a man harassed to 
 death with an expensive family, he was not dis- 
 posed to discourage Harrington's attentions to 
 Myra ; though, having a conscience, he felt that 
 Jack Harrington was too good a man for such a 
 useless, empty-brained, and selfish creature as his 
 eldest daughter. 
 
 So Harrington went back to his "bellowing 
 bullocks," and then, having saved enough money, 
 bought the very run he had so often wished he 
 could buy; and "Jack" Harrington, the overlander, 
 became "Mr." John Harrington, the pastoralist 
 and owner of Tinandra Downs, and then the vision 
 of Myra Lyndon's face came to him very often 
 now that he was so prosperous. 
 
 One day he told his overseer that he was going 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 79 
 
 to Sydney for a trip, and being a man of action, 
 packed his valise, mounted his horse, and rode off 
 on his journey of five hundred miles to the nearest 
 seaport where he could take passage for Sydney. 
 
 For the first week or so after his arrival in the 
 city, he "mooned" about doing nothing, and trying 
 to pluck up courage enough to go to Myra Lyndon 
 to ask her to be his wife. He had called several 
 times upon her father and discussed business 
 matters with him ; but beyond inquiring after " Mrs. 
 Lyndon and the Misses Lyndon," had said nothing 
 further, and in a nervous, shamefaced manner had 
 each time accepted Mr. Lyndon's invitation to 
 " come and see the girls before he went back to the 
 North," but had not had the courage to go. Next 
 week, or the week after that, would do, he thought. 
 If she said " No," he wouldn't feel it so much once 
 he was on his way North again in the old Florence 
 Irving ; he would put it off till just as he was 
 ready to start. Then if she said " Yes," he would 
 stay in Sydney as long as his love wished 
 a month aye, six months, so long as she came 
 back with him to Tinandra Downs. And Myra 
 Lyndon, who knew from her father that her 
 "bullock-driver admirer," as she had mockingly 
 called him to her friends, was in Sydney, waited 
 for him impatiently. A systematic course of 
 jilting and being jilted had made her feel anxious 
 as to her future, and gall and wormwood had come 
 
8o IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 to her now that her two younger sisters had 
 married before her, and left her, as her some- 
 what acidulous-tongued mother said, " the Lyndon 
 family wallflower." She meant to marry him, 
 spend a year or so among the " beastly bellowing 
 cattle," and then return to Sydney, where as Mrs. 
 Harrington, the wealthy squatter's wife, she could 
 enjoy herself thoroughly, snub some of the women ' 
 she hated, and flirt with some of the men she 
 liked. 
 
 Late one night, Harrington, sauntering from the 
 theatre to his hotel, met, to his intense astonish- 
 ment, a man he knew had known years before 
 when he (Harrington) was a drover and the other 
 man Walters was a mounted trooper in the 
 Queensland police. 
 
 They shook hands warmly, and then Walters 
 said, "Come along with me, Jack, to the Water 
 Police Station ; we can have a yarn there. . . . 
 Oh, yes, I'm a Sydney man now a full-fledged 
 inspector of police . . . tell you all about it by 
 and by. But, push along, old man. One of my 
 men has just told me that a woman who jumped 
 off the Circular Quay and tried to drown herself, 
 is lying at the station, and is not expected to pull 
 through. Hallo ! here's a cab ! Jump in, Jack ; 
 there's some whisky in the sergeant's room, and 
 after I've seen the cadaver if she has cadavered 
 we'll have a right down good yarn." 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 81 
 
 The cab rattled through the now almost deserted 
 street, and in a few minutes Harrington and his 
 friend alighted at a small stone building over- 
 looking the waters of Sydney Harbour. A water- 
 policeman, who stood at the door under the big 
 gas-lamp, saluted the inspector and then showed 
 Harrington into the sergeant's room. 
 
 Ten minutes passed, and then Walters, accom- 
 panied by a big, stout, red-faced man, came in. 
 
 " Ha, here you are, old man. Jack, Dr. Parsons 
 the man who does the resuscitating and such 
 silly business of this institution ; Parsons, my old 
 friend, Jack Harrington. Sergeant, where is that 
 whisky ? " 
 
 " Is the woman dead, doctor ? " asked Harring- 
 ton presently, as the sergeant's wife brought in a 
 bottle of whisky and some glasses. 
 
 "No," replied the police doctor slowly, as he 
 poured some whisky into his glass, "she is not 
 dead ; but she may not live much longer a day 
 or so perhaps. It all depends. Shock to the 
 system." 
 
 " One of the usual sort, Parsons, I suppose ? " 
 inquired Walters " left the baby on the wharf, with 
 a written request for some ' kind Christian to love 
 it/ eh ? " 
 
 The fat doctor grunted. "You're a beast, 
 Walters. There's no baby in the case. Here, 
 give me ten shillings you'll spend more than 
 
 7 
 
82 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 that in drinks before you go to bed to-night. 
 This girl isn't one of the usual sort. She's a 
 lady and she's been starving. So ante-up, you 
 ex-nigger-shooting Queensland policeman ; and 
 I'll add another half-sov. Then perhaps your 
 friend will give me something for her. And 
 I'm not going to send her off to the hospital. 
 I'm going to take her to some people I know, 
 and ask them to keep her for a few days until 
 she gets round." 
 
 Harrington put his hand in his pocket, and then 
 in a nervous, diffident way, looking first at Walters 
 and then at the doctor, put five sovereigns on the 
 table. 
 
 " I'm pretty flush now, you know. . . . I'm not 
 a plunger, but I shall be glad, doctor, if you will 
 take that and give it to her. ... I was almost 
 starving myself once -you know, Walters, when I 
 got the sack from the " Morning Star " Mine for 
 plugging the English manager when he called me 
 a ' damned colonial lout.' " 
 
 The fat-faced doctor looked steadily at him for 
 a moment or two. Then he reached out his hand. 
 
 " You're a good fellow, Mr. Harrington. I'll take 
 a sovereign or two. Come in here with me." 
 
 Ill 
 
 Harrington followed him into an adjoining 
 room, where, upon a wicker-work couch was 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 83 
 
 reclining the figure of a young girl. Standing 
 beside her was the police-sergeant's wife, who, as 
 soon as the two men came in, quietly drew aside. 
 
 " Now, here I am back again, my dear child," 
 said the doctor good-humouredly, " and here is a 
 very old friend of mine, Mr. Jack Harrington ; 
 and we have come to cheer you up and tell you 
 that you have two or three good friends. And 
 we won't let any women or parsons come to you 
 and worry you, and tell you that you have been a 
 wicked girl, and ought to have thrown yourself 
 upon God's mercy and all that sort of thing. So 
 just drink that coffee, and then by and by we 
 will take you to some people I know well, and you 
 shall come and tell us in a day or two how sorry 
 you are for being so foolish." 
 
 The girl's dark hazel eyes looked steadily at 
 them both ; then she put out a thin white hand. 
 
 "You are very kind to me. I know it was 
 very wicked to try and kill myself, but I was 
 so lonely, and . . . and I had not eaten anything 
 since Wednesday . . . and I wanted to die." 
 Then she covered her face and sobbed softly, 
 whilst the doctor patted her on the shoulder 
 and said 
 
 " Don't worry, little girl ; you are in good hands 
 now. Never mind Mrs. Thornton and her un- 
 kindness. You are better away from her isn't 
 she, Mr. Harrington?" 
 
84 IN THE FAR 
 
 NORTH 
 
 Mr. Harrington, knowing nothing about Mrs. 
 Thornton, promptly said "Oh, most certainly,' 
 and the girl's eyes met his for a second, and a 
 faint smile flushed upon her pale lips. The tall, 
 bearded, and brown-faced man's face seemed so 
 full of pity. 
 
 " Now you must go to sleep for an hour or two," 
 said the doctor imperatively ; " so now then, little 
 girl, ' seepy-by, beddy-bo.' That's what my mother 
 used to say to me." 
 
 Harrington followed the doctor out into the 
 sergeant's room, where Inspector Walters, with 
 his heels upon the table, was falling asleep. 
 
 " Sit down a moment, Mr. Harrington," said 
 Dr. Parsons, taking up a book which the sergeant 
 had left upon the table ; " this is a sad case. 
 Here is a girl, Nellie Alleyne, age 19, nursery 
 governess to Mrs. Lavery-Thornton, of Waverly, 
 jumped into the water off the Quay ; rescued by 
 Water-police Constables Casey and Boyce." 
 
 Harrington nodded. 
 
 " This girl has told me her story. She is alone 
 and friendless in Sydney. She came out to 
 Australia when she was seventeen, got a billet 
 with this Mrs. Lavery-Thornton who seems to 
 be a perfect brute of a woman suffered a two 
 years' martyrdom, and then was dismissed from 
 her situation with the large sum of twenty-two 
 shillings in her pocket. Tried to get another 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 85 
 
 such position, but people wouldn't take her with- 
 out a recommendation from her last place. The 
 Thornton woman wouldn't give her one ; said she 
 was too independent. High-spirited girl with 
 twenty-two shillings between her and starvation, 
 wanders about from one registry office to another 
 for a couple of weeks, living in a room in a 
 Miller's Point slum ; money all gone ; pestered 
 by brutes in the usual way, jumps into the water 
 to end her miseries. Rough, isn't it ? " 
 
 Harrington nodded. " Poor thing ! I should 
 like you, Dr. Parsons, to to let her know that 
 she has friends. Will you let me help. Fifty 
 pounds or a hundred pounds won't hurt me . . . 
 and I've been stone-broke myself. But a man 
 can always peg along in the bush ; and it's an 
 awful thing for a child like that to be adrift in a 
 big city." 
 
 The kind-hearted police doctor looked steadily 
 into Harrington's face for a moment, then he said 
 quietly 
 
 "An awful thing indeed. But there are some 
 good men in the world, Mr. Harrington, who are 
 able and willing to save pure souls from de- 
 struction. You are one of them. Tom Walters 
 and myself are both hard-up devils we see a 
 lot of misery, but can do nothing to alleviate 
 it ; a few shillings is all we can give." 
 
 Harrington rose, and his sun-tanned face flushed 
 
86 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 as he drew out his cheque-book. " I never try 
 to shove myself in, in such matters as these, doctor, 
 but I should feel pleased if you will let me help." 
 
 Then he wrote out a cheque for fifty pounds, 
 pushed it over to the doctor, said he thought it 
 was getting late, and that he had better get back 
 to his hotel. 
 
 Dr. Parsons gave the sleeping inspector a shake, 
 and in a few words told him what Harrington had 
 done. 
 
 " You're a dashed fool, old man," said Walters 
 sleepily to Harrington ; " most likely she'll blue 
 your fifty quid, and then blackmail " 
 
 The doctor's hand descended upon the inspector's 
 shoulder. " Shut up, you beastly old wretch do 
 you think all women are alike. Come, now, let us 
 have another nip and get away. Mr. Harrington 
 is tired. Sergeant ! " 
 
 The sergeant came to the door. 
 
 " Thompson, take good care of that young lady. 
 We happen to know her. If she awakes before 
 eight o'clock in the morning, tell her that she is to 
 stay with your wife till I come to see her at nine 
 o'clock. Any effects, sergeant ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," and the sergeant took out his note- 
 book, " seven pawn tickets, five pennies, and a New 
 Testament with ' Nellie Alleyne ' written inside." 
 
 " Here, give me those tickets, I'll take care of 
 them ; and Thompson, if the newspaper fellows 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 87 
 
 come here to-night, say that the young lady fell 
 over the wharf accidentally, and has gone home to 
 her friends. See ? " 
 
 " I see, sir," said Thompson, as the good-hearted 
 doctor slipped half a sovereign into his hand. 
 
 Then the three men stepped out into the street 
 and strolled up to the Royal Hotel, and sat down 
 in the smoking-room, which was filled with a noisy 
 crowd, some of whom soon saw Walters and called 
 him away, leaving the doctor and Harrington by 
 themselves. 
 
 "Better take this back, Mr. Harrington," and 
 Dr. Parsons handed him his cheque. " Two or 
 three pounds will be quite enough for the poor 
 girl." 
 
 " Not I," said Harrington with a smile, " fifty 
 pounds won't ruin me, as I said and it may mean 
 a lot to her, poor child. And I feel glad that I can 
 help some one . . . some one who is all right, you 
 know. Now I must be off. Good night, doctor." 
 
 Parsons looked at the tall manly figure as he 
 pushed his way through the noisy crowd in the 
 smoking-room, and then at the cheque in his hand. 
 " Well, there's a good fellow. Single man, I'll 
 bet ; else he wouldn't be so good to a poor little 
 devil of a stranded girl. Didn't even ask her name. 
 May the Lord send him a good wife." 
 
 The Lord did not send Harrington a good wife ; 
 for the very next day he called upon Mrs. Lyndon, 
 
88 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 and Mrs. Lyndon took good care that he should 
 be left alone with Myra ; and Myra smiled so 
 sweetly at him, when with outstretched hands she 
 came into the drawing-room, that he fatuously 
 believed she loved him. And she of course, when 
 he asked her to be his wife, hid her face on his 
 shoulder, and said she could not understand why 
 he could love her. Why, she was quite an old maid ! 
 Amy and Gwen were ever so much prettier than 
 she, and she was sure that both Gwen and Amy, 
 even though they were now both married, would 
 feel jealous when they knew that big, handsome 
 Jack Harrington had asked her to be his wife ; and 
 so on and so forth, as only the skilled woman of 
 thirty, whose hopes of marriage are slipping by, 
 knows how to talk and lie to an "eligible" man 
 unused to women's ways. And Harrington kissed 
 Myra's somewhat thin lips, and said and believed 
 that he was the happiest man in Australia. 
 Then Mrs. Lyndon came in, and, in the manner 
 of mothers who are bursting with joy at getting rid 
 of a daughter whose matrimonial prospects are 
 looking gloomy, metaphorically fell upon Harring- 
 ton's neck and wept down his back, and said 
 he was robbing her of her dearest treasure, &c., &c. 
 Harrington, knowing nothing of conventional 
 women's ways, believed her, and married, for him, 
 the most unsuitable woman in the world. 
 
 A week or so after his marriage he received a 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 89 
 
 letter from Dr. Parsons enclosing the cheque he 
 had given him for Nellie Alleyne : 
 
 "DEAR HARRINGTON, Girl won't take the 
 cheque. Has a billet cashier in a restaurant. 
 Says she is writing to you. She's true gold. 
 You ought to marry her and take her away with 
 you to your outlandish parts. Would ask her to 
 marry me if I could keep her ; but she wouldn't 
 have me whilst you are about. Always glad to 
 see you at my diggings ; whisky and soda and 
 such, and a hearty welcome." 
 
 And by the same post came a letter from the 
 girl herself a letter that, simply worded as it was, 
 sent an honest glow through his heart : 
 
 " DEAR MR. HARRINGTON, I shall never, never 
 forget your kindness to me ; as long as I live I 
 shall never forget. Dr. Parsons tells me that you 
 live in Queensland more than a thousand miles 
 from Sydney, and that you are going away soon. 
 Please will you let me call on you before you go 
 away ? I shall be so unhappy if I do not see you 
 again, because in a letter I cannot tell you how I 
 thank you, how deeply grateful I am to you for 
 your goodness and generosity to me. 
 "Yours very sincerely, 
 
 " HELEN ALLEYNE." 
 
go IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 Harrington showed the letter to Myra, who 
 bubbled over with pretty expressions of sympathy, 
 and wrote and asked her to call. Nellie did call, 
 and the result of her visit was that when Harrington 
 took his newly married wife to Tinandra Downs, she 
 went with her as companion. And from the day 
 that she entered the door of his house, Helen 
 Alleyne had proved herself to be, as Dr. Parsons 
 had said, " true gold." As the first bright years of 
 prosperity vanished, and the drought and financial 
 worries all but crushed Harrington under the 
 weight of his misfortunes, and his complaining, 
 irritable wife rendered his existence at home almost 
 unbearable, her brave spirit kept his from sinking 
 under the incessant strain of his anxieties. Mrs. 
 Harrington, after her third child was born, had 
 given up even the semblance of attending to the 
 children, and left them to Nellie and the servants. 
 She was doing quite enough, she once told her 
 husband bitterly, in staying with him at such a 
 horrible place in such a horrible country. But she 
 nevertheless always went away to the sea-coast 
 during the hottest months, and succeeded in having 
 a considerable amount of enjoyment, leaving the 
 children and Jack and Miss Alleyne to swelter 
 through the summer at Tinandra Downs as best 
 they could. 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 91 
 
 IV 
 
 It was nearly midnight as Harrington took 
 down the slip-rails and led his horse through the 
 paddock up to the house, which, except for a dimly 
 burning lamp in the dining-room, was in darkness. 
 The atmosphere was close and sultry, and the 
 perspiration ran down his skin in streams as he 
 gave his horse to the head-stockman, who was 
 sitting on the verandah awaiting him. 
 
 "Terrible night, sir, but I'm thinking if it keeps 
 on like this for another hour or two we'll get a big 
 thunderstorm. 'Sugar-bag'" (one of the black boys) 
 "was here just now and says that the ant-heaps 
 about are covered with ants that's a sure sign, sir." 
 
 "God send it so, Banks! If no rain comes 
 within two days, you'll have to start away for 
 Cleveland Bay with Mrs. Harrington and Miss 
 Alleyne and the children. We must find horses 
 somehow to take them there." 
 
 Before Banks led the horse away for a drink, he 
 stopped. 
 
 " Miss Alleyne went to Canton Reef, sir, this 
 morning with little Sandy. She ought to have 
 been here before dark, but I expect the horses 
 knocked up. There's a couple of cows with young 
 calves there, so Sandy says, and Miss Alleyne said 
 she would try and bring them in if I would let her 
 
92 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 take Sandy. We've had no milk, sir, for the 
 children since Tuesday, and Miss Alleyne said 
 that you would be vexed. I would have gone 
 myself, sir, but I couldn't well leave, and I know 
 Miss Alleyne will manage it's only fifteen miles, 
 and Sandy says that the two cows and calves are 
 pretty fat and can travel ; there's a bit of feed 
 at those waterholes about the Canton. Most likely 
 she and the little black boy have yarded the cows 
 at the Seven-mile Hut and are camping there for 
 the night. But I'll start off now, sir. I've got 
 Peter the Pig already saddled." 
 
 " Yes, yes, Banks, certainly. Why didn't you 
 start long ago?" 
 
 " Mrs. Harrington said I must wait for you, sir," 
 the man answered somewhat sullenly. 
 
 Harrington nodded. " Hurry up, Banks ; but 
 here, take a glass of grog first." 
 
 He watched the stockman disappear down the 
 dusty track to the slip-rails, then he went inside, 
 and sitting down at the table buried his face in his 
 hands. Then, booted and dusty, and tired in mind 
 and body, he slept. 
 
 An hour had passed, and no sound disturbed the 
 hot oppressive silence of the night but the heavy 
 breathing of the wearied man. Then through his 
 dreamless slumber came the murmur of voices, and 
 presently three figures walked quickly up from the 
 milking-yard towards the house. 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 93 
 
 " He's asleep, miss," whispered Banks, " he's dog 
 tired. But the news you have got for him will put 
 fresh life into him. Now just you go to him, 
 miss, and tell him, and then as soon as I have 
 given them cows a drink, I'll bring you in some 
 tea. Sandy, you little black devil, light a fire in 
 the kitchen and don't make a noise, or I'll tan your 
 hide, honest." 
 
 For a minute or so the girl stood in the doorway 
 of the dining-room, holding a heavy saddle-pouch, 
 in her hand, her frame trembling with emotion and 
 physical exhaustion ; and trying to speak. As 
 soon as she could speak, she walked over to the 
 sleeping man and touched him on the shoulder. 
 He awoke with a start just as she sank on her 
 knees, and leaning her elbows on a chair beside 
 him, burst into a fit of hysterical weeping. He 
 waited for her to recover herself. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad, so glad, Mr. Harrington ! 
 Now you need not give up Tinandra . . . and the 
 drought doesn't matter . . . and oh, I thank God 
 for His goodness that He has let me help you at 
 last ! " She broke off with a choking sob, and 
 then, with streaming eyes, placed her hand in 
 his. 
 
 Harrington lifted her up and placed her on a 
 couch. " Lie there, Miss Alleyne. I will call Mrs. 
 Harrington " 
 
 She put out her hand beseechingly. " Please 
 
94 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 don't, Mr. Harrington. She is not at all strong, 
 and I think I made her very angry this morning 
 by going away to look for the milkers. . . . But 
 look, Mr. Harrington, look inside the saddle 
 pouch." Then she sat up, and her eyes burnt 
 with feverish expectation, " Quick, quick, please," 
 and then she began to laugh wildly, but clenching 
 her hands tightly together she overcame her 
 hysteria, and attempted to speak calmly. 
 
 " I shall be better in a minute . . . empty it out 
 on the table, please . . . Banks says it is another 
 outcrop of the old Canton Reef." 
 
 Harrington picked up the saddle - pouch, and 
 putting it on the table, turned up the lamp, and 
 unfastened the straps ; it was filled with pieces of 
 rough weather-worn quartz thickly impregnated 
 with gold. The largest piece contained more gold 
 than quartz, and an involuntary cry of astonish- 
 ment and admiration burst from his lips as he held 
 it to the light. 
 
 Nellie's eyes sparkled with joy. " Isn't it lovely ! 
 I can't talk, my lips are so dry." 
 
 Harrington dashed outside to the verandah 
 filled a glass from the canvas water-bag hanging 
 from a beam overhead, and gave it to the 
 exhausted girl. 
 
 " Now don't you attempt to speak for five 
 minutes." 
 
 " No, I won't," she said, with a faint smile, as she 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 95 
 
 drank off the cold water and then at once began 
 to tell him of her discovery. 
 
 " Sandy and I found the two cows and calves a 
 mile this side of the Canton Reef in a gully, but 
 before we could head them off they had got away 
 into the ironbark ridges. Sandy told me to wait, 
 and galloped after them. I followed him to the 
 top of the first ridge, and then pulled up, and 
 there, right under my horse's feet I saw a small 
 'blow' of quartz sticking up out of the baked 
 ground, and I saw the gold in it quite plainly. Of 
 course I was wildly excited, and jumped off. The 
 stone was quite loose and crumbly, and I actually 
 pulled some pieces away with my hands, and when 
 I saw the thick yellow gold running all through it 
 I sat down and cried. Then I became so frightened 
 that Sandy might not find me again, for it would 
 be dark in another hour, and so I ran up and down 
 along the ridge, listening for the sound of his 
 stockwhip. And then I went back towards the 
 outcrop of the reef again, and half-way down I 
 picked up that big lump it was half buried in the 
 ground. . . . And oh, Mr. Harrington, all that 
 ridge is covered with it ... I could have brought 
 away as much again, but Sandy had no saddle- 
 pouch . . . and I was dying to come home and 
 tell you." 
 
 She breathed pantingly for a few minutes. 
 
 "It was nearly dark when Sandy came back. 
 
96 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 He had run the cattle on to a camp about three 
 miles away. ... I don't know which pleased me 
 most, to get the cows so that poor Mable and 
 Harry can have some milk in the morning, or the 
 gold. . . . Banks met us half-way from the Seven- 
 mile Hut, and took me off my horse and put me in 
 front of him." 
 
 Banks came to the door, carrying a tray with a 
 cup of tea and some food. " Here ye are, Miss 
 Alleyne ; ye're a born stockman, an' a prospector, 
 an' God bless you, miss, you've brought the rain as 
 weir 
 
 For as the rough, hairy-faced stockman began to 
 speak, a low rumbling sound of thunder smote the 
 silence of the night, followed by a loud appalling 
 clap, and then another, and another, and presently 
 a cooling blast of wind came through the open 
 door, and stirred and shook the Venetian blinds 
 hanging outside. Banks almost dropped the tea- 
 tray, and then darting outside, dashed his cabbage- 
 tree hat on the ground, and began to dance as 
 the first heavy drops of the coming deluge fell 
 upon his head. 
 
 In less than ten minutes, Harrington, with silent 
 joy in his heart, was standing at the doorway, 
 watching the descending torrents of rain that 
 rain which to his bushman's heart meant more 
 than all the gold which lay beneath the earth. He 
 had, as it first began to fall, rushed into his 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 97 
 
 wife's bedroom, and kissed her and the terrified 
 children. 
 
 " The rain has come, Myra, thank God," he said, 
 and then he added quietly, " I have more good 
 news for you in the morning." 
 
 Mrs. Harrington said she was quite aware of the 
 rain having come the disgusting noise of the 
 thunder had made the children scream. Had Miss 
 Alleyne come back ? And brought the cows ? His 
 other good news could keep till the morning. 
 
 Harrington turned away from her with a feeling 
 of dulled resentment. He knew what the girl had 
 suffered, and his wife's heartlessness cut him to the 
 quick. 
 
 As he stood watching Banks and the black boys 
 filling every available tank and cask on the station 
 from the downpour off the roof, Nellie rose from 
 the couch on which she had been lying, and 
 touched his arm timidly. 
 
 " Don't you believe in God's goodness now, Mr. 
 Harrington? See, He has sent the rain, and He 
 has granted my daily prayer to Him that I, too, 
 might help you. And Banks says that this is not 
 a passing thunderstorm, but that the drought has 
 broken up altogether for see, the wind is from the 
 south." 
 
 Harrington raised her hand to his lips. " I have 
 always tried to believe in God and in His mercy, 
 Miss Alleyne." 
 
 8 
 
98 IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 " Not always, Mr. Harrington," she said softly. 
 " Don't you remember when all the Big Swamp 
 mob were bogged and dying, that you said that if 
 He would not hear the moans and see the agonies 
 of the beasts He had created, that He would not 
 listen to the prayers of human beings who were 
 not suffering as they suffered? And to-day, as 
 Sandy and I rode along to the Canton Reef, I 
 prayed again and again, and always when I passed 
 a dying beast I said, ' O God I have mercy upon 
 these Thy dumb creatures who suffer much agony! " 
 
 Harrington's chest heaved. " And I prayed as 
 you prayed, Miss Alleyne ; but I said, ' O God! if 
 there is a God! " 
 
 She put out her hand to him and her dark eyes 
 filled with tears. " He has answered our prayers. 
 . . . And now, good night. ... I wish I could go 
 out into the rain; I feel I could dance for joy. . . . 
 Mr. Harrington, do let me go to the Canton Reef 
 with you to-morrow. Everything will be all right 
 to-morrow, won't it? But there, how thoughtless 
 I am. ... I am going to milk those two cunning 
 cows till they are dry ; poor little Harry does so 
 want some fresh milk. Good night, Mr. Harring- 
 ton ; I shall sleep happily to-night everything will 
 be all right to-morrow." 
 
 At breakfast-time next morning the rain was 
 still falling steadily, and Mrs. Harrington decided 
 to join her husband at the morning meal. 
 
IN THE FAR NORTH 99 
 
 Harrington rode up to the door and smiled 
 brightly at his wife. " Waiting for me, dear ? I 
 won't be long. The river is running now, Myra 
 running after two years ! I'm off to Miss Alleyne's 
 reef as soon as I've had a bit of tucker. Where is 
 she?" 
 
 " In bed, I presume," said Mrs. Harrington 
 acidulously. " She might have remembered that 
 I was very much upset last night by that horrible 
 thunder, and have risen earlier and attended to the 
 children." 
 
 A look of intense disgust came over her hus- 
 band's face. 
 
 " Myra, the girl was done-up, dead beat ! Won't 
 you go and see if she is able to get up ? " 
 
 Mrs. Harrington rose stiffly. " Oh, certainly, if 
 you wish it. But I think it is a great mistake. 
 She really ought to have considered the children, 
 and " 
 
 The head stockman's wife met her at the door, 
 and looking past her mistress, spoke to Harrington 
 in terrified tones 
 
 " Miss Alleyne is dead, sir ! " 
 
 Harrington sprang from his chair. " Dead, Mrs. 
 Banks ! " 
 
 " Yes, sir. I was only just in time. She on'y 
 sez, * Tell Mr. Harrington that I am so glad that 
 everythink will be all right now.' An' then she 
 smiled, sir, and sez as I was to kiss Master Harry 
 
ioo IN THE FAR NORTH 
 
 and Miss Mabel for her, as she was agoin'. And 
 then she sez, * Isn't God good to send the rain, 
 Mrs. Banks? Everything will be all right now for 
 poor Mr. Harrington rain and gold.' Then she 
 just laid quiet for a minute, an' when I looked at 
 
 her face again, I saw she was dead." 
 
 ***** 
 
 A year later, Jack Harrington, again one of the 
 wealthiest cattle men in North Queensland, and 
 the owner of one of the richest gold mines in the 
 colony, was riding home to his station. Behind 
 him he heard the clatter and clash of the twenty- 
 stamper battery that on the " Canton Ridge " was 
 pounding him in so many thousands of pounds a 
 month ; before him lay the sweeping grassy downs 
 and thickly timbered creeks of a now smiling 
 country. His wife and children had long before 
 returned to the cooler South, and in his heart was 
 a great loneliness. Not, perhaps, for them, but 
 because of the memory of the girl whose prayer 
 to the Almighty had been answered, and who was 
 resting on the bank of the Gilbert under the shade 
 of a big Leichhardt tree. 
 
jfack Renton 
 
 SOME yarns of an exceedingly tough and Mun- 
 chausen-like character have been spun and 
 printed by men of their adventures in Australian 
 waters or the South Seas, but an examination of 
 such stories by any one with personal knowledge 
 of the Pacific and Australasia has soon, and very 
 deservedly so, knocked the bottom out of a con- 
 siderable number of them. Yet there are stories 
 of South Sea adventure well authenticated, which 
 are not a whit less wonderful than the most mar- 
 vellous falsehoods that any man has yet told, and 
 the story of what befell John Renton is one of 
 these. A file of the Queenslander (the leading 
 Queensland weekly newspaper) for 1875 will 
 corroborate his story ; for that paper gave the 
 best account of his adventures in one of their 
 November (1875) numbers, and the story was 
 copied into nearly every paper in Australasia. 
 
102 JACK RENTON 
 
 Like Harry Bluff, John Renton " when a boy left 
 his friends and his home, o'er the wild ocean waves 
 all his life for to roam." Renton's home was. in 
 Stromness, in the Orkneys, and he shipped on 
 board a vessel bound to Sydney, in 1867, as an 
 ordinary seaman, he then being a lad of eighteen. 
 When in Sydney he got about among the boarding- 
 houses, in sailor-town, and one morning woke up 
 on the forecastle of the Reyna'rd of Boston, bound 
 on a cruise for guano among the South Pacific 
 Islands. 
 
 Renton had been crimped, and finding himself 
 where he was, bothered no more about it, but went 
 cheerfully to work, not altogether displeased at the 
 prospect of new adventures, which would enable 
 him to by and by go back to the old folks with 
 plenty of dollars, and a stock of startling yarns to 
 reel off. He was a steady, straightforward lad, 
 though somewhat thoughtless at times, and re- 
 solved to be a steady, straightforward man. The 
 vessel first called into the Sandwich Islands, and 
 there shipped a gang of Hawaiian natives to help 
 load the guano, then she sailed away to the south- 
 ward for McKean's Island, one of the Phoenix 
 Group, situated about lat. 3 35' S. and long. 174 
 20' W. 
 
 On board the Reynard was an old salt known to 
 all hands as " Boston Ned." He had been a whaler 
 in his time, had deserted, and spent some years 
 
JACK RENTON 103 
 
 beachcombing among the islands of the South Seas, 
 and very soon, through his specious tongue, he had 
 all hands wishing themselves clear of the "old 
 hooker " and enjoying life in the islands instead of 
 cruising about, hazed here and there and everywhere 
 by the mates of the Reynard^ whose main purpose 
 in life was to knock a man down in order to make 
 him " sit up." Presently three or four of the hands 
 became infatuated with the idea of settling on an 
 island, and old Ned, nothing loth, undertook to 
 take charge of the party if they would make an 
 attempt to clear from the ship. The old man had 
 taken a fancy to young Renton, and the youngster, 
 when the idea was imparted to him, fell in with it 
 enthusiastically ; for he was exasperated with the 
 treatment he had received on board the guanoman 
 the afterguard of an American guano ship are 
 usually a rough lot. The ship was lying on and 
 off the land, there being no anchorage, and before 
 the plan had been discussed more than a few 
 hours, the men, five in all, determined to put it 
 into execution. 
 
 A small whaleboat was towing astern of the 
 vessel in case the wind should fall light and the 
 ship drift in too close to the shore. It was a fine 
 night, with a light breeze, and there was, they 
 thought, a good chance of getting to the south- 
 ward, to one of the Samoan group, where they 
 could settle, or by shipping on board a trading 
 
io 4 JACK RENTON 
 
 schooner they might later on strike some other 
 island to their fancy. 
 
 By stealth they managed to stow in the boat a 
 couple of small breakers of water, holding together 
 sixteen gallons, and the forecastle bread barge with 
 biscuits enough for three meals a day per man for 
 ten days. They managed also to steal four hams, 
 and each man brought pipes, tobacco, and matches. 
 A harpoon with some line, an old galley frying- 
 pan, mast, sail and oars, and some blankets com- 
 pleted the equipment. For they took no compass, 
 though they made several attempts to get at one 
 slung in the cabin, and tried at first to take one 
 out of the poop binnacle ; but the officer of the 
 watch on deck was too wide awake for them to 
 risk that, and the cabin compass was screwed to 
 the roof close to the skipper's berth ; and so the old 
 man who was their leader, old sailor and whaler as 
 he was, actually gave up the idea of taking a com- 
 pass, and these people without more ado, one night 
 slipped over the side into the whaleboat, cut the 
 painter, and by daylight the boat was out of sight 
 of land and of the ship. They were afloat upon 
 the Pacific, running six or seven miles before a 
 north-east breeze and expecting to sight land in 
 less than a week, and were already anticipating 
 the freedom and luxury of island life in store for 
 them. 
 
 Three days later it fell calm, and they had to 
 
JACK RENTON 105 
 
 take to the oars. The sun was intensely hot, the 
 water a sheet of glass reflecting back upon them 
 the ball of fire overhead. Now and again a cats- 
 paw would ripple across the plain of water, but 
 there were no clouds, there was no sight of land. 
 They kept on pulling. For three, for four days 
 a week for ten days they tugged at the oars, 
 except when a favouring breeze came. The water 
 was reduced to a few pints, the food to a few days' 
 half-rations. Their limbs were cramped so that 
 they could not move from their places in the boat, 
 their bodies were becoming covered with sores ; and 
 the wind had now died away entirely, the sea was 
 without a ripple, and for ever shone above them 
 the fierce, relentless sun. 
 
 Gradually it had dawned upon them that they 
 were lost that perhaps they had run past Samoa. 
 The first eagerness of their adventure gave place 
 to despair, and by degrees their despair grew to 
 madness of a more awful kind. 
 
 On the fifteenth day there appeared to the south 
 and east a low, dark-grey cloud. " Land at last ! " 
 was the unspoken thought in each man's heart as 
 he looked at his comrade, but feared to voice his 
 hope. And presently the cloud grew darker and 
 more clearly defined, and one of the men the 
 next oldest to the author of all their miseries fell 
 upon his weak and trembling knees, and raised his 
 hands in thankfulness and prayer to the Almighty 
 
io6 JACK RENTON 
 
 Alas ! it was not land, but the ominous forerunner 
 of the fierce and sweeping mid-equatorial gale 
 which lay veiled behind. In less than half an 
 hour it came upon and smote them with savage 
 fury, and the little boat was running before a 
 howling gale and a maddened, foam-whipped 
 sea. 
 
 And then it happened that, ill and suffering as 
 he was from the agonies of hunger and thirst, the 
 heroic nature of old " Boston Ned " came out, and 
 his bold sailor's heart cheered and encouraged his 
 wretched, despairing companions. All that night, 
 and for the greater part of the following day, he 
 stood in the stern-sheets, grasping the bending 
 steer-oar as the boat swayed and surged along 
 before the gale, and constantly watching lest she 
 should broach to and smother in the roaring seas ; 
 the others lay in the bottom, feebly baling out the 
 water, encouraged, urged, and driven to that exer- 
 tion by the gallant old American seaman. 
 
 Towards noon the wind moderated, in the after- 
 noon it died away altogether, and again the boat 
 lay rising and falling to the long Pacific swell, and 
 " Boston Ned " flung his exhausted frame down in 
 the stern-sheets and slept. 
 
 Again the blood-red sun leapt from a sea of 
 glassy smoothness for the swell had subsided 
 during the night and again the wretched men 
 looked into each other's dreadful faces and mutely 
 
JACK RENTON 107 
 
 asked what was to be done. How should they 
 head the boat? Without a compass they might as 
 well steer one way as another, for none of them 
 knew even approximately the course for the 
 nearest land ; search the cloudless vault of blue 
 above, or scan the shimmering sea-rim till their 
 aching eyes dropped from out their hollowing 
 sockets, there was no clue. 
 
 Twenty days out the last particle of food and 
 water had been consumed, and though the boat 
 was now steering as near westward as old Ned 
 could judge, before a gentle south-east trade, mad- 
 ness and despair were coming quickly upon them, 
 and on the twenty-third day two of the five miser- 
 able creatures began to drink copiously of salt 
 water the drink of Death. 
 
 Ren ton, though he had suffered to the bitter full 
 -from the agonies of body and mind endured by his 
 shipmates, did not yield to this temptation ; and 
 by a merciful providence remained sane enough to 
 turn his face away from the water. But as he lay 
 crouched in a heap in the bottom of the boat, with 
 a silent prayer in his heart to his Creator to quickly 
 end his sufferings, he heard "Boston Ned" and the 
 only remaining sane man except himself muttering 
 hoarsely together and looking sometimes at him 
 and sometimes at the two almost dying men who 
 lay moaning beside him. Presently the man who 
 was talking to Ned pulled out of his blanket 
 
io8 JACK RENTON 
 
 which lay in the stern-sheets a razor, and turning 
 his back to Renton began stropping it upon the 
 sole of his boot, and even " Boston Ned " himself 
 looked with awful eyes and blood-baked twitching 
 lips upon the youngster. 
 
 The lad saw what was coming, and as quickly 
 as possible made his way forward and sat there, 
 with his eyes fixed upon the two men aft, waiting 
 for the struggle which he thought must soon begin. 
 All that day and the night he sat and watched, 
 determined to make a fight for the little life which 
 remained in him, and Ned and the other man at 
 times still muttered and eyed him wolfishly. 
 
 And so, on and on, these seeming outcasts of 
 God's mercy sailed before the warm breath of the 
 south-east trade wind, above them the blazing 
 tropic sun, around them the wide, sailless expanse 
 of the blue Pacific unbroken in its dreadful 
 loneliness except for a wandering grey-winged 
 booby or flocks of whale-birds floating upon its 
 gentle swell, and within their all but deadened 
 hearts naught but grim despair and a dulled sense 
 of coming dissolution. 
 
 As he sat thus, supporting his swollen head 
 upon his skeleton hands, Renton saw something 
 astern, moving slowly after the boat something 
 that he knew was waiting and following for the 
 awful deed to be done, so that it too might share 
 in the dreadful feast. 
 
JACK RENTON 109 
 
 Raising his bony arm, he pointed towards the 
 moving fin. To him a shark meant no added 
 horror or danger to their position, but possibly 
 deliverance. "Boston Ned" and the other man 
 first looked at the coming shark, and then with 
 sunken eyes again turned to Renton. Voices 
 none of them had, and the lad's parched tongue 
 could not articulate, but with signs and lip move- 
 ments he tried to make the other two men 
 understand. 
 
 No shark hook had they ; nor, if they had had 
 one, had they anything with which to bait it. But 
 Renton, crawling aft, picked up the harpoon, 
 placed it in " Boston Ned's " hands, and motioned 
 to him to stand by. Then with eager, trembling 
 hands he stripped from his legs the shreds of 
 trousers which remained on them, and, sitting 
 upon the gunwale of the boat, hung one limb over 
 and let it trail in the water. 
 
 Three times the shark came up, and thrice Ned 
 prepared to strike, but each time the grim ranger 
 of the seas turned aside as it caught sight of the 
 waiting figure with weapon poised above. But at 
 last hunger prevailed, and, swimming slowly up 
 till within a few yards of the boat, it made a 
 sudden rush for the human bait, missed it, and 
 the harpoon, deftly darted by the old ex-whaler, 
 clove through its tough skin and buried itself deep 
 into its body between the shoulders. 
 
no JACK RENTON 
 
 It took the worn-out, exhausted men a long time 
 to haul alongside and despatch the struggling 
 monster, which, says Renton, was ten feet in 
 length. 
 
 Then followed shark's flesh and shark's blood, 
 some of the former, after the first raw meal, being 
 cooked on a fire made of the biscuit barge upon a 
 wet blanket spread in the bottom of the boat. 
 The hot weather, however, soon turned the re- 
 maining portion putrid, but two or three days later 
 came God's blessed rain, and gave them hope and 
 life again. They managed to save a considerable 
 quantity of water, and, though the shark's flesh 
 was in a horrible condition, they continued to feed 
 upon it until the thirty-fifth day. 
 
 On this day they saw land, high and well 
 wooded ; but now the trade-wind failed them, and 
 for the following two days the unfortunate men 
 contended with baffling light airs, calms, and 
 strong currents. At last they got within a short 
 distance of the shore, and sought for a landing- 
 place through the surrounding surf. 
 
 Suddenly four or five canoes darted out from the 
 shore. They were filled with armed savages, whose 
 aspect and demeanour warned old Ned that he and 
 his comrades were among cannibals. Sweeping 
 alongside the boat, the savages seized the white 
 men, who were all too feeble to resist, or even 
 move, put them into their canoes, and conveyed 
 
JACK RENTON in 
 
 them on shore, fed them, and treated them with 
 much apparent kindness. Crowds of natives from 
 that part of the island which was Malayta, 
 one of the Solomon Group came to look at 
 them, and one man, a chief, took a fancy to 
 Renton, and claimed him as his own especial 
 property. 
 
 Renton never saw the rest of his companions 
 again, for they were removed to the interior of the 
 island probably sold to some of the bush tribes, 
 the " man-a-bush," as the coastal natives called 
 them. Their fate is not difficult to guess, for the 
 people of Malayta were then, as they are now, 
 cannibals. 
 
 On August 7, 1875, the Queensland labour 
 recruiting schooner Bobtail Nag was cruising off 
 the island, trading for yams, and her captain heard 
 from some natives who came alongside that there 
 was a white man living ashore in a village about 
 ten miles distant. The skipper of the Bobtail 
 Nag at once offered to pay a handsome price if 
 the man was brought on board, and at the 
 cost of several dozen Birmingham steel axes 
 and some tobacco poor Renton's release was 
 effected. He told his rescuers that the people 
 among whom he had lived had taken a great 
 fancy to him, and had treated him with great 
 kindness. 
 
 If the reader will look at a chart of the South 
 
U2 JACK RENTON 
 
 Pacific, he will see, among the Phoenix Group, the 
 position of McKean's Island ; two thousand miles 
 distant, westward and southward, is the island of 
 Malayta, upon which Renton and his companions 
 in misery drifted. 
 
Sarreo 
 
 "\\ 7 ELL, there's niggers an' niggers, some just 
 V V as good as any white man," said Mr. 
 Thomas Potter as he, the second mate of the 
 island-trading barque Reconnaisance, and Denison 
 the supercargo, walked her short, stumpy poop one 
 night, "though when I was before the mast I 
 couldn't stand one of 'em bunking too close to 
 me not for a long time. But after a while I found 
 out that a Kanaka or a Maori is better than the 
 usual run of the paint-scrubbing Jack Dog who 
 calls himself a sailorman nowadays. Why, I've 
 never seen a native sailor yet as was dirty in his 
 habits they're too fond o' the water. Look at 
 these Rotumah chaps aboard here if there's a 
 calm they'll jump overboard and take a swim 
 instead of turning in when it's their watch below. 
 Bah, white sailors ain't worth feeding in this Island 
 trade lazy, dirty, useless brutes ; a Kanaka is 
 worth three of any one of 'em. Did you notice 
 
 9 U 3 
 
114 SARREO 
 
 that photograph in my cabin that one showing 
 a ship's company standing on deck?" 
 
 " Yes, I did," replied Denison. 
 
 " Well, that's the crew of the Fanny Long, and 
 amongst 'em is a fellow I'm goin' to tell you about 
 a chap named Sarr6o. We had that picture 
 taken in Hobart after we had come back from a 
 sperm whaling cruise. We had been very lucky, 
 and the skipper and owners had all our photo- 
 graphs taken in a group. I was second mate, and 
 this Sarreo was one of the boatsteerers. Him and 
 me had been shipmates before, once in the old 
 Meteor barque, nigger - catching for the Fiji 
 planters, and once in a New Bedford sperm 
 whaler, and he had taken a bit of a liking to 
 me, so whenever I got a new ship he generally 
 shipped too. 
 
 " Well, I was tired of whaling ; I had two ribs 
 broke on that cruise in the Fanny Long, by a boat 
 being stove in by a whale. So after I had got my 
 money I walked out of the office, thinking of going 
 to Sydney by the steamboat, when up comes 
 Sarreo. 
 
 " * Got your dollars, Sarreo ? ' I says. 
 
 " ' Yes,' he answers. ' What you goin' to do 
 now, Mr. Potter?' 
 
 " * Going to Sydney to look for another ship.' 
 
 " ' All right,' he says quietly. c I come too. I 
 don' want to go whalin' no more.' 
 
SARREO 115 
 
 " Sure enough, when I went on board the steamer 
 there he was for'ard sitting on his chest, smoking 
 his pipe, an' waiting for me. 
 
 " In Sydney there was a fine big lump of a 
 schooner just fitting out for a trading cruise to 
 the Solomon Islands, and I happened to know the 
 skipper, who worked it for me with the owners 
 and I got the berth of chief mate ; and Sarre"o (who 
 used to come every day to the place I was staying 
 at to ask me not to forget him) was shipped as 
 an A.B. 
 
 " What sort of a looking man ? Well, he was a 
 short, square-built chap, with a chest like a working 
 bullock. He was rather darker than a Samoan or 
 a Tahiti man, owing to a seafaring life, and had 
 straight, black hair. He only spoke as a rule when 
 he was spoken to, and kept himself pretty much 
 aloof from the rest of the hands, though he wasn't 
 by any means sulky." 
 
 " Where did he hail from ? " Denison inquired. 
 
 " Ah, now you're asking, sir. There was a beast 
 of a supercargo I beg pardon, sir, for forgetting 
 myself a reg'lar flash, bullying pig of a fellow, 
 with us that trip. He put on as many airs as if 
 he owned the whole blooming Pacific. Well, one 
 day he was straightening up his trade-room, and 
 calls for a couple of hands to help, and the skipper 
 sent Sarreo and another native sailor to him. We 
 were then lying at anchor in Marau Sound, in the 
 
n6 SARREO 
 
 Solomons, and the sun was hot enough to blister 
 the gates o' hell, and presently the supercargo 
 comes on deck and slings his fat, ugly carcase into 
 a deck chair under the awning and says 
 
 "' That's a smart fellow, that Sarro, Potter. 
 Where does he come from ? ' 
 
 " Now I didn't know, and said so ; so Mr. 
 Supercargo grunts and says that he'd ask him 
 himself. Presently up comes Sarreo and the other 
 native they were going for'ard for their dinner. 
 
 " ' Here, I say you,' said the supercargo to Sarreo, 
 touching him on the calf of the leg with his 
 foot as he was passing, 'what island you belong 
 to, eh?' 
 
 "Sarreo turned like lightning, and I caught a 
 sight of his face. He had dark, deep-set eyes, and 
 they seemed to spit fire at the fat brute in the 
 chair, and his two brown hands shut tight ; but he 
 said nothing, not a blessed word, only looked as if 
 all the rest of his body was turned to stone. He 
 stood like that for about ten seconds or so, then he 
 bent his head close to the other man's face and put 
 his two clenched fists out behind him. 
 
 " ' Here, Sarreo,' I says, collaring him by one 
 arm, 'what's all these gymnastics? What's the 
 matter?' 
 
 " He pushed me aside as if I was a feather, then 
 he straightens himself up sudden, and, lookin' at 
 the supercargo, spits on the deck at his feet. 
 
SARREO 117 
 
 " ' You dog,' he says, ' when we get ashore I will 
 fight you ! ' 
 
 " * Warby,' that was the supercargo's name, was 
 no cur, whatever else he was, but though he 
 seemed mighty sick when he heard Sarro call 
 him a dog, he jumped up at once. 
 
 " ' You damned Kanaka swine ! You're drunk ! 
 You've been sneaking a bottle of gin in the trade- 
 room, an' I'll give you a pounding,' he says. 
 
 " Then before any one could interfere they were 
 at it, and in less than a couple of minutes Sarreo 
 had the supercargo by the throat, lifted him off his 
 feet, and dashes him down on the poop. He lay 
 there stunned, an' I tell you, mister, I was mighty 
 pleased, for we all hated him for his beastly 
 bullyin' ways, and his foul talk. So none of us 
 rushed at him too violently to pick him up. Pre- 
 sently up comes the skipper and orders me to put 
 Sarreo in irons, though I could see he didn't half 
 like doing it. But it had to be done, and I had to 
 do it. However, Sarreo held out his hands to me 
 as quiet as a lamb, and I led him for'ard and told 
 him to keep a stiff upper lip ; the captain, I knew, 
 would let him loose again the next morning. He 
 nodded his head quietly and said, ' All right, Mr 
 Potter. But when we get ashore / mus' kill that 
 man' 
 
 "'Why, Sarreo,' I said, 'you mustn't talk like 
 that, you've nearly cracked his skull as it is. 
 
n8 SARREO 
 
 Don't you go on that tack, or it'll be worse for 
 you.' 
 
 " He nods again. * I know. But I have been 
 look for that man for more'n five year.' 
 
 " * Why, do you know him ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, I know him now. When I see him roll 
 up his shirt-sleeve in the trade-room, an' I see 
 some tattoo mark on his arm, I know him.' 
 
 "Of course I asked him what the supercargo 
 had done to him, but he wouldn't tell me any 
 more. So, telling one of the hands to give him 
 his pipe and tobacco, I went aft again and told 
 the skipper that there seemed to be an old grudge 
 between the two men. 
 
 " ' Like enough,' says the skipper. ' That fellow 
 Warby is the two ends and bight of a howling 
 blackguard. He was only appointed to this ship 
 at the last moment, or else I would have bucked 
 against his coming aboard. He's got a bad 
 name.' 
 
 " Warby lay in his bunk for the rest of the day, 
 but in the evening he came on deck and said to 
 the skipper roughly 
 
 " ' What are you going to do with that damned 
 nigger ? ' 
 
 "' Keep him in irons for a day or two, I suppose. 
 What more can I do ? ' 
 
 " Warby looked at him for a moment, then he 
 says, with a sneer, that in some ships the captain 
 
SARREO 119 
 
 would have tied such a fellow up and given him 
 six dozen. 
 
 " ' No doubt/ says the skipper, looking him full 
 in his ugly face, ' no doubt, especially in the sort 
 of ships you've sailed in. But nothing like that is 
 going to happen aboard this hooker.' 
 
 " The supercargo muttered something under his 
 breath and turned away. Next morning, how- 
 ever, when we were at breakfast, he asked the 
 captain how long he meant to keep Sarreo in 
 irons. 
 
 "'Till after breakfast.' 
 
 " Warby jumped up in a rage and said that he 
 protested against such a man being given his 
 liberty. ' Why, he'll murder me/ he says at last 
 with a white look in his face. 
 
 " The skipper laughed. * You make too much 
 of the business, Mr. Warby. Why, he is one of 
 the best and quietest men aboard. If you hadn't 
 kicked him and then swore at him, he wouldn't 
 have tackled you. And I'm not going to keep 
 him in irons that's flat.' 
 
 " After breakfast I went up for'ard to take the 
 irons off Sarreo. He was sitting against the 
 windlass and smoking. 
 
 " ' Here, Sarreo/ I said, * I've come to take off 
 your bracelets ; but you must promise not to have 
 any more rows with the supercargo ; if you won't 
 promise, then the captain says he'll have to keep 
 
120 SARREO 
 
 you in irons until we get to Fiji, and then send 
 you to jail.' 
 
 " He promised, and from the quiet, soft manner 
 in which he spoke, I felt sure he was over his burst 
 of passion, and was feeling a bit funky over it. 
 However, he turned-to very quietly, and was soon 
 sent ashore with a watering party, he being in 
 charge of the boat which was manned by native 
 sailors. When he came back with the first lot of 
 casks he told me that the bush around the water- 
 ing-place was full of pigeons. As soon as the 
 captain heard this he said he would go ashore and 
 shoot some, and Mr. Warby said he would like to 
 join him. 
 
 " So off they went skipper, supercargo, and 
 Sarro and his boat's crew. We on board soon 
 heard the two guns firing, and were smacking our 
 chops at the thought of pigeon stew for supper. I 
 did not expect to see them back until about supper- 
 time, knowing that the boat had to tow the casks 
 off to the ship, which lay about half a mile from the 
 beach. But about four o'clock I saw the boat 
 pushing off in a deuce of a hurry, and then pull 
 like mad for the ship. Knowing that there was 
 no danger from natives at that part of the island, 
 I couldn't make it out, but in a few minutes the 
 boat dashes up alongside, and looking over the 
 side I saw that Sarreo was sitting beside the 
 captain, in between him and Mr, Warby ; his 
 
SARREO 121 
 
 eyes were closed, and I thought he was dead at 
 first. 
 
 " We had him lifted up on deck and then carried 
 into the cabin in a brace of shakes, and I saw that 
 he had a bullet wound in his shoulder ; the ball 
 had gone clean through. Then the skipper, who 
 was never much of a talker, told me that Mr. 
 Warby had shot the man accidentally. Of course 
 I looked at Warby. His face was very pale, but 
 his eyes met mine without flinching. 
 
 " It didn't take the captain long to dress the 
 wound, and half an hour later, when I came below 
 again, Sarreo was sitting up on some cushions in 
 the transoms smoking one of the captain's Manilas, 
 arid looking as if nothing had happened. He 
 smiled when he saw me and put out his hand. 
 
 " ' I'm all right, Mr. Potter,' he said ; ' not going 
 to die this time.' 
 
 " I was just about to ask him how the thing 
 happened, when Robertson that was our skipper's 
 name called me into his room. He was as solemn 
 as a judge. Closing his cabin door, he said, 
 ' Sarreo will get over it all right, but the business 
 is an ugly one ; to cut it short, I believe that it was 
 no accident, but that Warby tried to murder the 
 poor fellow.' 
 
 " Then he told me what had occurred. Leaving 
 the rest of the boat's crew to fill the water casks, 
 they set out to shoot pigeons ; Sarreo went with 
 
122 SARREO 
 
 them to pick up and carry the birds. About an 
 hour later they saw a wild boar rush by them. 
 Robertson fired both barrels at it and wounded it, 
 but it didn't stop. Warby had one barrel empty. 
 He at once loaded with ball, and the three men 
 gave chase, Sarreo leading, Warby following him 
 close. On reaching some high grass at the river 
 bank Sarreo plunged into it ; then, a few seconds 
 later, Robertson heard Warby call out that he saw 
 the animal lying down, and fired. The captain 
 was a short distance behind, but he and Warby 
 reached the spot together, and there, sure enough, 
 lying in the long grass, was the wounded boar, 
 and Sarreo beside it, with the blood pouring from 
 his shoulder. He was sitting up, supporting him- 
 self on his left hand. The skipper assisted him to 
 his feet, and Warby tried to help, but Sarreo 
 turned on him and cursed him, and said that he 
 (Warby) had tried to murder him. The super- 
 cargo swore that he had not seen him when he 
 fired, but further talk was cut short by Sarreo 
 going faint through loss of blood, so they carried 
 him to the boat. 
 
 " That was the story so far, and Robertson asked 
 me what I thought of it. 
 
 " Now I had been shipmates with Sarrdo off 
 and on for a matter of five or six years, and I 
 never knew him to tell a lie ; but at the same time 
 I couldn't think Warby would be such a brute as 
 
SARREO 123 
 
 to try and murder the man in cold blood. The 
 skipper, however, took a very black view of the 
 matter, and told me that if we met a man-of-war 
 he would put Warby in irons, signal for a boat, 
 and hand him over on a charge of attempted 
 murder. Then we went out into the main cabin 
 and sat down, and Robertson told the steward to 
 call the supercargo. 
 
 " Warby came below at once. He gave a quick 
 glance at Sarre"o, then at the skipper and myself, 
 and sat down quietly. In less than a minute the 
 captain told him of his suspicions and what he 
 intended doing if we met a man-of-war. 
 
 " I thought Warby would bluster and blaspheme 
 in his usual way ; but he didn't. He listened in 
 silence. Then he rose and put his hands on the 
 cabin table, and said 
 
 " ' Before God, I swear to you both that I am 
 innocent. I did not fire at that man ; I did not 
 even see him again after he disappeared into the 
 grass as the Almighty is my judge, I did not. 
 ... I did mean to take it out of Sarrdo for nearly 
 breaking my skull the other day; but then I 
 remembered afterwards that he had cause to hate 
 me, and I was only waiting for a chance to ask 
 him to make it up. And I say again that I am 
 no cowardly murderer ; when I fired, I fired at 
 the boar or what I honestly thought was the boar, 
 struggling in the grass. You can put me in irons 
 
124 SARREO 
 
 now if you like ; or shut me up in my cabin. I'm 
 not going to sit down at the same table with men 
 who suspect me of attempted murder.' 
 
 " There was something in his voice which made 
 us believe him, and then he took a couple of 
 turns up and down the cabin deck, and stepped 
 up to the wounded man. 
 
 " ' Sarre*o, I did you a bad turn a long time ago ; 
 but I'm sorry for it now I have been sorry for 
 it ever since. But I did not know where to find 
 you, and I would not have known you yesterday 
 if you hadn't looked into my face and spoken. 
 It's ten years since that day, Sarreo.' 
 
 "The wounded man looked up, searching-like, 
 into Warby's face all the time he was speaking ; 
 then his big black eyes drooped again, but he 
 made no answer. So then Warby went on again, 
 talking to the lot of us. 
 
 " * I was supercargo on the Manola brig, and 
 Sarrdo here was one of the hands. One day, in 
 Apia harbour, a bag of dollars was stolen out of 
 my cabin. The steward next morning said he 
 had seen Sarreo ashore at one of the dance houses 
 spending money very freely. The captain and I 
 burst open his chest, and we found about twenty 
 Mexican dollars among his clothes. Now, in the 
 bag which had been stolen there were nearly five 
 hundred Mexican dollars. Sarreo swore he had 
 not stolen the money and that all the money he 
 
SARREO 125 
 
 had spent on shore was five dollars, which he had 
 brought with him from San Francisco. But the 
 skipper and I believed he was the thief, and to 
 make him own up and tell us where the rest of 
 the dollars were, we flogged him. Then we put 
 him in irons and kept him in irons for a week. 
 He still swore he had not taken the money, and 
 I, believing he was lying, gave him another 
 thrashing on my own account. That night he 
 got overboard and swam ashore, and we gave the 
 money up for lost. Well, about a week after this, 
 when the steward was ashore, the mate and I 
 decided to make a thorough search of his cabin. 
 We found nothing there, but we did in the pantry 
 we found the missing bag of dollars, all but the 
 twenty which he had put into Sarreo's chest 
 stowed away in the bottom of half a barrel of flour." 
 
 " As soon as Sarreo heard this, the poor fellow 
 almost began to cry, and said, * I told you, Mr. 
 Warby, I no steal that money.' 
 
 "'No, Sarreo, I know you didn't that is, I knew 
 it when the steward owned up to stealing it ; and 
 told us afterward that he took twenty dollars out 
 of the bag, and, seeing your chest lying open in 
 the deck-house, he slipped in when no one was 
 about and put the money among the clothes at 
 the bottom.' 
 
 " Sarreo sighed, pleased-like, and then his brown 
 face lit up. 
 
126 SARREO 
 
 "The big supercargo came a bit nearer to him, 
 and then held out his hand. 
 
 " ' Look here, Sarreo ! The day before yester- 
 day I was wrong, but you got my blood up ; and 
 I am sorry, very sorry, for the wrong I did you 
 on board the Manola ; but so help me God, 
 Sarreo, I did not fire at you.' 
 
 " Sarreo's eyes seemed to look right through 
 the white man ; then they turned towards the 
 skipper and me. 
 
 " * / believe you, Mr. Warby,' said the skipper, 
 coming up and shaking hands with the supercargo. 
 
 " And I believed him too, for he looked terribly 
 distressed and cut up, so I shook hands with him 
 too. 
 
 "Then Sarreo put out his big brown tattooed 
 hand. 
 
 "'And me too, Mr. Warby.' 
 
 " The supercargo pressed it gently, so as not to 
 hurt SarreVs shoulder, then he almost ran past us 
 on deck. 
 
 "Well, from that time out, that man Warby 
 changed, and he looked after Sarreo all the time 
 he was laid up, as if he had been his own brother 
 instead of a Kanaka chap before the mast. 
 
 "After leaving Marau Sound we stood to the 
 northward, being bound to Bougainville Island. It 
 took us more than a month to get there, and by 
 that time Sarreo was as well and strong as ever 
 
SARREO 127 
 
 he was, and me and the skipper had got quite 
 chummy with the supercargo, for we found out 
 that he had a lot of good points about him. You 
 see, mister, ten or twelve years ago the Solomon 
 Group was the place to show what a man was 
 made of as far as that goes it's not much altered 
 since. If you don't die of fever you're pretty sure 
 to get knocked on the head and go down the 
 nigger's gullets and this chap Warby had rare 
 pluck. He never ran a boat's crew into danger, 
 but would take any risks himself, and somehow 
 we had cruised right up from Marau Sound to 
 the north end of Bougainville without losing a 
 man, or having more than a few arrows or shots 
 fired at the boats. 
 
 "Just when we were about to brace up to round 
 Bouka Island, and being about three miles off the 
 land, we sighted the hull of a vessel ashore on the 
 beach of a small bay. We stood in for a mile 
 or so and saw that there was a native village 
 at the head of the bay, and that the vessel was 
 a schooner of about a hundred tons. There were 
 no signs of any boats and she seemed to be 
 stripped of both running and standing gear. 
 
 "We manned and armed two boats one, with 
 Mr. Warby in charge, being the landing-party; 
 and the other as a covering boat in case the 
 natives attacked. I had charge of the second 
 boat and had four white sailors ; Warby had 
 
128 SARREO 
 
 Sarreo and four other natives. The skipper told 
 us to have a good look at the vessel, then try and 
 learn what the natives on shore had to say about 
 her, and then come off and report. 
 
 " We pulled right in to the wreck as close as 
 we could get, for it was low tide. Then Warby 
 and I got out and walked over to it. We found 
 that she was stripped of everything of value, even 
 the chain-plates having been cut out, the decks 
 were torn up and partly burnt, and the anchors 
 and cables were gone ; in fact, she was nothing 
 but a shell. 
 
 " * Been looted by the niggers,' I said to Warby. 
 1 Hope the poor chaps that manned her got away 
 in the boat ; better for 'em to have been drowned 
 than be eaten by these beggars about here.' 
 
 "'We'll soon see,' said he. 'It's my opinion 
 they did get away safely. Look over there, 
 Potter, at those niggers waiting for us on the 
 beach ; now if they had cut off this vessel they 
 would have bolted into the bush, or begun firing 
 at us. Come on/ 
 
 " We walked back to the boats and then pulled 
 over to the village, which was about eight hundred 
 yards away, Warby's boat, of course, going first. 
 About thirty or forty natives came down to 
 the water's edge and waited. They were all 
 armed with bows, spears, and clubs, but seemed 
 friendly. 
 
SARREO 129 
 
 " However, Warby jumped boldly out on to the 
 beach, and telling his crew to keep her afloat in 
 case he had to run for it, he went up to the crowd 
 of niggers and shook hands with some of them ; 
 I and my chaps in the covering boat keeping our 
 rifles out of view, but quite ready. 
 
 " In about five minutes Warby sang out to me 
 that it was all right. The vessel, the natives told 
 him, had parted her cables, gone ashore and bilged 
 on the reef in the night ; and the hands being too 
 frightened to come ashore, had gone away next 
 morning in two boats. Then he told me to wait 
 a few minutes, as he was going to the chiefs house 
 to look at the copper and other gear that the 
 natives had taken from the schooner, and very 
 likely he would buy it. First of all, though, he 
 told Sarre"o to pass him out a 12 Ib. case of 
 tobacco as a present for the chief. 
 
 " He took the case from Sarre"o and handed it to 
 the chief, and then off they went he in the middle 
 of thirty or forty murderous-looking savages ; but 
 he had done the same thing so often before that we 
 did not feel any particular alarm. 
 
 " We lay there, backed stern on to the beach, for 
 about five minutes, looking at the house into which 
 he had gone with the natives. Suddenly we saw 
 him burst out of the house and fall on his knees, 
 trying to draw his revolver ; but in another moment 
 he was being tomahawked and clubbed by a mob 
 
 10 
 
130 SARREO 
 
 of yelling devils ! Poor chap, he must have died 
 very quickly. 
 
 " We opened fire at once and they disappeared 
 like magic, and then from every bush, tree, and 
 rock they began firing at us in the boats with both 
 muskets and arrows. One of my men was hit, 
 and then, before I could stop him, Sarreo had 
 jumped out of his boat and was running up the 
 beach, rifle in hand, to where Mr. Warby's body 
 was lying. 
 
 " He got there, I think, without being hit, just as 
 a big native ran at him with a tomahawk. He 
 hadn't time to put his Snider to his shoulder ; but 
 that nigger gave his last jump anyway, for I saw 
 the rifle go off and the nigger topple over. In 
 another five seconds he had lifted the supercargo 
 up, thrown him over his left shoulder, and was 
 running down to the boats. 
 
 "By this time, me and two of my crew had 
 jumped out of the boat and ran to meet him, 
 firing as we went. We had just reached him 
 when down he went on to his face in the sand a 
 bullet had smashed his hip. 
 
 " Dropping our rifles, we picked him and Mr. 
 Warby's body up, and by God's mercy managed 
 to tumble into the boat together and push off, 
 covered by the fire from the ship, which carried 
 two six-pounders. 
 
 Sarreo lived two days he died the same 
 
SARREO 131 
 
 morning that we were getting ready to take 
 Warby's body ashore to bury on a little island 
 between Bouka and Bougainville. So we made 
 only one trip ashore. Poor chap ! He had a 
 good, simple heart, and almost his last words 
 were that he ' was glad Mr. Warby wasn't eaten.' 
 ***** 
 
 " Ah, as you say, Mr. Denison, the rotten South 
 Seas ain't no place for a white man. Good-night." 
 
Officer and Man 
 
 THE anchor of her Majesty's ship Hannibal 
 was underfoot and the captain on the 
 bridge, and Rear-Admiral Garnet had shaken 
 hands with the last of the " leading " Fijian 
 white residents, who always did the welcoming 
 and farewelling when distinguished persons visited 
 Levuka, when Lieutenant Bollard approached him 
 and intimated that " a person " from the shore had 
 just come alongside in a boat and desired to see 
 "his Excellency on private and important busi- 
 ness." 
 
 "What the devil does the fellow want?" said 
 the Admiral irascibly, not a whit softened by the 
 " his Excellency " style of address ; " I'm going 
 on the bridge, and can't see any one now ; we 
 can't delay the ship and get into a mess going 
 through the passage." 
 
 " Told him so, sir ; but he says he wants to see 
 you upon an important a most pressing matter." 
 
 132 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 133 
 
 " Oh, well ! Confound him ! Let the sentry 
 show him to my cabin, and tell Captain Bracely I 
 shall be up in five minutes." 
 
 The "person," conducted by the sentry, was 
 shown into the cabin, where the Admiral, without 
 taking a seat or offering one to his visitor, inquired 
 with a cold, cautious politeness born of much 
 experience of island visitors with " important and 
 private Service matters of great urgency," what 
 he might be pleased to want ? 
 
 The stranger was a short, fat, coarse-looking 
 man with little pig-like eyes and scanty tufts of 
 black beard and whiskers growing in irregular 
 patches on his cheeks and chin, like clumps of 
 gorse on clayey banks. He was dressed in a 
 manner in an ill-fitting black cloth suit imported 
 from Sydney. His hair was very black and shiny, 
 plastered down over his temples and beautifully 
 parted at the back of his bullet head. Altogether 
 he was an unpleasantly sleek, oleaginous creature, 
 and as he stood bowing and smirking with a cat- 
 like grin, the Admiral felt an almost irresistible 
 impulse to kick him out of the cabin. Notwith- 
 standing his haste, however, he began to recollect 
 the man as an individual who had been introduced 
 to him a few days previously at some municipal 
 function. 
 
 " Can't recollect the fellow's name," he muttered 
 to himself. " I wonder what the devil the creature 
 
134 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 wants ! Got a complaint against the Consul very 
 likely every one has a complaint against a Consul 
 it's a disease in the South Seas. Confound their 
 twopenny-halfpenny squabbles ! " Then the little 
 fat man, with another servile grin, spoke. 
 
 " I wish, your Excellency, to see you upon a 
 matter which I think, as a loyal subject, it is my 
 duty my painful duty to bring under your 
 notice." 
 
 " Thought as much," said the Admiral to himself. 
 " Some row about a trader insulting a native 
 teacher, or vice-versa" Then smothering an 
 exclamation of impatience, he said 
 
 " What is it, sir ? I have no time to lose. By 
 the way, who are you, sir ? " 
 
 " My name, your Excellency, is Obadiah Howl- 
 man. I had the distinguished honour, your 
 Excellency, of showing your Excellency over the 
 grounds of the new Mission College. I was the 
 contractor for the erection of that ornament to 
 our little town." And again the oily creature 
 smirked and bowed and did the invisible soap 
 business. 
 
 " Surely you are not a missionary, sir ? " asked 
 the Admiral, with undisguised contempt. 
 
 " I am not, your Excellency. That is, I am not 
 yet an ordained labourer in the Vineyard, your 
 Excellency ; but I hope soon to be one. Mean- 
 while, all the time that is left to me from my 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 135 
 
 business (I am a storekeeper and contractor) is 
 given to the cause of spreading the Light. I was 
 once a lost soul, your " 
 
 " I see, I see," interrupted the Admiral, with ill- 
 disguised disgust and open impatience, "but do, for 
 Heaven's sake, tell me what is your complaint. I 
 am due in Sydney on the tenth of this month, and 
 the ship is already under way. As it is, we shall 
 have to stop outside the reef to let you get into 
 your boat." 
 
 " I am aware of it, your Excellency, and I should 
 not have ventured to detain you, but this is a very 
 serious matter I may say, a criminal matter. 
 When I had the honour of meeting your 
 Excellency, on the occasion of your Excel- 
 lency's visit to the College, I would have spoken 
 of this matter then ; but my poor, weak nature 
 was so torn by conflicting emotions that I could 
 not. And for the past two nights have I 
 struggled and wrestled in spirit, and sought Divine 
 guidance. 'Tis indeed hard for one man to reveal 
 the sins and wickedness of a fellow-sinner knowing 
 that we are all but weak vessels. But yet in this 
 case it is my bounden duty as a loyal " 
 
 " Go on go on, for Heaven's sake ! What on 
 earth is the matter ? And what the deuce do you 
 want ? " 
 
 "Your Excellency, I wish, in all sorrow and 
 tribulation of spirit, to give you information as to 
 
136 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 the whereabouts of a deserter from her Majesty's 
 Navy." 
 
 " What do you mean, sir ? None of my men are 
 missing, and if any were, I'd tell the Fijian police 
 about it, and not delay the Hannibal" and with a 
 curt nod the Admiral turned on his heel and was 
 about to leave the cabin, when the man stepped 
 forward and interrupted him, saying 
 
 " One word more, your Excellency. There is in 
 connection with this case " 
 
 " The reward. Yes, of course. I forgot all about 
 that. If there is a deserter from any of her 
 Majesty's ships living ashore here, you will get 
 the usual reward, I have no doubt. But really, sir, 
 this is a matter that you must arrange with the 
 police when the next man-of-war comes here, or 
 go to the Consul " and then, sotto voce " or the 
 devil, confound you ! " and the Admiral more than 
 ever felt inclined to kick his visitor out. 
 
 "You quite mistake me, Admiral Garnet. I 
 have no wish to claim an earthly reward for doing 
 my duty to my Queen and country. Since I have 
 lived in these islands the Lord has prospered me 
 in my worldly affairs, and I am in a position far 
 above taking payment in money for doing my duty. 
 I. am, I trust, walking in the Light, and do not want 
 to obtain wealth which is but of this world for 
 performing such duty." 
 
 " Well, well, I am sure I beg your pardon, Mr. 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 137 
 
 Howlman. But now I really cannot talk any 
 longer here, so please do not keep me. At the 
 same time if there is a deserter here I don't see 
 what business it is of yours to interest yourself in 
 his capture. Don't you think you have enough to 
 do to look after your store, and contracting, and 
 your alleged missionary business, without running 
 after deserters?" And inwardly the Admiral 
 cursed his visitor for a meddlesome ass. He was 
 in a hurry to get to sea, and yet this fellow might 
 make it necessary for the ship to be delayed till 
 the deserter was apprehended. 
 
 " My humble connection with missionaries, 
 Admiral, has taught me that, at whatever cost 
 to my own feelings, my duty as a loyal subject 
 must, next to my duty as a Christian, be per- 
 formed honestly." 
 
 "Oh, yes, yes. That's all right, I meant no 
 disrespect to the missionaries. Many of the 
 gentlemen engaged in missionary work in these 
 islands have rendered very valuable services to 
 her Majesty's ships on many occasions," and then 
 to himself, " and given us a devil of a lot of trouble 
 as well." 
 
 " Now, sir," the Admiral resumed, " having ex- 
 plained that the Consul or police will attend to 
 this deserter, you will allow me to say ' Good- 
 day.' " 
 
 " One moment more, sir," and a spiteful green 
 
138 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 lit up the little piggish eyes. " I desire, as a 
 British subject, to speak to you privately on this 
 matter, and to you alone. There are reasons 
 very particular reasons why her Majesty's Consul 
 or the Fiji police here cannot deal with this case." 
 
 " Oh, well," sighed the Admiral resignedly ; " sit 
 down, Mr. Howlman. I see I am in for it, and so 
 I'll send for my secretary and " 
 
 " Cannot this matter be arranged without a third 
 party ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; it CANNOT ! " 
 
 The Admiral said this with so much emphasis, 
 and rang the bell with so much force at the same 
 moment, that the sentry almost jumped into the 
 cabin to see what was the matter. 
 
 " Pass the word for Mr. Hayling to come to my 
 cabin, and to the captain that I shall not be with 
 him for ten minutes yet. Ten minutes will do 
 your business, Mr. Howlman, eh ? " 
 
 " Certainly, your Excellency," and an evil smile 
 crossed the man's repulsive features. 
 
 The marine saluted, the secretary appeared, and 
 the Admiral, nodding towards Mr. Howlman in 
 anything but a friendly manner, growled : " My 
 secretary, Mr. Hayling. This is Mr. Howlman, 
 Mr. Hayling; he has a communication to make 
 about a deserter. Now, sir, proceed." 
 
 " This," said the man, producing a photograph 
 and laying it on the table, "is a portrait of a person 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 139 
 
 named George Barcom, who, I have every reason 
 to believe, was a sergeant of marines on the Fly- 
 catcher when she was on this station five years 
 ago." 
 
 " Take charge of that photograph, Mr. Hayling. 
 Go ahead, Mr. Howlman." 
 
 " This man, after deserting from the Flycatcher 
 at a place in this group called Yasawa, managed 
 to make his way to the island of Niuafou, where at 
 that time I was in temporary charge of the 
 Christian Cultivation Association's trading station. 
 He came to the island in an open boat from the 
 Yasawa Group, and was not suspected until quite 
 recently." 
 
 "Deuced long time finding him out. But 
 proceed, sir." 
 
 " Guilty as the man was of the crime of deser- 
 tion, I must yet, perforce, say that he behaved 
 himself very well. He was kindly received by 
 the King Tepuaka (a very earnest seeker after 
 the Light), and all went well for the space of 
 four years." 
 
 " Well, what happened then ? Five minutes 
 left," and the Admiral looked at his watch. 
 
 " My story will soon be told, your Excellency. 
 The man, who calls himself George Barcom, gained 
 the affections of Tuilagi, 1 the youngest daughter 
 
 1 Tuilagi "Queen of the Sky"; a name common in 
 Polynesia. 
 
140 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 of the King. She, although not a seeker after the 
 truth, was yet beginning to display some in- 
 terest in the teachings of Christianity, and was an 
 exceedingly comely young woman." Here Mr. 
 Howlman clasped his fat hands together and cast 
 up his eyes. " But her father, at my suggestion, 
 objected to their union. One night Barcom and 
 the poor, misguided girl were missing. They 
 had fled in an open boat to another island 
 called Anuda one of those dark places of the 
 earth where the good seed has not yet been 
 sown." 
 
 " And what was the nature and reason of 
 your objection to their marriage ? " said the 
 Admiral quietly. 
 
 " I had every reason by this time to believe 
 that the man was a deserter, and in my capacity 
 as a preacher of the Gospel though not ordained 
 as such I " 
 
 " Confine yourself to the subject, if you please," 
 interrupted the Admiral, with a mingled look of 
 impatience and disgust. " You are not a missionary, 
 you tell me, and I'm hanged if I'm going to listen 
 to a sermon in my own cabin just now. Yet I have 
 already given you as much of my time as if you 
 were one. But don't trespass on my good nature 
 too much." 
 
 " I thought it my duty to interfere and prevent 
 such a wicked and improper marriage. And, your 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 141 
 
 Excellency, this carrying away the young woman 
 against her father's wishes was very detrimental to 
 the progress of the Mission work. As I have said, 
 she was beginning to evince a certain concern for 
 her soul " 
 
 " Confound it, man ! why will you so persistently 
 harp upon irrevelant matters that do not, as far as 
 I can see, possibly concern what you really want 
 to tell me? Have you a brief to speak for the 
 missionaries ? I am acquainted with the principal 
 gentlemen (again he emphasised the word) who con- 
 duct mission work in the South Seas, but I'll be 
 hanged if I ever heard your name before not even 
 as a house-builder, or whatever your vocation is." 
 And then, with a quick glance at the cunning 
 visage of Howlman, he added, " I suppose you 
 knew this young woman very well perhaps were 
 a particular friend of hers ? " 
 
 Mr. Obadiah Howlman coughed. " Hm er. 
 Well, your Excellency, my dear wife, who has 
 now departed to her rest an indeed well-earned 
 rest when alive, took much interest in this young 
 girl, and, before she was called away, besought me 
 to cherish and protect her. And, as time went on, 
 there was formed, I may say, an attachment 
 between this young creature and myself that is, 
 of course, such an attachment as could exist 
 between a young woman of this kind, yearning 
 for instruction, and her spiritual adviser and guide." 
 
142 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 " Yes, yes ; I quite understand, Mr. Howlman. 
 Mr. Hayling has notes of your statement, and the 
 photograph. Now, if you will kindly keep your 
 own counsel on the matter, you will hear in due 
 course that we have arrested this man, and then, I 
 think, you will be satisfied." 
 
 Then turning to his secretary, the Admiral said, 
 " The Spitfire is due at Levuka about the 8th. 
 Write a letter to Commander Arness, and tell him 
 to call at Anuda and arrest a deserter from the 
 marines, calling himself George Barcom, and who 
 can be identified by this photograph. He is the 
 only white man on the island, so this Mr. Howlman 
 says, and there should be no difficulty in finding 
 him. That will satisfy you, I presume, Mr. Howl- 
 man ? " 
 
 " Quite, sir, I assure you. I have done my duty 
 and " 
 
 " Good-day, sir. You will just have time to get 
 into your boat and get ashore while we are in 
 smooth water, and before we start the engines." 
 
 The Admiral did not seem to notice the little fat 
 man's outstretched hand. The secretary bowed 
 him out of the cabin, holding the photograph in 
 one hand and his notebook in the other. Neither 
 of them liked his look well enough to shake hands 
 with him. 
 
 The Admiral, however, did not give the order to 
 start the engines immediately, for the sentry, in 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 143 
 
 accordance with orders received from the secretary, 
 waited till Mr. Obadiah Howlman was at the foot 
 of the accommodation-ladder, and then called out, 
 " Hold on that boat a minute or two ; the Admiral 
 wants to send a letter ashore." 
 
 For twenty minutes Mr. Howlman waited im- 
 patiently in the boat, and then a big, official- 
 looking letter was handed down the ladder to the 
 boatman, addressed : " O.H.M.S. Commander 
 Arness, H.M.S. Spitfire, care of H.B.M. Consul, 
 Levuka, Fiji." 
 
 Mr. Howlman smiled to himself with the satisfied 
 air of a man who has done his duty. He knew the 
 contents of the letter, and recognised through its 
 envelope the hard cardboard of the photograph of 
 George Barcom enclosed therein. There was also 
 a smaller note, addressed to Commander Arness 
 by name, and marked, " Private letter." 
 
 Five minutes later the Hannibal steamed 
 through the passage, and shaped a course for 
 
 Sydney. 
 
 * * * * # 
 
 The Spitfire was steaming full speed E.S.E. from 
 Levuka. On the bridge was Commander Arness 
 talking to the navigating lieutenant, a young and 
 almost effeminate-looking officer. 
 
 The land had just been sighted, and lay right 
 ahead. 
 
 * Will there be daylight enough left for us to get 
 
144 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 there and have this wretched thing over, Carteret?" 
 asked Commander Arness. 
 
 " Plenty, sir, if this weather keeps up and you 
 don't want to stay there more than a couple of 
 hours." 
 
 " No. Two hours should be ample time. This 
 letter from Hayling explains the whole business," 
 and he handed the lieutenant the despatch from 
 the Admiral's secretary, which duly set forth that 
 the Spitfire was to take on board a certain white 
 trader living on Anuda otherwise, Cherry Island 
 and bring him prisoner to Syndey. His wife 
 was to be returned to her father at Niuafou. The 
 last paragraph in the letter was to this effect 
 
 " Be careful to identify beyond doubt this 
 alleged deserter. The Rear- Admiral has received 
 this information at the instant of sailing, and he is 
 by no means certain that the statements of his 
 informant can be depended upon. A photograph 
 of the reputed deserter is enclosed herewith. The 
 Admiral thinks that Mr. Carteret may know the 
 man, as he was serving in the Flycatcher five years 
 ago." 
 
 "This rascal Howlman has informed upon the 
 poor devil for spite," said the Commander ; " here's 
 a private note from Hayling to myself about the 
 fellow." 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 145 
 
 The lieutenant took the note and read 
 
 " MY DEAR ARNESS, Just a line on my own 
 account. Be careful what you are doing in this 
 business. The fellow who informed is a sort of 
 hanger-on to the missionaries here. They don't 
 think much of him, but seem to put up with the 
 swab as a necessary evil. He confessed that 
 jealousy had something to do with the matter, 
 and I could see the Admiral wanted to kick him 
 out of the cabin. Make sure that this man 
 Barcom is a deserter, or there will be the devil 
 to pay if he should prove to be an American 
 citizen, or anything of that kind. Yours, CHARLES 
 HAYLING." 
 
 "You see why they have left the matter to us, 
 Carteret. You were on the Flycatcher five years 
 ago, and the Admiral thinks you may be able 
 to identify this fellow. Of course Barcom is not 
 his name." 
 
 Mr. Carteret at this moment was very busy with 
 the chart, over which he bent his head a moment, 
 and then turned sharply to the man at the wheel, 
 who was not out of earshot. 
 
 "Keep your course," he said sharply; "why don't 
 you attend to your steering ! " Then he turned to 
 the commander : " I beg your pardon, sir ; you 
 
 were saying ? " 
 
 II 
 
146 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 " I was saying that you ought to remember such 
 an incident as a sergeant of marines deserting from 
 the Flycatcher when she was down here five years 
 ago." 
 
 " I do remember it. The man's name was 
 Charles Parker." 
 
 "Is that the man ? " And Arness handed him a 
 photograph of a man dressed in white ducks and a 
 straw hat, evidently taken by an amateur. 
 
 Carteret looked at the photograph for fully a 
 couple of minutes before he answered slowly 
 
 " No, I don't think that this is the man." 
 
 A few hours later the Spitfire had steamed in 
 close to the land, and a boat was lowered. In this 
 boat were Lieutenant Carteret, a sergeant of 
 marines, with three privates and half a dozen blue- 
 jackets. 
 
 " I have force enough to take a boat-load of 
 deserters," remarked the lieutenant to his com- 
 mander, as he descended the poop ladder on his 
 way to the boat. 
 
 Commander Arness laughed. " Oh, well, you 
 know the natives might take it into their heads to 
 resist his arrest. But be careful what you are 
 doing : make perfectly sure that he is the man. 
 You don't know what complications might arise if 
 we carried off the wrong person." 
 
 * # # * * 
 
 The moment the boat touched the shore, she 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 147 
 
 was surrounded by a crowd of friendly, brown- 
 skinned islanders, who seemed delighted to see the 
 strangers. 
 
 " Any one of you fellows speak English ? " asked 
 Mr. Carteret. 
 
 " Yes, sir," and a big, burly fellow with a fine 
 open countenance advanced to the officer. " Me 
 speak English, and plenty more men here speak 
 it, too. What you want, sir ? " 
 
 " Any white men living here ? " asked Carteret 
 quietly. 
 
 " Oh, yes one, a very good man ; his name is 
 Joajai " [George]. 
 
 " Take me to his house," said the officer. " I 
 want to see him." 
 
 In a few minutes Mr. Carteret and his marines 
 were being conducted up a steep and rugged path 
 towards the white trader's house, which was situated 
 quite apart from the native village, while the blue- 
 jackets were left in the boat, remarking to each 
 other that this white man was a most cursed 
 unfriendly sort of a chap not to come down to the 
 beach when he saw a man-of-war's boat ashore. 
 
 " Don't you be such a fool, Tom," said the 
 coxswain to one of the men. " You're always 
 a-jumpin' at conclusions too rapid. Just you wait 
 a bit and see. It's my belief that this chap has 
 been up to something, and the marines have gone 
 with Carteret to scruff him and bring him aboard. 
 
148 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 I saw the sergeant had a pair of darbies, and what 
 do you suppose that Carteret's come ashore with a 
 regular escort for ? " 
 
 A ten minutes' walk and Lieutenant Carteret 
 and his men, guided by a number of natives, 
 reached the white man's thatched dwelling, which 
 stood amid a grove of banana and bread-fruit trees. 
 When within a few yards, the lieutenant saw a tall, 
 graceful young native girl, clad in semi-European 
 style, advance to the open door, and then with a 
 terrified exclamation withdraw again. 
 
 " That is Tui, 1 Joajai's wife," said one of the 
 natives, pointing to the girl, who now again ap- 
 peared, and, with her full dark eyes dilated with 
 alarm, timidly held out her hand to the officer 
 and murmured something in the native tongue. 
 
 " She speaks English, but she is afraid of the 
 men with the guns," explained the native guide. 
 
 " Where is your husband ? " said Lieutenant 
 Carteret, motioning to the girl to seat herself, and 
 the marines to stand back. 
 
 She only shook her head, and turned inquiringly 
 to the natives who accompanied the officer. 
 
 " The white man is away on the other side of 
 the island, sir. He be here in 'bout one half-hour," 
 said the English-speaking native. " Suppose you 
 like, sir, I send some one go tell him come quick ? " 
 
 Carteret hesitated a moment, then answered 
 1 The diminutive of Tuilagi. 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 149 
 
 " No." Then turning to the sergeant of marines, 
 he said, " Let your men fall still further back, 
 sergeant. This is a delicate matter, and I don't 
 want this confounded crowd of natives, many of 
 whom understand English, to hear what I have to 
 say to this woman. Send a man down to the 
 boat, and tell the coxswain that I shall have to 
 wait for some time. If the ship makes a signal, 
 the boat can go off and tell the captain that I shall 
 have to wait ; then she can come back for me." 
 
 All this time the trader's young wife sat 
 trembling upon a rude couch that stretched across 
 one side of the room ; and her eyes never left the 
 officer's face for an instant, save when for a 
 moment she gave a terrified glance at the rifles 
 and bayonets of the marine escort. 
 
 The moment that the marines had fallen back 
 the lieutenant stepped forward and took the young 
 woman by the hand. 
 
 " Tui," he said hurriedly, drawing her to the 
 further end of the room with firm but gentle hand, 
 and speaking so low and without motion of his 
 lips that none but she knew that he spoke at 
 all, " for God's sake and for mine and your hus- 
 band's, do not be frightened, but listen to me and 
 do exactly as I tell you." 
 
 Still trembling like a startled fawn, the girl 
 raised her lustrous eyes to the young officer's face. 
 His earnest, sincere manner and expression of 
 
ISO OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 deep concern seemed to reassure her, and though 
 her bosom heaved and her breath came in quick, 
 short gasps, she turned her face to him in the 
 confidence of dawning hope. 
 
 " Who are you, sir, and what do you wan' my 
 husban' for ? " 
 
 " Tell these natives to go," said the lieutenant. 
 " Have no fear. I am your husband's friend ; but, 
 be quick ! " 
 
 Still, with a wondering look upon her beautiful 
 face, the girl advanced to the door, said something 
 in the island tongue to the crowd of curious natives, 
 and then gently closed the door. 
 
 " This is a rum go!" said the sergeant of marines 
 to himself, as he saw the door shut to. " What the 
 devil has the girl been doing ? Are the bracelets 
 for her, I wonder ? " 
 
 " Tui," said Lieutenant Carteret, the moment 
 they were alone, " time presses. You speak Eng- 
 lish so well as to thoroughly understand that which 
 I am now about to tell you ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir," she answered,' standing before him 
 with clasped hands, " I think so. A white woman 
 who is dead now taught me to read and write 
 English, and my husban' always talk English to 
 me." 
 
 " Good. Then listen to me, my girl. I am 
 Lieutenant Carteret, of H.M.S. Spitfire that ship 
 out there sent here with the ship's police to arrest 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 151 
 
 a deserter from the Flycatcher on this station five 
 years ago. This is the man ; s photograph. He is 
 said to be your husband, and calls himself George 
 Barcom. Now, when I was an officer of the Fly- 
 catcher^ I knew a man named Charles Parker " 
 her face went a deadly pallor " who deserted the 
 ship at the Yasawa Group in Fiji. I can, without 
 doubt, identify this man. But, Tui, I have looked 
 at this photograph when it was held in the hand of 
 my captain, and said that this is not the man whom 
 I knew as Charles Parker. But look at it yourself 
 and tell me is this the photograph of your hus- 
 band, and is this man on this island ? " 
 
 With shaking fingers she took it from him, 
 looked at it, and then raised her face to the officer. 
 
 " Is this the doin' of a man called Obadiah 
 Howlman ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered the lieutenant, " it is the work 
 of Obadiah Howlman. He brought this photo- 
 graph to the Admiral only a few days ago." 
 
 A savage gleam came into her eyes. " The 
 brute ! I kill him for this some day ! " 
 
 " That will not save your husband, my girl," said 
 Carteret; then he waited a moment and added, 
 " whatever it might do later on." 
 
 Suddenly the girl's dark eyes filled with tears, 
 and she laid her hand on the officer's sleeve. 
 
 "What is to be done, sir? For God's sake 
 don' you take my husband from me, sir." 
 
152 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 " This can be done. You have seen this photo- 
 graph. You say that it is not that of your husband, 
 don't you ? But, Tui, I must do my duty, do you 
 understand ? I must see your husband." 
 
 " And you are the man whose life he saved for 
 now I 'member your name and the story he told 
 me long ago you who say you are his friend, you 
 would do this thing, you who in the ship gave him 
 money so that he might " 
 
 " Wait, my girl, till I have finished ; then you 
 will understand. Listen now. I will remain here, 
 and you will yourself find your husband and bring 
 him here to this house so that I may see him. 
 Bring him here quickly, and by some way that my 
 men cannot see his face. And then, Tui, when I 
 have spoken to him, then for your sake and for his 
 sake I will lie, and swear he is not the man I have 
 been sent to take. Then, when my ship has gone, 
 you you and he you must promise me this, Tui 
 must leave this island as quickly as possible ; so 
 that when Obadiah Howlman sends another war- 
 ship here as he will do they may not discover 
 that I am a liar and have been false to my duty." 
 
 " Oh, sir, is this true ? Surely you would not 
 tell a lie to a poor native girl like me ? " 
 
 " Go, my girl " and Carteret placed a kindly 
 hand on her shoulder "go quickly to Parker 
 I know very well that he is not far off. He will 
 believe what I say." 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 153 
 
 For a moment she gazed intently into his face, 
 as if she would read his soul ; and then seizing his 
 hand pressed it to her lips, and went out by the 
 door that opened at the rear of the house. 
 
 Then the lieutenant opened the front door and 
 walked slowly across to where the marines were 
 standing. 
 
 " Take your men out of sight, sergeant. I don't 
 want this fellow frightened until I know who he is. 
 If he's the man we want, we'll have no trouble in 
 getting him. I've induced his wife to go and bring 
 him." 
 
 Whistling softly in an unconcerned manner, he 
 turned back and stood at the door of the house 
 and waited there for perhaps ten minutes, until he 
 saw the girl returning with a white man, who 
 appeared to be ill and weak, for he had on a heavy 
 top-coat, and a shawl wrapped round his neck in 
 such a way that his features were almost entirely 
 
 hidden. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Lieutenant Carteret allowed the man and woman 
 to enter, and then followed, closing the door after 
 him. 
 
 As soon as he was inside, the white man threw 
 off his muffler and turned towards the officer. 
 
 " You must take me, sir," he said, speaking 
 calmly. " I cannot let you do this for me. I 
 know, sir, that you cannot help yourself." 
 
154 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 " No, by Heavens ! Parker, I cannot take you. 
 You jumped overboard and saved my life. I tell 
 you, man, that I can't do it. Do you think I can 
 ever forget that awful thirty minutes, nearly six 
 years ago, when you kept me afloat off the Bamp- 
 ton Shoal? Now, Parker, just listen. I have a 
 plan ; the whole thing is arranged as soon as we 
 leave here. But you and your wife must get away 
 from this island soon after the Spitfire leaves. 
 That infernal sweep, Howlman, will be sure to 
 send another man-of-war after you " 
 
 " Listen to me, sir. I, too, have a plan. You 
 shall not ruin yourself for me. You are only a 
 very young man, sir, and have the world before 
 you. I dread nothing but the temporary separa- 
 tion from Tui here. To me my arrest means 
 only dismissal from the service and a couple of 
 years in gaol ; and likely enough, I shall get back 
 here again without much trouble." 
 
 " No, I " 
 
 " Don't waste time, sir. Call the escort, but for 
 God's sake, sir, do the thing quickly ; look at my 
 girl, sir, and let me get away before I break down 
 too, and act the coward. If you don't call the 
 escort at once, I will." 
 
 "You madman, Parker," began Carteret, and 
 then Tui threw her arms round her husband. 
 
 " Are you tired of me ? " she sobbed. " Is 
 this how you would leave the woman who loves 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 155 
 
 you, and who will be the mother of your 
 child ? " 
 
 The deserter caught her in his arms, and looking 
 over his shoulder at the lieutenant, said, " For 
 God's sake, sir, don't wait. Call in your men 
 and get it over." 
 
 " Parker, for Heaven's sake take this chance. I 
 tell you, man, that I have no fear for myself. I 
 don't care a straw about the Service if this is 
 discovered." 
 
 " Stand aside, sir. I'm not the man to let you 
 
 sacrifice yourself for me " And unloosing his 
 
 wife's arms from his neck, he advanced to the door. 
 
 " Very well ; it is your own fault." 
 
 The next instant the lieutenant threw open the 
 door. 
 
 " Sergeant, bring your men here." 
 
 ***** 
 
 Half an hour later Lieutenant Carteret reported 
 to Commander Arness. 
 
 " I have brought the prisoner on board, sir. He 
 is a man named Charles Parker, and was sergeant 
 of marines on the Flycatcher" 
 
 " Very good, Mr. Carteret. What have you 
 done with his wife ? " 
 
 " She refused to leave, sir, and when we brought 
 the man away, went off to the other side of the 
 
 island." 
 
 ***** 
 
156 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 When the Spitfire reached Sydney, Charles 
 Parker was duly tried by court-martial, and in 
 consequence of the friendly exertions of the 
 principal witness against him, Lieutenant Neil 
 Carteret, was let off lightly. He was dismissed 
 from the service, and sentenced to imprisonment 
 in a Sydney jail for eighteen months. 
 
 When his time had expired, he managed, after a 
 few months of waiting about in Sydney, to work 
 his way back to Anuda Island. And scarce had 
 the boat touched the beach when he was seized by 
 the welcoming arms of his native friends and 
 carried ashore. 
 
 " Is it well with my wife, O friends ? " he asked. 
 
 " It is well with her," they answered ; " in a little 
 while we will take you to her, but first let us tell 
 thee of that which has befallen her on this island." 
 
 Then they told him. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " One day after the warship had gone," they 
 said, "there came here a trading schooner from 
 Niuafou. On the ship were Tepuaka, the King of 
 Niuafou the father of thy wife and many of his 
 men. And with him there came also the little fat 
 white man named Opataia [Obadiah]. All those 
 men that came with Tepuaka, the King, were lotu 
 [Christians]. No sooner did they land, than 
 Tepuaka and his friend, the fat little white man, 
 Opataia, walked to the house of his daughter, thy 
 
OFFICER AND MAN 157 
 
 wife, Tiii, but all of his men he bade remain here 
 in the village. 
 
 " * See/ said one of these men of Niuafou to us 
 vauntingly, ' see what has come to pass ! Tuilagi 
 refused to take for her husband the good and 
 pious man Opataia, but fled with this common 
 white man, who is no better than a heathen. And 
 then what comes ? This bad white man is caught 
 by his countrymen and put in a prison with chains 
 upon his body. So now the King comes for his 
 daughter, for even now is Opataia willing to take 
 her, though she is but of little worth, to my mind.' 
 
 " While they spoke thus to us, Tepuaka and his 
 white friend had gone to thy house, and there did 
 Tui, thy wife, meet them with smiles to hide what 
 lay in her heart. 
 
 " ' Get thee ready, thou wicked woman/ said her 
 father roughly to her ; ' get thee ready quickly to 
 leave this heathen land and return to thy own 
 country, where thou shalt be wife to this good 
 man, Opataia, who desires thee still.' 
 
 " * It is well, my father/ said Tui ; ' but yet leave 
 us now for a little. Surely if this man desires me 
 for his house he can speak to me with his own 
 mouth, and not through thine.' 
 
 " So her father went without the house, and 
 Opataia, the white man, remained with Tui. 
 
 " Then said the evil-faced white man to Tui : 
 ' For the wrong that thou did'st me by running 
 
158 OFFICER AND MAN 
 
 away with that evil white man do I forgive thee, 
 for I love thee well.' And then he put his arms 
 about her, and sought to embrace her after the 
 manner of a lover. 
 
 " And then from beneath her gown did Tui take 
 out a little gun that fires six bullets ; and as the 
 fat man, Opataia, pressed her to his bosom and 
 heeded not what she did, she placed the mouth of 
 the little gun to the side of his fat head. Then 
 she said 
 
 " ' This do I, dog, for the husband of whom thou 
 hast robbed me/ and then there came a flash and 
 a cry, and the white man sprang to his feet and fell 
 forward on his face dead. 
 
 " Then Tui ran from the house. She fled from 
 her father and came towards the village, and 
 Tepuaka the King followed her with death in his 
 face. 
 
 " ' Kill her ! ' he called to the men of Niuafou. 
 
 " But then we men of Anuda sprang to her aid 
 with our clubs in our hands, and she ran into our 
 midst and called to us to save her from her father. 
 
 " So there was much talk, and then her father's 
 wrath began to subside, for we made him many 
 presents of food for his journey back, and he went 
 away in peace. 
 
 " That is all. And see, Jaojai, hither comes 
 thy wife with her son in her arms to welcome 
 thee home." 
 
" The Gallant, Good Riou ' 
 
 THIS is a true story of one of Nelson's 
 captains, he of whom Nelson wrote as " the 
 gallant and good Riou " high meed of praise 
 gloriously won at Copenhagen but Riou, eleven 
 years before that day, performed a deed, now 
 almost forgotten, which, for unselfish heroism, 
 ranks among the brightest in our brilliant naval 
 annals, and in the sea story of Australia in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 In September, 1789, the Guardian, a forty-gun 
 ship, under the command of Riou, then a lieu- 
 tenant, left England for the one-year-old penal 
 settlement in New South Wales. The little 
 colony was in sore need of food almost starving, 
 in fact and Riou's. orders were to make all haste 
 toJiis destination, calling at the Cape on the way 
 to embark live stock and other supplies. All the 
 ship's guns had been removed to make room for 
 the stores, which included a " plant cabin " a 
 
 159 
 
160 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU" 
 
 temporary compartment built on deck for the 
 purpose of conveying to Sydney, in pots of earth, 
 trees and plants selected by Sir Joseph Banks as 
 likely to be useful to the young colony making 
 her deck " a complete garden," says a newspaper 
 of the time. Friends of the officers stationed in 
 New South Wales sent on board the Guardian 
 great quantities of private goods, and these were 
 stored in the gun-room, which it was thought 
 would be a safer place than the hold, but, as the 
 event proved, it was the most insecure. 
 
 The ship arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 
 November, and there filled her decks with cattle 
 and provisions, then sailed again, her cargo being 
 equal in value to about 70,000. On December 
 23rd twelve days after leaving the Cape what 
 is described as " an island of ice " was seen. 
 Riou gave orders to stand towards it in order to 
 renew, by collecting lumps of ice, the supply of 
 water, the stock of fresh water having run very 
 low in consequence of the quantity consumed by 
 the cattle. 
 
 The Public Advertiser of April 30, 1790, 
 describes what now happened. As the ship 
 approached the island, the boats were hoisted 
 out and manned, and several lumps collected. 
 During this time the ship lay to, and on the ice 
 being brought on board she attempted to stand 
 away. Very little apprehension was at this time 
 
"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 161 
 
 entertained of her safety, although the enormous 
 bulk of the island occasioned an unfavourable 
 current, and in some measure gave a partial 
 direction to the wind. On a sudden, the base 
 of the island, which projected under water con- 
 siderably beyond the limits of the visible parts, 
 " struck the bow of the ship ; she instantly swung 
 round, and her head cleared, but her stern, coming 
 on the shoal, struck repeatedly, and the sea being 
 very heavy, her rudder broke away, and all her 
 works abaft were shivered. The ship in this 
 situation became, in a degree, embayed under the 
 terrific bulk of ice, for its height was twice that of 
 the mainmast of a ship of the line, and the promi- 
 nent head of the berg was every moment expected 
 to break away and overwhelm the ship. At 
 length, after every practicable exertion, she was 
 got off the shoal, and the ice floated past her. "It 
 was soon perceived that the Guardian had six feet 
 of water in her hold, and it was increasing very fast. 
 The hands were set to the pumps, others to find 
 out the leaks, and they occasionally relieved each 
 other. Thus they continued labouring unceasingly 
 on the 24th, although on the 23rd not one of them 
 had had the least rest. The ship was at one period 
 so much relieved that she had only two feet of water 
 in the hold ; but at this time, when their distress 
 wore the best aspect, the water "increased in a 
 moment to ten feet." Then the ship was discovered 
 
 12 
 
162 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 
 
 to be strained in all her works, and the sea run- 
 ning high, every endeavour to check the progress 
 of a particular leak proved ineffectual. To 
 lighten the ship, the cows, horses, sheep, and all 
 the other live stock for the colony were, with their 
 fodder, committed to the deep to perish. 
 
 John Williams, boatswain of the Guardian, 
 wrote to his parents in London, and told them 
 about the disaster, and although we have no 
 doubt he was handier with the marline-spike than 
 with his pen, some of his badly spelled letter reads 
 well : 
 
 "This axident happened on the 23rd of 
 December, and on the 25th the boats left us 
 with moast of the officers and a great part of the 
 seamen. The master-gunner, purser, one master's 
 mate, one midshipman, and a parson, with nine 
 seamen, was got into the longboat and cleared the 
 ship. The doctor and four or five men got into a 
 cutter and was upset close to the ship, and all of 
 them was drowned. As for the rest of the boats, 
 I believe they must be lost and all in them 
 perished, for wee was about six hundred leagues 
 from any land. There was about fifty-six men 
 missing; a number drowned jumping into the 
 boats ; the sea ran so high that the boats could 
 scarce live. The commander had a strong resulu- 
 tion, for he said he would soner go down in the 
 
"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 163 
 
 ship than he wold quid her. All the officers left 
 in the ship was the commander, the carpenter, one 
 midshipman, and myself. After the boats left us 
 we had two chances either to jump or sink. We 
 cold just get into the sailroom and got up a new 
 forecourse and stuck itt full of oakum and rags, 
 and put itt under the ship's bottom ; this is called 
 fothering the ship. We found some benefit by itt 
 for pumping and bailing we gained on hur; that 
 gave us a little hope of saving our lives. We was 
 in this terable situation for nine weeks before we 
 got to the Cape of Good Hope. Sometimes our 
 upper-deck scuppers was under water outside, and 
 the ship leying like a log on the water, and the sea 
 breaking over her as if she was a rock. Sixteen 
 foot of water was the common run for the nine 
 weeks in the hold. I am not certain what we are 
 to doo with the ship as yet. We have got moast 
 of our cargo out ; it is all dammaged but the beef 
 and pork, which is in good order. I have lost a 
 great dele of my cloaths, and I am thinking of 
 drawing of about six pound, wich I think I can 
 make shift with. If this axident had not hapned 
 I shold not have had aney call for aney. As for 
 my stores, there is a great part of them thrown 
 overboard ; likewise all the officers stores in the 
 ship is gone the same way, for evry thing that 
 came to hand was thrown ovarboard to lighten the 
 ship. I think that we must wait till ordars comes 
 
164 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 
 
 from England to know what we are to do with the 
 ship." 
 
 The chronicles of the time also relate how at 
 daylight on Christmas morning, when the water 
 was reported as being up to the orlop deck and 
 gaining two feet an hour, many of the people 
 desponded and gave themselves up for lost. A 
 part of those who had any strength left, seeing 
 that their utmost efforts to save the ship were 
 likely to be in vain, applied to the officers for the 
 boats, which were promised to be in readiness for 
 them, and the boatswain was directly ordered to 
 put the masts, sails, and compasses in each. The 
 cooper was also set to work to fill a few quarter- 
 casks of water out of some of the butts on deck, 
 and provisions and other necessaries were got up 
 from the hold. 
 
 Many hours previous to this, Lieutenant Riou 
 had privately declared to his officers that he saw 
 the final loss of the ship was inevitable, and he 
 could not help regretting the loss of so many 
 brave fellows. " As for me," said he, " I have 
 determined to remain in the ship, and shall 
 endeavour to make my presence useful as long 
 as there is any occasion for it." He was entreated, 
 and even supplicated, to give up this fatal reso- 
 lution, and try for safety in the boats. It was 
 even hinted to him how highly criminal it was to 
 
"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 165 
 
 persevere in such a determination ; but he was not 
 to be moved by any entreaties. He was, notwith- 
 standing, as active in providing for the safety of 
 the boats as if he intended to take the opportunity 
 of securing his own escape. He was throughout 
 as calm and collected as in the happier moments 
 of his life. 
 
 At seven o'clock the Guardian had settled con- 
 siderably abaft, and the water was coming in at the 
 rudder-case in great quantities. At half-past seven 
 the water in the hold obliged the people below to 
 come upon deck ; the ship appeared to be in a 
 sinking state, and settling bodily down ; it was, 
 therefore, almost immediately agreed to have 
 recourse to the boats. While engaged in con- 
 sultation on this melancholy business, Riou wrote 
 a letter to the Admiralty, which he delivered to 
 Mr. Clements, the master. It was as follows : 
 
 " H.M.S. Guardian, Dec. 25, 1789. 
 "If any part of the officers or crew of the 
 Guardian should ever survive to get home, I have 
 only to say their conduct, after the fatal stroke 
 against an island of ice, was admirable and 
 wonderful in everything that relates to their duty, 
 considered either as private men, or in His 
 Majesty's service. As there seems to be no 
 possibility of my remaining many hours in this 
 world, I beg leave to recommend to the considera- 
 
166 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU" 
 
 tion of the Admiralty a sister, who, if my conduct 
 or service should be found deserving any memory, 
 their favour might be shown to, together with a 
 widowed mother. 
 
 " I am, &c., 
 " Phil. Stephens, Esq." " E. RlOU. 
 
 With the utmost difficulty the boats were 
 launched. After they were got afloat and had 
 cleared the ship, with the exception of the launch 
 they were never afterwards heard of; the launch 
 with nine survivors was picked up by a passing 
 vessel ten days after she left the wreck, her people 
 reduced to the last extremity for want of food and 
 water. 
 
 Among the survivors was the parson mentioned 
 by the boatswain. This was the Rev. Mr. Crowther, 
 who was on his way as a missionary to the penal 
 settlement. The Rev. John Newton, of Olney 
 (poet Cowper's Newton), had got Crowther the 
 appointment, at "eight shillings per diem, of 
 assistant chaplain of the settlement," and Newton, 
 writing to the Rev. R. Johnson, chaplain of 
 Sydney, tells how he heard of the loss of the 
 Guardian^ " and the very next morning Mr. 
 Crowther knocked at my door himself." Then 
 Mr. Newton writes a letter which shows that Mr. 
 Crowther had had enough of the sea. " It is not a 
 service for mere flesh and blood to undertake. A 
 
"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU" 167 
 
 man without that apostolic spirit and peculiar call 
 which the Lord alone can give would hardly be 
 able to maintain his ground. Mr. Crowther, 
 though a sincere, humble, good man, seems not 
 to have had those qualifications, and therefore he 
 has been partly intimidated by what he met with 
 abroad, and partly influenced by nearer personal 
 considerations at home, to stay with us and sleep 
 in a whole skin." But after his experience it was 
 not to be wondered at that he preferred to stay at 
 home and sleep in a whole skin. 
 
 Meanwhile Riou, in spite of a ship without a 
 rudder, and with the water in her up to the orlop 
 deck, succeeded, as the boatswain's letter shows, 
 after a voyage of nine weeks, in bringing his com- 
 mand to the Cape. A letter from Capetown, 
 written on March i, 1790, tells us she arrived there 
 " eight days ago in a situation not to be credited 
 without ocular proofs. She had, I think, nine feet 
 of water in her when she anchored. The lower 
 gun-deck served as a second bottom ; it was stowed 
 with a very great weight equally fore and aft. To 
 this, and to the uncommon strength of it, Captain 
 Riou ascribes his safety. Seeing an English ship 
 with a signal of distress, four of us went on board, 
 scarcely hoping but with busy fancy still pointing 
 her out to be the Guardian, and, to our inex- 
 pressible joy, we found it was her. We stood in 
 silent admiration of her heroic commander (whose 
 
168 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 
 
 supposed fate had drawn tears from us before), 
 shining through the rags of the meanest sailor. 
 The fortitude of this man is a glorious example 
 for British officers to emulate. Since that time we 
 have gone on board again to see him. He is 
 affable in his manners, and of most commanding 
 presence. . . . Perhaps we, under the influence of 
 that attraction which great sufferings always pro- 
 duce, may, in the enthusiasm of our commendation, 
 be too lavish in his praise ; were it not for this fear 
 I would at once pronounce him the most God-like 
 mortal I ever viewed. They were two months from 
 the time the accident happened until they reached 
 this place. Every man shared alike in the labour ; 
 and not having at all attended to their persons 
 during the whole of that dismal period they looked 
 like men of another world long beards, dirt, and 
 rags covered them. Mr. Riou got one of his 
 hands crushed and one of his legs hurt, but all are 
 getting well. None of his people died during their 
 fatigues. He says his principal attention was to 
 keep up their spirits and to watch over their 
 health. He never allowed himself to hope until 
 the day before he got in here, when he made the 
 land. Destitute of that support, how superior 
 must his fortitude be ! He has this morning, for 
 the first time, come on shore, having been em- 
 ployed getting stores, &c., out to lighten the ship. 
 He wavers what to do with her whether to put 
 
"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 169 
 
 Government to the expense of repairing her here 
 (which would almost equal her first cost, perhaps 
 exceed it) or burn her. Most likely the last will 
 be resolved on." 
 
 The ship was in such a state that she was 
 condemned by the experts at the Cape, but Riou, 
 bearing in mind the distressed state of the colony 
 of New South Wales, did not rest until he had sent 
 on in other vessels all the stores he could collect. 
 
 Neither did he forget the behaviour of certain 
 convicts. In a letter to the Admiralty he wrote : 
 " Permit me, sir, to address you on a subject 
 which I hope their Lordships will not consider to 
 be unworthy their notice. It is to recommend as 
 much as is in my power to their Lordships' favour 
 and interest the case of the twenty convicts which 
 my duty compelled me to send to Port Jackson. 
 But the recollection of past sufferings reminds me 
 of that time when I found it necessary to make 
 use of every possible method to encourage the 
 minds of the people under my command, and at 
 such time, considering how great the difference 
 might be between a free man struggling for life 
 and him who perhaps might consider death as not 
 much superior to a life of ignominy and disgrace 
 I publicly declared that not one of them, so far as 
 depended on myself, should ever be convicts. 
 And I may with undeniable truth say that, had 
 it not been for their assistance and support, the 
 
170 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU" 
 
 Guardian would never have arrived to where she 
 is. Their conduct prior to the melancholy accident 
 that happened on December 23rd last was always 
 such as may be commended, and from their first 
 entrance into the ship at Spithead they ever 
 assisted and did their duty in like manner as the 
 crew. I have taken the liberty to recommend 
 them to the notice of Governor Phillip; but I 
 humbly hope, sir, their Lordships will consider the 
 service done by these men as meriting their Lord- 
 ships' favour and protection, and I make no doubt 
 that should I have been so fortunate as to repre- 
 sent this in proper colours, that they will experi- 
 ence the benefit of their Lordships' interest." 
 
 The prisoners were pardoned, and the Secretary 
 of the Admiralty wrote to Riou 
 
 " I have their Lordships' commands to acquaint 
 you that their concern on the receipt of the melan- 
 choly contents of the first-mentioned letter could 
 only be exceeded by the satisfaction they received 
 from the account of your miraculous escape, which 
 they attribute to your skilful and judicious exer- 
 tions under the favour of Divine Providence. . . * 
 Their Lordships have communicated to Mr. Secre- 
 tary Grenville, for his Majesty's information, your 
 recommendation of the surviving convicts whose 
 conduct, as it has so deservedly met with your 
 approbation, will, there is every reason to hope, 
 entitle them to his Majesty's clemency." 
 
"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU" 171 
 
 [This story of the gallant behaviour of these 
 twenty prisoners does not stand alone in the 
 convict annals of Australia. There were many 
 other instances in which convicts behaved with the 
 greatest heroism. Many of the earlier explorers, 
 such as Sturt, received most valuable aid from 
 prisoners who were members of their expeditions ; 
 and in the first days of the colony both Phillip and 
 Hunter were quick to recognise and personally 
 reward or recommend for pardon to the Home 
 Government convicts who had distinguished them- 
 selves by acts of bravery.] 
 
 When Riou returned to England he was pro- 
 moted to post-captain's rank, and at Copenhagen, 
 in 1801, he commanded the Amazon. Perhaps we 
 may be forgiven for reprinting from Southey's 
 " Nelson " an account of what he did there. " The 
 signal " (that famous one which Nelson looked at 
 with his blind eye), " the signal, however, saved 
 Riou's little squadron, but did not save its heroic 
 leader. The squadron, which was nearest the 
 commander-in-chief, obeyed and hauled off. It 
 had suffered severely in its most unequal contest. 
 For a long time the Amazon had been firing 
 enveloped in smoke, when Riou desired his men 
 to stand fast, and let the smoke clear off, that they 
 might see what they were about. A fatal order, 
 for the Danes then got clear sight of her from the 
 batteries, and pointed their guns with such tre- 
 
172 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU " 
 
 mendous effect that nothing but the signal for 
 retreat saved this frigate from destruction. ' What 
 will Nelson think of us ! ' was Riou's mournful 
 exclamation when he unwillingly drew off. He 
 had been wounded in the head by a splinter, and 
 was sitting on a gun, encouraging his men, when, 
 just as the Amazon showed her stern to the 
 Trekroner Battery, his clerk was killed by his side, 
 and another shot swept away several marines who 
 were hauling in the main-brace. ' Come, then, my 
 boys ! ' cried Riou, ' let us die all together ! ' The 
 words had scarcely been uttered before a raking 
 shot cut him in two. Except it had been Nelson 
 himself, the British Navy could not have suffered 
 a severer loss." 
 
The South Seaman : 
 
 AN INCIDENT IN THE SEA STORY OF AUSTRALIA 
 
 ON the 22nd of July, 1828, the Sydney South 
 Seaman, Indefatigable^ eleven days out from 
 the Port of Conception in Chili, was in lat. 17 S. 
 and about 127 E. long., six hundred miles distant 
 from the nearest land the then almost unknown 
 Paumotu Group, which Cook had well named the 
 Dangerous Archipelago. 
 
 Five years before, the brig was named the Calder, 
 and was then commanded by Captain Peter Dillon, 
 a famous officer in the East India Company's 
 service ; his name is interwoven with the sea story 
 of Australia as the commander of the Company's 
 ship Research, and the discoverer of the relics of 
 the gallant and ill-fated La Perouse, whose ships 
 were wrecked on Vanikoro Island, in the New 
 Hebrides group, in 1788. 
 
 When the Calder was under the command of 
 Captain Dillon she was a crack Indian trader to 
 173 
 
174 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 Port Jackson, but newer and smarter vessels drove 
 her out of the trade ; and in 1828 she was owned 
 by Mr. John Duncan, an English merchant of 
 Valparaiso, who for this present voyage had loaded 
 her with wheat for Sydney, and sent her to sea 
 under the command of Mr. Joseph Hunter, after 
 changing her name to Indefatigable. 
 
 The first and second mates of the brig were 
 Europeans, as also were two or three of the crew 
 the rest were Chilenos, picked up at the last 
 moment of sailing. The steward was a Bengali, 
 a man devoted to his captain, with whom he had 
 long sailed in other seas. The Chilenos were not 
 alone lazy and incompetent seamen, not fit to keep 
 a look-out, nor take the wheel in rough weather, 
 but what was worse, they were treacherous scoun- 
 drels, as ready for murder with their long, ugly 
 sheath-knives, as British merchant sailors are with 
 their fists for honest fighting. 
 
 Naturally enough, with such men as these the 
 mates frequently quarrelled, and on one or two 
 occasions the officers were driven to resort to blows 
 to maintain proper discipline. And a Chileno, or 
 any other Spanish South American, never forgives 
 a blow, though a knife-thrust or a pistol-shot in the 
 dark would not be considered anything else than 
 proper to vindicate wounded honour. But the 
 mates of the Indefatigable were simple-minded, 
 rough British seamen. They wanted the Chilenos 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 175 
 
 to work the ship like sailormen should work a 
 ship the Chilenos hated work of any kind, and 
 especially hated the steady discipline of this 
 English merchant ship the officers of which, 
 when necessity demanded it, would rout out the 
 watch below and send them aloft to shorten sail. 
 And so, in less than a week from the day the brig 
 sailed from Conception, mutiny and murder was 
 plotted in the foc's'cle by the Chilenos. But none 
 of the Englishmen on board had any thought of 
 
 danger. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Mr. Loftgreen, the chief mate, had the middle 
 watch. It was a marvellously clear and starlight 
 night, with just enough wind astern to keep the 
 brig's light canvas full and give her steerage way. 
 As the officer slowly paced the short poop, he 
 with difficulty resisted the soothing lullaby of the 
 murmur of the water as it rippled past the ship's 
 side. 
 
 On the foc's'cle, one of the Chileno sailors, named 
 Antonio Mancillo, kept the watch, and just as 
 Loftgreen, overcome by the stillness of his sur- 
 roundings, had stopped his walk and was leaning 
 on the rail at the break of the poop, almost dozing 
 good seaman as he was he heard the Chileno 
 cry out sharply 
 
 " There is an island close ahead ! Come for'ard, 
 Senor Loftgreen." 
 
176 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 The mate ran hastily for'ard, but as he reached 
 the short ladder which led to the topgallant 
 foc's'cle, two Chilenos, each carrying a cutlass, 
 sprang upon and seized him by the arms, while 
 Mancillo held the point of a knife to his throat. 
 
 " Ha, you Ingleese dog ! If you speak, you die 
 now ; we shall kill you," said one of the mutineers 
 in a fierce whisper. 
 
 Loftgreen, a tough, wiry young fellow, struggled 
 desperately, and freeing his right arm struck one 
 of the Chilenos a blow that sent him down as if he 
 had been shot, and cried out loudly, " Murder !" 
 " Mutiny ! ", Mancillo meanwhile making savage 
 thrusts at him with his knife, and the other man 
 trying to run him through with his cutlass ; but the 
 mate, unarmed as he was, was able to cope with 
 them both, for tripping up Mancillo he struck 
 him on the chest so violently that he fell against 
 the man with the cutlass. 
 
 Then the mate took to his heels and ran aft, 
 calling loudly for assistance. The disturbance, so 
 far, had scarcely lasted two minutes, and those of 
 the ship's company who were not on deck knew 
 nothing of what had happened. 
 
 Loftgreen, notwithstanding that he was wounded 
 and bleeding in the right arm, and half-dazed from 
 a somewhat severe cut on the head, succeeded in 
 reaching his cabin, where he seized a pair of 
 pistols, and still crying loudly to his sleeping fellow- 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 177 
 
 officers, prepared to defend himself to the last. 
 Unfortunately his pistols were not loaded, and in 
 his hurry and confusion he could not find his 
 bullet bag. 
 
 Just then the Bengali steward, awakened by the 
 noise, came running up the companion way, and 
 was met by one of the mutineers the helmsman 
 who struck him to the deck by a blow on the 
 shoulder from a cutlass. 
 
 Captain Hunter, awakened from his slumber by 
 the stamping of feet and the outcry, guessed what 
 had happened. Quickly seizing his pistols, and 
 buckling on his sword (in those days merchant 
 captains always possessed swords, for they had use 
 for them sometimes) he ran out of his cabin, just 
 as the mutineers reached the door. He discharged 
 both pistols together, but unfortunately was too 
 excited to take aim, and neither shot had any 
 effect, but for a little while he kept the Chilians at 
 bay with his sword, until covered with wounds he 
 staggered ; in an instant one of them darted in upon 
 him, and a cutlass was thrust through his heart. 
 
 Then the mutineers again turned their attention 
 to the gallant mate, who was unable to get out of 
 his cabin, one of the attacking party having turned 
 the key from the outside. The cabin lamp had 
 been knocked over in the struggle, and the dark- 
 ness made the murderers careful of their movements, 
 for they were afraid that Loftgreen might force his 
 
 13 
 
178 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 door and burst out upon them, and after a hurried 
 discussion they ran on deck. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Todd, the second mate, aroused 
 by the cries and shots in the main cabin, jumped 
 out of his bunk, and trying to open his cabin door, 
 found it was fastened from the outside. Throwing 
 himself against it, he burst it open at the same 
 moment as the wounded steward crawled past 
 upon his hands and knees. Unable to speak, the 
 Bengali placed a cutlass in the officer's hands, 
 and pointed to the hacked and bleeding body of 
 the dead captain, just discernible in the darkness. 
 Todd at once secured Hunter's pistols, and Loft- 
 green at the same moment burst the door of his 
 cabin and came out, and the two men, who had no 
 time for words, prepared to sell their lives dearly, 
 believing that those of the crew who might have 
 been loyal had been slaughtered. For some 
 minutes they stood waiting in the darkness, and 
 heard no sound but the moans of the steward, who 
 was fast weakening from loss of blood. 
 
 Then came a sudden rush down the companion- 
 way, and the Chilenos, with savage cries, were 
 upon them ! Poor Loftgreen's pistols were in bad 
 order, and missed fire, and although the two men 
 fought desperately with their empty weapons they 
 were soon overpowered, and with the steward were 
 taken on deck and lashed to the poop stanchions. 
 Exhausted and bleeding profusely, they presently 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 179 
 
 saw some of the mutineers emerge from the cabin, 
 dragging with them Captain Hunter's body, which 
 they at once threw overboard. 
 
 Before these events had taken place the 
 Chilians had quietly secured the fore -scuttle, 
 battening down the carpenter, cook, and three 
 other European seamen, so that even before 
 Loftgreen was attacked the ship was practically 
 in the hands of the six mutineers, for the man at 
 the wheel was one of their number. 
 
 Leaving the two officers and the steward guarded 
 by two men, the remaining four mutineers, after 
 heaving-to the brig, went below to the bloodstained 
 cabin, and breaking open the spirit-locker began a 
 carousal which lasted some hours, to the accom- 
 paniment of music on Mancillo's guitar. They 
 took care, however, to relieve the two sentinels, 
 and kept themselves sober enough to shorten sail 
 if it became necessary. 
 
 At daylight, after giving all their prisoners food, 
 the mutineers held a consultation as to their future 
 proceedings, and at noon, in pursuance of their 
 design, they hoisted out the longboat, and placed 
 in her a couple of breakers of water, a bag of 
 biscuit, and a few pieces of salt meat. 
 
 Then Loftgreen and the second mate were 
 liberated, and the former taken below. Seated 
 at the cabin table were Mancillo and three of his 
 fellow-ruffians. 
 
i8o THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 As soon as the chief officer entered Mancillo 
 rose, and drawing a loaded pistol from his belt he 
 pointed to a large sheet of paper lying on the table, 
 and ordered Loftgreen to make a rough chart 
 showing the course and distance to the nearest 
 land, adding, " You see that we have now got this 
 brig. You are the only man on board who can 
 navigate her. You must stay with us, for we want 
 you to sail the ship to Manila. The other men we 
 shall put in the longboat, and this chart you will 
 draw will be good enough for them to reach the 
 nearest land." 
 
 " The nearest land ! Good God ! it is inhabited 
 by ferocious cannibals who will eat them! You 
 cannot be so inhuman ! " said the mate. 
 
 Mancillo laughed cruelly " Let them be eaten ! 
 so much the better for us. When they are dead 
 they cannot talk." 
 
 " Then let me share their fate, I " 
 
 The leader of the mutineers placed the muzzle of 
 his pistol against Loftgreen's chest. 
 
 " Be silent, you damned Ingleese dog ! Be silent, 
 and do what I tell you, or by the Holy Virgin, I 
 kill you." 
 
 Thereupon the mate, notwithstanding his 
 wounded arm, and with his thoughts distracted 
 by the fate before him, not only made a good 
 chart, but he did more; for it suddenly flashed upon 
 him that in all probability neither Mancillo nor 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 181 
 
 any of his fellow-ruffians could read English, so 
 after finishing the drawing he turned to Mancillo 
 and said 
 
 " Mr. Todd is an ignorant man, and this chart 
 will be of no use to him unless I can give him 
 directions how to steer. Will you let me do so ? " 
 
 " No ! " answered the mutineer, quickly, " you 
 must not speak to him again, nor to any of the 
 others." 
 
 " As you will. Poor fellows ; I can do no more, 
 but at least I can write on the back of the chart 
 and tell Mr. Todd the prevailing directions of the 
 winds, the courses to be steered, and the name of 
 the least savage of the islands he can make for." 
 
 Then coolly turning the chart over, he scribbled 
 a few lines upon it. 
 
 " There," he said, " read that ; you will see that 
 that can do no harm." 
 
 Mancillo looked critically at the writing for a 
 few minutes, and Loftgreen's heart thumped 
 against his ribs as he watched. Then a sigh of 
 relief burst from him as the mutineer spoke. 
 
 " We are not murderers, and do not mind for 
 you to give the second mate the good directions. 
 But if you are lying to us we shall have your life 
 for it." 
 
 These were the words he had written : " Not 
 allowed to speak or write. Coast the islands, all 
 are dangerous till you reach Otaheite. Am forced 
 
1 82 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 to navigate the mutineers to Manila. I will try to 
 retake the ship, as I think I can gain over Jose and 
 the cook, and then make for Otaheite. Have 
 patience, and trust in God always." 
 
 Loftgreen was then again placed in irons, and 
 one of the mutineers stood sentry in the cabin over 
 him, while Mancillo and the rest went on deck and 
 set about disposing of the remaining prisoners. 
 Mr. Todd was the first man ordered into the boat, 
 which had now been lowered and brought along- 
 side. Then Mancillo handed him the chart and a 
 compass. 
 
 " Here," said the mutineer, " we give you fine 
 chart, just made for you by the mate. You see he 
 has write out for you your course, so you will soon 
 make the land." Then he added with a grin " Is 
 not Antonio Mancillo damn good fellow, eh ? " 
 
 Poor Todd looked at the chart, and then at the 
 writing at the back of it, and miserably anxious 
 and dejected as he was, he found it hard to resist 
 smiling at the clever way in which his fellow-officer 
 had got to windward of the Chileno. However, he 
 pulled a long face, and said there was " mighty 
 little chance of reaching anywhere but a savage 
 island, with such a poor chart as that. " What," 
 he added angrily, " is the good of this writing ? 
 We could find a cannibal island without this," and 
 he contemptuously flung the chart into the stern 
 sheets of the boat. 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 183 
 
 Then, one by one, the wounded steward, the 
 carpenter, and a Swedish seaman whose name is 
 not recorded, were brought on deck and forced, at 
 the point of cutlasses, to enter the boat, which was 
 then cast adrift. 
 
 As the boat dropped astern, Mancillo ran up a 
 flag of some description, and the remaining 
 mutineers gathered on the poop and jeered at 
 Todd and his companions ; their insulting cries 
 and mocking words reaching the ears of the half- 
 maddened Loftgreen in the cabin, and reminding 
 him that he was alone and at the mercy of utter 
 scoundrels, with any one of whom his life was not 
 worth a moment's purchase. 
 
 But although they were not manacled, the second 
 mate and his companions in the boat were in little 
 better plight, for their distance from the nearest 
 land they could hope to make was nearly six 
 hundred miles. But Todd was no faint-heart. 
 
 " Better the open sea, my lads," he said, " than 
 the brig and those damned Spanish cut-throats. 
 We are at least free men. Poor Mr. Loftgreen, 
 I fear, will be murdered." 
 
 Then after dressing the steward's wound a 
 cutlass slash which had severed the collar-bone 
 he ordered the sail to be hoisted and took the 
 tiller. This done he steered a due west course, 
 which according to the mate's chart would bring 
 them to the easternmost of the Paumotus - a 
 
184 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 group of low-lying islands almost unknown in 
 those days except to American whale-ships. 
 
 In the boat were sufficient biscuits, salt beef, 
 and water to last them, with great economy, for 
 a fortnight. The boat itself was a good one, 
 and they were provided with a compass and a 
 course to be steered. The men were on good 
 terms with each other and loyal and submis- 
 sive to their officer ; so they had much to be 
 thankful for, and their chief sorrow in leaving 
 the brig was their fears for the safety of Loft- 
 green, who had always been a kind and con- 
 siderate officer. 
 
 For fifteen days the boat sailed before light 
 breezes, till on August /th they made Tawere 
 Island in the Paumotus Archipelago (named by 
 Cook " Resolution Island " after his ship) almost in 
 the centre of the vast group, having passed with- 
 out sighting them many other low-lying atolls 
 which lay in their course on the starboard hand. 
 To their joy the brown-skinned natives of Tawere 
 behaved very kindly to them, for several whale- 
 ships, and, later on, the missionaries of the London 
 Missionary Society's ship, had visited their island, 
 and the people were well-disposed to white men. 
 The island afforded but little in the way of food 
 only fish, pigs, cocoanuts, and a coarse species of 
 taro, but of these the people were profuse in their 
 presents to the white men. 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 185 
 
 Only remaining a day and a night at Tawere, 
 Todd bade farewell to the amiable natives, and 
 continued on his course, sighting many other 
 islands of the group, but calling at none. Then 
 came a heavy gale from the south, and he had to 
 let the boat run right before it to the north. The 
 sea was short and lumpy, and only continuous 
 bailing kept her from filling. 
 
 Early on the morning of the I5th further mis- 
 fortunes overtook them ; a sudden squall sprung 
 the mast, although the sail was close reefed. Then 
 the rudder gudgeons carried away, and the boat 
 broached to and shipped a heavy sea, which with 
 other damage tore the compass from the after- 
 thwart, where it had been placed, and completely 
 smashed and rendered it useless. A few hours 
 later, however, the weather cleared, the gale died 
 away, and the gentle south-east trade again 
 breathed upon them. That evening they made 
 Anaa (Chain Island), the natives of which, owing 
 to previous association with South Seamen as 
 whaling and trading ships were then called were 
 very good to them. At Anaa, Todd and his com- 
 rades remained for two days, and on the morning 
 of the 2Oth day they sighted the noble outlines of 
 Tahiti, the Garden of the South Pacific. 
 
 Here they thought their troubles were ended, 
 for the natives of Tahiti were known to not only 
 be friendly to white men, but Christianised as well. 
 
i86 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 But as soon as the sea-worn men approached the 
 beach, numbers of canoes, filled with natives 
 armed with muskets, put off, and surrounding the 
 boat, made the white men prisoners. 
 
 Greatly alarmed at this proceeding which was 
 such a contrary reception to what they had ex- 
 pected from the Tahitians Todd at first imagined 
 he had lost his reckoning and arrived at some 
 strange island. But some of the natives spoke 
 a little English, and very soon their conduct was 
 explained to the white men. 
 
 Some months previously a party of escaped 
 convicts had arrived at the island in a small 
 schooner, which they had seized at Van Dieman's 
 Land (Tasmania). In bringing the vessel to 
 an anchor the convicts lost her on the reef, and 
 their lives had been saved by the Tahitians. The 
 strangers were hospitably received, but their 
 degraded natures were soon made evident. They 
 broke into a chiefs house, stole food, arms, and 
 ammunition, placed them in a boat belonging to 
 the local white missionaries, and ran away with 
 her. A party of Tahitians gave chase, and were 
 fired upon by the convicts, who killed four of their 
 number and badly injured their canoe, so that the 
 remainder had the greatest difficulty in reaching 
 the land again. 
 
 Todd and his companions were thought to be 
 another party of convicts, and the queen and 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 187 
 
 chiefs of the island gave orders that they should 
 be kept close prisoners. 
 
 But this additional misfortune was soon over, 
 for as the boat, escorted by the canoes, entered 
 Papeite Harbour Mr. Todd saw lying at anchor 
 the London South Seaman Tiger, Captain Richards. 
 This vessel had been at Conception at the same 
 time as the Indefatigable, and the officers of each 
 ship had met. In the course of an hour or so 
 Todd saw Captain Richards and told his story, 
 and then the misunderstanding with the Tahitians 
 was cleared up and the second mate and his com- 
 panions supplied with every comfort. A week 
 later the Tiger sailed for Sydney, taking the four 
 men with her. 
 
 Meanwhile what had become of the Indefatigable, 
 and how fared poor Loftgreen with the mutineers ? 
 # * * * * 
 
 As soon as the longboat was clear of the brig 
 the mutineers released the mate. 
 
 " We now want the brig navigated to Guam " 
 (one of the Ladrone Islands), said Mancillo to 
 Loftgreen ; " I am captain now, and you must 
 do as I bid you. Beware of a mistake. If you 
 take the ship out of her course we will serve you 
 as we served Captain Hunter." 
 
 So the voyage, which lasted until the 1 2th of 
 December, began. The life led by the men in 
 the longboat was easy enough compared with the 
 
188 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 terrible months of mental torture endured by the 
 unfortunate mate. Only that fine weather pre- 
 vailed the whole time, the brig would most assuredly 
 have been lost, for the mutineers were utterly 
 without discipline, and would only furl, or set, 
 or trim the sails just as the humour took them. 
 Every night Loftgreen was put in irons and left 
 to himself till daylight. 
 
 There was a considerable supply of wine and 
 spirits on board, and four out of the six Chilians 
 were continuously drunk. Then these four vowed 
 that it was essential to the success of their 
 enterprise that Loftgreen should be murdered. 
 The two men who did not drink were more 
 prudent ruffians, and knew that without their 
 navigator they were helpless, and so they pro- 
 tected him. 
 
 Very often Loftgreen, who had a fair knowledge 
 of Spanish, had to stand in the midst of the 
 Chilenos whilst he was taking observations, and 
 listen to them debating as to whether they should 
 take his life at once or spare him until they 
 reached Guam. And it was only the heroic 
 resolve to save the ship for his owners that pre- 
 vented him from trying to escape in a small 
 quarter-boat, or attempting to kill the mutineers 
 in their sleep, and let the brig drift about the 
 Pacific till he was sighted by another ship. 
 
 He soon found out that the mutineers had no idea 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 189 
 
 that Guam was actually settled by the Spaniards. 
 It is probable that they knew that Guam was 
 owned by Spain, but no doubt thought that the 
 island was inhabited only by natives, like Saipan 
 and Rota in the same group. One of the two 
 mutineers, who entertained friendly feelings to- 
 wards him, told him that Mancillo's idea was to 
 sell the brig to the islanders in return for liberty 
 to lead his ideal of life eating, drinking, sleeping, 
 and keeping an extensive harem on one of the 
 many islands in the North Pacific. 
 
 At last the brig arrived at Port San Luis d'Apra, 
 in Guam, and a native pilot brought her to an 
 anchor. One of the mutineers remarked to 
 Mancillo that he supposed they were safe, " But," 
 said he, pointing to some houses ashore, " those 
 are not native houses ; there are Europeans living 
 here." 
 
 A boat was lowered, and Mancillo, after dress- 
 ing himself in Captain Hunter's best clothes, was 
 rowed ashore by two of his fellow-mutineers to 
 see what the place was like. To their intense 
 surprise they found awaiting them the Alcalde of 
 San Luis, and a lieutenant and guard of Spanish 
 soldiers. 
 
 The Alcalde questioned them closely as to who 
 they were, and what had brought them to Guam. 
 Their replies did not satisfy the official, who, 
 placing Mancillo in custody and taking half a 
 
190 THE SOUTH SEAMAN 
 
 dozen soldiers with him, made the two Chilenos 
 row him off to the ship. 
 
 On seeing the soldiers approach, the remaining 
 mutineers, cowards as they were, concluded that 
 their shipmates had betrayed them, and ran below 
 to hide themselves, leaving Mr. Loftgreen on deck 
 to receive the Alcalde, who was soon in possession 
 of the whole story. Unlike most Spanish officials, 
 he did not want a bribe to ensure his performance 
 of his duty. He promptly seized the Indefatigable ', 
 and the Chilenos were taken ashore and marched 
 to the fort under guard. Then the Alcalde and 
 Governor, with much formality, held a court, and 
 took the mate's evidence ; the result of which was 
 the mutineers were placed in heavy irons, and the 
 almost heart-broken Loftgreen was received in 
 the Governor's house as an honoured guest and 
 supplied with every comfort. 
 
 Soon afterwards the Rainbow^ a British frigate 
 commanded by Captain Rous, put into San Luis 
 d'Apra. The Rainbow had made many important 
 discoveries in Australian waters, more particularly 
 on the northern coast, but the name of her gallant 
 commander will probably be longer remembered 
 as Admiral Rous, the famous turf patron, than as 
 Captain Rous the explorer and navigator. 
 
 Mr. Loftgreen was received on board the Rainbow 
 as English naval officers always receive a brave and 
 distressed merchant seaman. The mutineers were 
 
THE SOUTH SEAMAN 191 
 
 handed over to the British captain for conveyance 
 to Manila for trial. The frigate arrived at Manila 
 on January iQth, and there the Chilenos had short 
 shrift, for within three days they were brought to 
 trial and duly garrotted. 
 
 Mr. Loftgreen, who made many friends in 
 Manila, was afforded a passage to Sydney, and 
 the Indefatigable was condemned as a prize to the 
 Spanish Government. She was afterwards lost 
 in a typhoon in the China Sea. 
 
 Such is one of the many incidents of the sea 
 story of Australia. 
 
Foster s Letter of ZMarque 
 
 A TALE OF OLD SYDNEY 
 I 
 
 ONE by one the riding-lights of the few store- 
 ships and whalers lying in Sydney Harbour 
 on an evening in January, 1802, were lit, and as 
 the clear notes of a bugle from the barracks pealed 
 over the bay, followed by the hoarse calls and shrill 
 whistles of the boatswains' mates on a frigate that 
 lay in Sydney Cove, the mate of the Policy whaler 
 jumped up from the skylight where he had been 
 lying smoking, and began to pace the deck. 
 
 The Policy was anchored between the Cove and 
 Pinchgut, ready for sea. The north-easter, which 
 for three days had blown strongly, had now died 
 away, and the placid waters of the harbour shim- 
 mered under the starlight of an almost cloudless 
 sky. As the old mate tramped to and fro on the 
 
 deserted poop, his keen seaman's eye caught sight 
 
 192 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 193 
 
 of some faint grey clouds rising low down in the 
 westward signs of a south-easterly coming before 
 the morning. 
 
 Stepping to the break of the poop, the officer 
 hailed the look-out forward, and asked if he could 
 see the captain's boat coming. 
 
 " No, sir," the man replied. " I did see a boat a 
 while ago, and thought it was ours, but it turned 
 out to be one from that Batavian Dutchman 
 anchored below Pinchgut. Her captain always 
 goes ashore about this time." 
 
 Swinging round on his heel with an angry 
 exclamation, the mate resumed his walk, mutter- 
 ing and growling to himself as elderly mates do 
 mutter and growl when a captain promises to be 
 on board at five in the afternoon and is not in 
 evidence at half-past seven. Perhaps, too, the 
 knowledge of the particular cause of the captain's 
 delay somewhat added to his chief officer's ill- 
 temper that cause being a pretty girl ; for the 
 mate was a crusty old bachelor, and had but little 
 sympathy with such " tomfoolery." 
 
 " Why the devil couldn't he say goodbye to 
 her and be done with it and come aboard," he 
 grumbled, " instead of wasting half a day over 
 it?" 
 
 But Mr. Stevenson did not consider that in those 
 days pretty women were not plentiful in Sydney, 
 and virtue was even scarcer than good looks, and 
 
 14 
 
194 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 Dorothy Gilbert, only daughter of the Deputy 
 Acting Assistant Commissary-General of the 
 penal settlement, possessed all the qualifications 
 of a lovable woman, and therefore it was not 
 wonderful that Captain Charles Foster had fallen 
 very much in love with her. 
 
 Dorothy, of course, had her faults, and her chief 
 one was the rather too great store she set upon 
 being the daughter of an official. Pretty nearly 
 every one in those days of the settlement was 
 either an official or a prisoner or an ex-convict, 
 and the D.A.A.C.G. was of no small importance 
 among the other officials in Sydney. The girl's 
 acquaintance with the young master of the Policy 
 began in a very ordinary manner. His ship had 
 been chartered by the Government to take out a 
 cargo of stores to the settlement, and the owners, 
 who were personally acquainted with her father, 
 had given Foster a letter of introduction. This he 
 had used somewhat sooner than he had at first 
 intended, for on presenting himself at the Com- 
 missary's office he had caught sight of Dolly's 
 charming face as she stood talking to a young 
 man in the uniform of a sergeant of the New 
 South Wales Regiment who had brought a letter 
 to her father. 
 
 " Thank you, Sergeant," the young lady said 
 with a gracious smile. "Will you present my 
 father's compliments to the Major and say we 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 195 
 
 shall be sure to come. He is not here at present, 
 but cannot delay long, as he will have much busi- 
 ness to transact with the master of the ship just 
 come in, and who will doubtless be here very 
 soon." 
 
 Just at that moment Foster appeared at the 
 open door, and the young lady, divining at once 
 that he was the person of whom she had just 
 spoken, bowed very prettily, and begging him to 
 be seated whilst she had search made for her 
 father, left the office and disappeared in the living 
 portion of the house, followed by a look of very 
 great interest from Captain Foster. A minute 
 later the Commissary entered the room, and Foster 
 was soon deep in business with Dolly's father, to 
 whom he made himself very agreeable having a 
 certain object in view. 
 
 Their business concluded, the young man rose 
 to go, and not till then being wise in his genera- 
 tion did he allude to the fact of his having a 
 private letter of introduction from his owners 
 Messrs. Hurry Brothers, of London to Mr. Scars- 
 brook. The stiff, official manner of the D.A.A.C.G. 
 at once thawed, and being at heart a genial old 
 fellow, he expressed his pleasure, shook hands 
 again with the young man, and inquired why he 
 had not presented the letter or made allusion to it 
 before. 
 
 Foster, who had pretty well gauged Mr. Scars- 
 
196 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 brook mentally, modestly replied that he did not 
 care to obtrude private affairs at an inopportune 
 time. He knew that weighty affairs doubtless 
 occupied Mr. Scarsbrook's mind during his busi- 
 ness hours, but had intended to do himself the 
 honour of presenting his letter later on, &c. 
 
 This at once impressed the D.A.A.C.G., who 
 asked him to dinner that evening. 
 
 " A most intelligent young man, my dear," he 
 told Dolly shortly after. " His attention to busi- 
 ness before all else has given me a very favourable 
 impression of him." 
 
 Dolly tossed her head. " I hope I shall not be 
 disappointed in him. Is he young ? " she asked 
 indifferently. 
 
 " Quite ; and in manners and appearance much 
 above his position." 
 
 Dolly did like him very much much more than 
 she cared to confess to herself and their first 
 meeting at dinner led to many of a less formal 
 character, and ere a week had passed Captain 
 Charles Foster was very much in love with his 
 host's daughter, and not being a man who wasted 
 time, was only awaiting an opportunity to tell her 
 so. 
 
 Now Dolly, who had first flirted with and then 
 flouted every one of the bachelor officials in Sydney, 
 military or civilian, who visited the Commissary's 
 abode, was, to do her justice, a girl of sense at 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 197 
 
 heart, and she felt that Captain Foster meant to 
 ask her an all-important question to every woman 
 and that her answer would be " Yes." For not 
 only was he young, handsome, and highly thought 
 of by his owners, but he came of a good family, 
 and had such prospects for his future as seldom 
 came in the way of men in the merchant service 
 even in those days of lucky South-Seamen and 
 East India traders, who made fortunes rapidly. 
 And then 'twas evident he was very much in 
 love with her, and this latter fact considerably and 
 naturally influenced her. 
 
 The first week passed pleasantly enough, then, 
 to his anger and disgust, Foster found he had a 
 rival ; and before the end of the second week he 
 realised, or imagined so, that he was beaten in the 
 field of love by a Dutchman ! 
 
 Sergeant Harry Burt was the first to give him 
 warning, for he was often on duty at or near the 
 Commissary's quarters, and, indeed, had often 
 taken notes from Foster to the fair Dolly. He 
 showed a warm interest in the matter, for Foster 
 was always polite to the sergeant, and did not turn 
 up his nose at " soldier men," as other masters of 
 ships were but too ready to do. 
 
 It had so happened that the work of discharging 
 his ship had kept Foster very busy during the 
 second week of his stay, and he had paid but one 
 evening visit to Dolly and her father, and was 
 
198 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 hurrying the cargo ashore with feverish eagerness. 
 Once that was accomplished, he meant to devote 
 himself (i) to proposing to the young lady, (2) 
 gaining her father's consent, and (3) getting to sea 
 again as soon as possible, making a good cruise at 
 the whale fishery, and returning to Sydney within 
 two years as master and owner of a ship of his own. 
 Consequently, Burt's news gave him considerable 
 disquietude. 
 
 " Who did you say he was, Sergeant ? " he asked 
 gloomily ; " a Dutchman ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he's the master of that Dutch Batavian 
 ship that has brought stores from Batavia. Mr. 
 Scarsbrook seems to make a lot of him of late, 
 and he's always coming up to the Commissary's 
 place. And if he sees Miss Scarsbrook out in the 
 garden he swaggers in after her as if he were an 
 admiral of the fleet. Portveldt's his name, and 
 and " 
 
 " And what, Sergeant ? " 
 
 " Well, I think Miss Scarsbrook rather likes 
 him, that's all. You see, sir, you haven't been 
 there for a week, and this young Dutchman is by 
 no means bad-looking, and even our Major says 
 he's a jolly fine fellow and all that goes a long 
 way with women, you know. Then you only visit 
 the house once in a week ; the Dutchman goes 
 there every day, and every time he comes he 
 brings his boatswain with him a big, greasy-faced 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 199 
 
 chap. Last night he followed his master, carrying 
 a cheese a present for the Commissary, I sup- 
 pose." 
 
 "Well, I shall soon see how the land lies, 
 Sergeant. I'm going ashore presently, and I 
 can promise you it won't be my fault if I let this 
 fellow get to windward of me." 
 
 But Miss Dolly was not to be seen that day, nor 
 yet on the following one. She was vexed at 
 Foster having thought of his work before herself, 
 and she had determined to punish him by not 
 meeting him for some little time, and amuse her- 
 self with the handsome young Dutch sailor mean- 
 while. So, in no very amiable mood, Foster went 
 back to his ship, finished discharging, and delighted 
 his old mate by telling him to get ready for sea as 
 quickly as possible. And on this particular evening 
 when our story opens the Policy only waited for 
 her captain who had gone ashore so he told 
 Stevenson to say goodbye to the Commissary, 
 with parting instructions to the mate to begin to 
 heave up as soon as he saw his (Foster's) boat 
 leave the Cove. 
 
 After spending half an hour with the Commis- 
 sary, Foster asked to see Miss Dorothy, and was 
 soon ushered into the sitting-room, where the 
 young lady welcomed him effusively, and her 
 manner soon drove all suspicious thoughts of his 
 rival out of his mind. Her mother, a placid lady, 
 
200 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE " 
 
 who was absolutely ruled by Dolly and her father, 
 smiled approval when Foster asked her daughter 
 to accompany him to the garden and take a look 
 at the harbour. She liked him, and had previously 
 given him much assistance by getting out of the 
 way whenever she suspected he wanted to see 
 Dolly alone. 
 
 As soon as they had gained the screen of the 
 shaded path leading to the water's edge, Foster 
 came to the point at once. 
 
 " Dolly," he said, " you know why I have 
 asked you to come with me here. My ship is 
 ready for sea, and it may be quite two years 
 before I shall have the happiness of seeing you 
 again." 
 
 " Tis very kind of you to pay me so pretty a 
 compliment, Captain Foster or I should say Mr. 
 Foster," said Dolly, concealing a smile ; " but 
 surely you need not have brought me out to the 
 garden to tell me this." 
 
 Her pretended forgetfulness of some past pas- 
 sages in their brief acquaintance, as her speech 
 implied, ruffled him. 
 
 " You are very particular with your Mr. Foster, 
 Miss Dolly ; and why not * Captain ' ? " 
 Dolly raised her eyebrows in surprise. 
 " Captains hold the King's commission and fight 
 for their country," she said demurely. " The master 
 of a horrid ship that goes catching whales has no 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 201 
 
 right to the title." Then she laughed and shook 
 her long, fair curls. 
 
 " Upon my word, young lady, you are very com- 
 plimentary ; but, Dolly, no more of this banter. 
 My boat is waiting, and I have but a few minutes 
 to ask you to give me your answer. In all serious- 
 ness remember that my future depends upon it. 
 Will you marry me ? Will you try to love me ? 
 May I go away with the hope that you will look 
 
 forward to my return, and " 
 
 " In all seriousness, Mr. Foster, I will not." 
 
 " Why, what have I done to offend you ? I 
 
 thought you I thought that I " and then, 
 
 getting somewhat confused and angry at the same 
 time at Dolly's nonchalant manner, he wound up 
 with, " I believe that damned Dutchman has come 
 between us ! " 
 
 " How dare you swear at me, sir ? I suppose, 
 though, it is the custom for captains in the mer- 
 chant service to swear at ladies. And what right 
 have you to assume that I should marry you ? 
 Because I rather liked to talk to you when I felt 
 dull, is that any reason why you should be so very 
 rude to me ? And once for all, sir, I shall never 
 marry a mere merchant sailor a common whaling 
 master. I shall marry, when I do marry, an officer 
 and a gentleman in the King's service." 
 
 " Ah ! " Foster snapped, " and what about the 
 Dutchman ? " 
 
202 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 Now up to this point Dolly had been making 
 mere pretence. She honestly loved the young 
 seaman, and meant to tell him so plainly before 
 he left the garden, but at this last question the 
 merriment he had failed to see in her eyes gave 
 place to an angry sparkle, and she quickly re- 
 torted 
 
 " Mr. Portveldt, sir, is, a Dutch gentleman, and 
 he would never talk to me in such a way as you 
 have done. How dare you, sir ! " 
 
 Foster was really angry now, and smiled sarcas- 
 tically. " He's but the master of a merchantman, 
 and an infernal Dutchman at that." 
 
 " He is a gentleman, which you are not ! " 
 snapped Dolly fiercely ; " and if he is but a 
 merchant skipper, he commands his own ship. 
 He is a shipowner, and a well-known Batavian 
 merchant as well, sir ; so there ! " 
 
 "So I believe," said Foster wrathfully; "sells 
 Dutch cheeses and brings them ashore with him." 
 
 " You're a spy," said Dolly contemptuously. 
 
 " Very well, Miss Scarsbrook, call me what you 
 please. I can see your cheese merchant waddling 
 this way now, attended by his ugly pirate of a 
 boatswain. Doubtless he has some stock-fish on 
 this occasion, and as stock-fish are very much like 
 Dutchmen in one respect and I like neither, I wish 
 you joy of him. Goodbye ! " And Captain Foster 
 swung on his heel and walked quickly out of the 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 203 
 
 garden gate. As he strode down the narrow path 
 he brushed past the Batavian merchant, who was 
 on his way to the Commissary's office. 
 
 " Goot tay to you, Captain Foster," said Port- 
 veldt, grinning amiably. 
 
 " Go to the devil ! " replied the Englishman 
 promptly, turning round and facing the Dutchman 
 to give due emphasis to his remark. 
 
 Portveldt, a tall, well-made fellow, and hand- 
 somely dressed, stared at Foster's retreating figure 
 in angry astonishment, then changing his mind 
 about first visiting the Commissary, he opened the 
 garden gate, and came suddenly upon Dorothy 
 Scarsbrook seated upon a rustic bench, weeping 
 bitterly. 
 
 " My tear yong lady, vat is de matter ? I beg 
 you to led me gomfort you." 
 
 " There is nothing the matter, Mr. Portveldt. I 
 thank you, but you cannot be of any service to 
 me," and Dolly buried her face in her handkerchief 
 again. 
 
 " I am sorry ferry mooch to hear you say dat, 
 Mees Dorotee, vor it vas mein hop dot you would 
 dake kindtly to me." 
 
 Dolly made no answer, and then Captain Port- 
 veldt sat down beside her, his huge figure quite 
 filling up all the remaining space. 
 
 " Mees Dorotee," he began ponderously, " de 
 trood is dot I vas goming to see you to dell you I 
 
204 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 vas ferry mooch in loaf mid you, und to ask you to 
 be mein vifes ; but now dot you do veep so mooch, 
 
 I " 
 
 " Say no more if you please, Mr. Portveldt," said 
 Dolly, hastily drying her eyes. Then, rising with 
 great dignity, she bowed and went on : " Of course 
 I am deeply sensible of the great honour that you 
 do me, but I can never be your wife." And then 
 to herself: " I fancy that I have replied in a very 
 proper manner." 
 
 " Vy, vat vas der wrong aboud me, Mees 
 Dorotee ? " pleaded Portveldt. " I vas feery yoyful 
 in mein mind tinking dot you did loaf me some 
 liddle bid. I have mooch money ; mein haus in 
 Batavia is mosd peautiful, und you shall have 
 plendy servands to do all dot you vish. Oh, Mees 
 Dorotee ! vat can be wrong mid me ? " 
 
 " There is nothing that I object to in you, sir, 
 except that I do not love you. Really you cannot 
 expect me to marry you because I have seen you 
 half a dozen times and have treated you with 
 politeness." 
 
 " I do hobe, Mees Dorotee, dot id is not because 
 of dot yong mans who vas so oncivil to me yoost 
 now dot you vill not haf me. He vas dell me to 
 go to der tuyvel ven I did say * goot morning * 
 yoost now." 
 
 " It is no young man, sir. Mr. Foster is a 
 person for whom I have a great regard, but I do 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 205 
 
 not intend to marry him. I will only marry a 
 gentleman." 
 
 "Oh, bud, Mees Dorotee, am I not a yentle- 
 mans ? " 
 
 " I do not consider masters of merchantmen 
 gentlemen," replied Dolly with a slight sniff. " My 
 father is an officer in the King's service, and I have 
 been taught to " 
 
 " Ha, ha ! Mees Dorotee," laughed Portveldt 
 good-humouredly, " dot is nod so. Your baba is 
 but a gommissary who puys de goots vich I bring 
 me from Batavia to sell." 
 
 " How dare you talk like that, sir ? My father 
 is a King's officer, and before he came here he 
 fought for his country." 
 
 "Veil, Mees Dorotee, I do beg your pardon 
 mooch, and I vill vight vor mein country if you vil 
 learn to loaf me on dot account." 
 
 But Miss Dolly would listen no more, and, with 
 a ceremonious bow, walked away. Then the Dutch 
 merchant went to the Commissary's office to talk 
 the matter over with her father, who told him that 
 he would not interfere in his daughter's choice ; if 
 he could not make himself agreeable to her, neither 
 her father nor mother could help him. 
 
 Just after sunrise next morning, Dolly, who had 
 spent the night in tears and repentance, woke, feel- 
 ing very miserable. From her opened window she 
 could see the morning mists hanging over the 
 
206 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 placid waters of the harbour disappearing before 
 the first breaths of the coming south-easter. The 
 Policy -, she thought, could not have sailed yet, and 
 she meant to send her lover a note, asking him to 
 come and see her again before he left. Then she 
 gave a little cry and sob, and her eyes filled with 
 tears. Far down the harbour she could see the 
 sails of the Policy just disappearing round a wooded 
 headland. 
 
 An hour or so after breakfast, as Dolly was at 
 work among her flowers, the tall figure of Sergeant 
 Burt stood before her, and saluted 
 
 " The Policy has sailed, Miss Scarsbrook," said 
 the Sergeant, " and I have brought you a letter." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said Dolly, with an air of icy indif- 
 ference, turning her back upon the soldier, and 
 digging her trowel into a little heap of soil. " I do 
 not take any interest in merchant ships, and do not 
 want the letter." When she glanced round again 
 she was just in time to see Sergeant Burt standing 
 in the roadway with a lot of tiny pieces of paper 
 fluttering about his feet. 
 
 Something impelled her to ask : " What are you 
 doing, Burt ? " 
 
 "Mr. Foster's orders, Miss. Told me if you 
 would not take the letter I was to destroy it." 
 
 Dolly laid her trowel down and slowly went to 
 her room " with a bad headache," as she told her 
 mother. 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 207 
 
 II 
 
 Nearly two years went by, and then one morning 
 the look-out at the South Head of Sydney Har- 
 bour signalled a vessel to the north-east, and a few 
 hours later the Policy was again at anchor in 
 Sydney Cove, and Captain Foster was being 
 warmly welcomed by the residents generally and 
 Dolly's father in particular, who pressed him to 
 come ashore that evening to dinner. 
 
 Among the first to board the Policy was Sergeant 
 Burt, who, as soon as the others had left, was in 
 deep converse with Captain Foster. " I'm sure she 
 meant to take your letter, Mr. Foster," he said 
 finally, " and that I was too quick in tearing it up." 
 
 " I'll soon know, Burt ; I'll try again this even- 
 ing." 
 
 At the Commissary's dinner that evening Dolly 
 met him with a charming smile and cheeks suf- 
 fused ; and then, after Captain Foster had narrated 
 the incidents of his successful whaling voyage, her 
 parents discreetly left them to themselves in the 
 garden. 
 
 " Dolly ! I am a rough, uncultured sailor. Will 
 you therefore forgive me my rudeness when we 
 last parted?" 
 
 "Of course. I have forgotten it long ago, and I 
 am very sorry we parted bad friends." 
 
 " You make me very happy, Dolly. I have been 
 
208 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 speaking to your mother, and she has told me that 
 she thinks you do care for me. Is it so ? May I 
 again " 
 
 " Now, Captain Foster, why cannot we be friends 
 without without anything else. I will not pre- 
 tend that I do not understand your meaning, but 
 I tell you, once and for all, I don't want to be 
 married. Really," and she smiled brightly, " you 
 are as bad as Mr. Portveldt." 
 
 "Very well, Miss Dorothy," said Foster with 
 annoying equanimity, " I won't allude to the sub- 
 ject again. But what has the Dutchman been 
 doing ? Where is he now ? " 
 
 Dolly laughed merrily. " Oh, Captain Foster, I 
 really have no right to show you this letter, but it 
 is so very amusing that I cannot help doing so," 
 and she took a letter from her pocket. 
 
 " Oh, he has been writing to you, has he ? " 
 
 " Now don't speak in that bullying manner, sir, 
 or I shall not let you hear its contents." 
 
 " Very well, Dolly ; but how came you to 
 get the letter? We are at war with the Dutch 
 Settlements now, you know." 
 
 " That is the amusing part of it. Now listen, 
 and I will read it to you ; " and Dolly spread out a 
 large sheet of paper, and read aloud in mimicking 
 tones 
 
 " Mein dear Mees Dolly, You did vant ein 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 209 
 
 loafer who could vight vor his coundry, and vould 
 haf no man who vas yoost ein merchant. Very 
 goot. I mineself now command the privateer 
 Swift, vich vas used to be sailing in gompany mit 
 La Brave und La Mouche in der service of der 
 French Republic, und did den vight und beat all 
 der Anglische ships in der Anglische Channel. Id 
 is drue dot your La Minerve did by shance von tay 
 capture der Swift, and sold her to the American 
 beoples, but our Batavian merchants did buy her 
 from them, und now I haf god de command. Und 
 now dot your goundrymens do annoys der Deutsche 
 Settlements in our Easd Indies, ve do mean to 
 beat dem every dimes ve cadgh dem in dese zees. 
 Und I do send mein ledder to you, mein tear Mees 
 Dorotee, by der greasy old vale-ship Mary Ann, 
 yoost to led you know dot I haf not vorgotten 
 you mid your bride eye. Und ven I haf gaptured 
 all der Anglische ships in der East Indies I vill 
 sail mein Swift to Sydney and claim you vor mein 
 vrau, und do you nod be vrightened. I vill dake 
 care dot you und your beople shall not be hurt, 
 because I do loaf you ferry mooch. Der master 
 of der Mary Ann vill dell you I vas ferry goot to 
 him for your sake. I did but take his gargo, and 
 did give him und his grew liberdy to go to Sydney 
 und dake this letter to you, mein vrau, in der dime 
 to gom, as I did dell him. I remain your loafing 
 RICHARD PORTVELDT." 
 
 15 
 
210 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 Foster jumped to his feet. " The rascally Dutch 
 swab, to dare to " 
 
 " To dare to write to me," said Dolly laughingly. 
 
 " To dare to write to you ! To suppose for one 
 
 moment that you oh, d the fellow! If I 
 
 come across him, I'll " 
 
 " But all the same, he's very brave," said Dolly 
 demurely ; " he is fighting for his country, you 
 know." 
 
 " The boasting fool ! " ejaculated Foster con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " But he is captain of the Swift, and the Swift 
 did beat some of the English ships. I have heard 
 my father say that." 
 
 " Oh, yes. Three privateers did manage to cut 
 off some of our little despatch vessels in the 
 Channel ; but this fat Dutchman, Portveldt, had 
 no hand in it." 
 
 " But this ' fat Duchman, Portveldt/ did capture 
 the Mary Ann, and her master did give me this 
 letter, and and I was so angry." 
 
 "The master of the Mary Ann must have been 
 a fool." 
 
 " Why so for merely executing a commission ? 
 But wait, there is a postscript that will interest you 
 particularly. Now listen while I read it," and 
 Dolly, again mimicking Portveldt's English, read 
 
 "Dell dot oncivil yong mans Voster who vas dell 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 211 
 
 me to go to ter tuyvel, dot I vill sendt der Policy 
 und her master mit der grew to der tuyvel if he 
 gomes mein vay mit his zeep." 
 
 "Now, Captain Foster, what do you think of 
 that, pray ? " 
 
 " Very pretty talk ; what do you think of it ? " 
 
 " Well, I'm only a poor little woman ; but if I 
 were a man I would " 
 
 " Exactly so, Dolly. Well, I am a man, 
 and the Policy has brought a letter of marque 
 with her from England this time, and so I may 
 meet " 
 
 " Oh, Captain Foster ! " and Dolly's eyes 
 brightened, " I am glad ; but but please, for my 
 sake, don't get killed." 
 
 A fortnight later, when Foster bade Dolly good- 
 bye for another six months, she told him softly 
 that she would be glad oh, so very glad ! to hear 
 news of him. A whaling voyage was so very 
 dangerous, and he might get hurt or killed. 
 
 And this time, as the Policy sailed and Foster saw 
 Dolly waving to him from the steps of the Com- 
 missary's office, he felt pretty sure that the letter 
 of marque had advanced his suit considerably. 
 
 Fourteen days out from Sydney the Policy took 
 her first whale, greatly to the delight of old Steven- 
 son and the crew, who looked upon such early luck 
 
212 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 as a certain indication of a good cruise. After " try- 
 ing-out " Foster kept on to the northward to the 
 sperm-whaling grounds in the Moluccas. Three 
 days later they spoke the Endicott, of Nantucket, 
 whose captain gave Foster a kindly warning not 
 to go cruising further north, for there were several 
 Batavian privateers looking out for the English 
 whalers that were then due on the cruising ground. 
 Then the American wished him luck and goodbye. 
 
 Old Stevenson's face fell ; then he swore. " I 
 suppose we have to turn tail, sir, and try what we 
 can do to the southward and I believe we'd be a full 
 ship in three months or less up in the Moluccas." 
 
 " So do I, and I'm going there." 
 
 " But it's dangerous waters, sir ; we don't want 
 to lose the ship and rot in prison in Batavia." 
 
 " Mr. Stevenson, I am an Englishman, and Hurry 
 Brothers did not get a letter of marque for this ship 
 for nothing. You ought to know that to turn back 
 means an empty ship. It is our duty to go to our 
 proper cruising ground and cruise till we are a full 
 ship ; and all the infernal Dutchmen in the world 
 mustn't frighten us." 
 
 " Very good, sir," said the old mate cheerfully, 
 " but, all the same, 7 don't want us to get served 
 like that fellow Portveldt served the old Mary 
 Ann." 
 
 Another five weeks passed. So far, " greasy " 
 luck had attended the Policy y for she had taken 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 213 
 
 sixteen more sperm whales, the last of which 
 was killed in about 8 S. and 120 E., in the 
 Flores Sea. But misfortune had come upon the 
 ship in other respects, and Foster was in no small 
 anxiety about his crew, nearly all of whom were ill 
 from lead-poisoning. This had been brought about 
 by drinking water from leaden tanks in which oil 
 had once been stored. 
 
 A bright look-out was kept, for the ship was now 
 right in the spot where it was likely she might 
 meet with the Dutch privateers. 
 
 It was Stevenson's watch, and as he walked the 
 poop he stopped suddenly, for the look-out re- 
 ported a sail to the W.S.W. Foster came on deck 
 at once and went aloft. In a quarter of an hour 
 it was evident that the stranger bore towards them. 
 The wind was south-east, and very little of it. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " asked the mate. 
 " I fancy this is one of the Dutchmen who are on 
 the look-out for us." 
 
 " So do I," answered Foster, " I'll tell you 
 what I am going to do : brace sharp up on the 
 larboard tack and run down to her. I am not 
 going to run away from one infernal Dutchman, 
 and I can only see one of 'em." 
 
 "You're captain of the ship, and you can do 
 as you please ; but I am hanged if I think you'll 
 pull it off this time. Half the crew are sick, and 
 this fellow looks as if he meant fighting." 
 
214 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 " All hands on deck ; starboard forebrace ! " 
 was all the answer Foster made. Then he went 
 to the signal locker, and getting out the American 
 ensign, with his own hands ran it up to the 
 peak, hoping by this means to get close enough to 
 the other ship to prevent her from running away 
 from a fight, if the captain should turn out not 
 one of the fighting sort. 
 
 As soon as the sails were trimmed the skipper 
 walked to the break of the poop, and, with the air 
 of a captain of a seventy-four, gave the order, 
 " Clear ship for action ! " 
 
 Then the mate ventured to remark that half of 
 the guns were down below on the 'tween decks, 
 where they had been put out of the way for the 
 generally peaceful occupation of whaling. 
 
 "Well, get 'm up. What the devil do you 
 think I mean by clearing for action ? " 
 
 Accordingly, the six-pounders were hoisted 
 upon deck and quickly mounted, what little 
 powder and shot the Policy carried was brought 
 into a handy place, and the mate, with some- 
 thing of a smile, reported, " Ship cleared for 
 action, sir." 
 
 "Very good, Mr. Stevenson. Now, my lads, 
 I reckon this ship is one of the Dutch fleet 
 sent to clear us whalers out of these seas. Well, 
 as he seems to be alone, I think we have a fair 
 chance of turning the tables upon him. Anyhow, 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 215 
 
 I am going to try. I know some of you are 
 pretty sick, but I am sure that a crew of English 
 sailors, even when they are sick, can lick twice 
 their number of muddle-headed Dutchmen any 
 day." 
 
 In those days, British ships were manned by 
 British seaman, and Captain Foster could talk 
 like this without saying anything offensive to 
 the British merchant service. Nowadays such an 
 observation about "Dutchmen" would be a personal 
 insult to four-fifths of the crew of a British merchant 
 ship. 
 
 The men, including the mate, received the speech 
 with a cheer, and one of them sang out " Haul 
 down the Stars and Stripes. We don't want to 
 fight under that." 
 
 To which Captain Foster, who knew what he 
 was about, merely replied, " I am not a fool ! " 
 
 Towards the close of the afternoon the ships 
 were within gunshot of each other, and the Dutch- 
 man ran up his colours. As they drew closer, the 
 foreign skipper's glass showed him the nationality 
 of the Policy, and he at once opened fire upon 
 her with one of his six eighteen-pounders. 
 
 As the shot hummed overhead between the 
 Policy's fore and main masts, down came the 
 American colours and up went the British ensign, 
 and at the same moment Foster fired such of 
 his guns as bore upon the enemy. 
 
216 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 As soon as the report of the guns had died 
 away, Foster sprang into one of his quarter-boats 
 and hailed the other ship. 
 
 " Ship ahoy ! " he roared " why do you fire 
 at me ? " 
 
 " Ha, ha ! I know you," came back in mocking 
 tones. " Now vill I sendt you to der tuyvel, you 
 greasy valer mans. I am Captain Portveldt, und 
 dis is der Swift. Vill you surrunder, or vill I 
 smash you to beices ? " 
 
 For answer, Foster, who had now come very 
 close to his enemy, fired his tiny broadside, his 
 men, sick as they were running cheerfully from 
 the guns to the braces to manoeuvre the Policy 
 clear of the privateer's fire, and then back again 
 to the guns. 
 
 The sun had now set, but far into the darkness 
 of the tropical night the running fight continued, 
 Foster always out-manoeuvring the Dutchman, 
 and the crews of both vessels, when they closed 
 near enough to be heard, cursing and mocking 
 at each other. Owing to the darkness and the 
 extremely bad gunnery on both sides, little blood 
 was spilt, and the damage done was mostly 
 confined to the sails and rigging. Now and then 
 a eighteen- pound shot hulled the Policy, and one 
 went clean through her amidships. Suddenly, for 
 some cause or other, about midnight, a light 
 was shown in the privateer's stern, and Foster's 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 217 
 
 second mate at once sent a lucky shot at it, with 
 the result that the six-pound ball so damaged the 
 Swift's rudder that she became unmanageable. 
 And then, a few minutes later, another shot dis- 
 mounted one of her guns by striking it on the 
 muzzle, and ere the Dutchman's crew knew what 
 was happening, a final broadside from the whaler 
 brought down her two topsails and did other 
 damage aloft. That practically ended the battle. 
 
 So thought Captain Portveldt, who now hailed 
 the Policy in not quite so boastful a voice as when 
 the vessels met earlier in the day. 
 
 " Captain Voster, I haf hauled down mein flag. 
 Mein grew will vight no more, and I must 
 surrender." 
 
 A cheer broke from the whaler's crew. 
 
 " Very well, Captain Portveldt," called out Foster; 
 " lower a boat, and come on board with half your 
 crew. But don't try on any boarding tricks, or 
 you will be the worse for it." 
 
 The meeting between the two skippers, notwith- 
 standing the cause, was good-humoured enough, 
 for Portveldt, apart from his boastfulness, was not 
 a bad fellow. 
 
 " Veil, Captain Voster," he said as he stepped 
 on board the Policy's deck, followed by his big 
 boatswain (who was wounded in the face by a 
 splinter) and half his crew, " you haf broved der 
 besd mans ; und now I suppose you vill lead me 
 
2i8 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 like a liddle dog mit a sdring, und dake me to 
 Sydney und make vun mit der young lady about 
 me." 
 
 " No, no," answered Foster, " I am not so bad as 
 all that. Come below and have a glass of grog." 
 
 At daylight one morning some weeks later 
 two ships appeared in sight off Sydney Heads. 
 Those who were on the look-out were alarmed, 
 for it was seen that both vessels were armed, 
 and it was conjectured that the ships must be 
 part of an enemy's squadron which had determined 
 to make an attack upon the settlement of Port 
 Jackson. 
 
 In a very short time an excited crowd gathered 
 together along the line of cliffs of the outer South 
 Head, each one asking his fellow what was to 
 be done. Horsemen carried the news into Sydney, 
 and every moment fresh numbers arrived to 
 swell the crowd of spectators on the cliffs. A 
 strange sight they must have presentedj compris- 
 ing, as they did, all sorts and conditions of men 
 settlers, naval and military officers, soldiers of the 
 New South Wales Regiment, and a number of the 
 better class of convicts. 
 
 Of course the Deputy Acting Assistant Com- 
 missary-General was among the officers anxiously 
 watching the ships from the heights that over- 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 219 
 
 looked the harbour, and with him were Dolly 
 and her mother. 
 
 Presently Dolly, catching sight of her father's 
 anxious face, began to cry, and turned to her 
 mother. " Ah ! " she said " it has all come true, 
 and he has come to destroy the settlement ! " 
 
 " What has come true, and who is going to 
 destroy the settlement ? " said her father sharply. 
 And then Dolly, feeling very frightened and 
 miserable, told him of Portveldt's letter, the receipt 
 of which she had concealed from every one but 
 Foster. The D.A.A.C.G. laughed at first, but then 
 added, " but all the same, though 'twas but empty 
 bluster, I had better tell his Excellency about it ; 
 it is just possible that the Dutch have planned 
 an expedition against us." 
 
 At half-past ten, in response to a signal made 
 from the look-out at South Head by the officer 
 in charge there, his Excellency Governor King 
 sent Lieutenant Houston, of his Majesty's ship 
 Investigator, then anchored in Sydney Cove, to 
 the naval officer in command at South Head. 
 
 The Investigator was Flinders' ship, the gallant 
 old tub of 334 tons which surveyed a great part 
 of the northern coast, and was at the time of which 
 we write lying rotting in Sydney, condemned after 
 completing her second voyage of discovery in 
 June, 1803. 
 
 Then the Governor was told of Dolly's letter, 
 
220 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 but he was not the man to take fright at the 
 approach of the enemy, although he had no 
 defence force as it is now understood in New 
 South Wales, nor had he a gold-laced staff of 
 officers with elaborate " defence schemes " against 
 possible raids of Japanese or Russians by way of 
 Exmouth Gulf or Port Darwin. 
 
 In that year Governer King's force did not take 
 long to be marshalled. The drums beat to arms, 
 and the New South Wales Corps and the Loyal 
 Association immediately formed into line on the 
 shores of the Cove. 
 
 At eleven o'clock a trooper arrived at Govern- 
 ment House with intelligence that one of the 
 vessels appeared under British colours, and the 
 other was flying a Union Jack triumphant over 
 a Dutch Jack. Following this message there soon 
 came another, bringing the certain intelligence that 
 one of the ships was an English whaler bringing 
 into port her Batavian prize. So on receipt of this 
 news, and just as the word to march was about 
 to be given, the officer in command ordered his 
 force to return to barracks. 
 
 At two in the afternoon, with the whole of the 
 settlement agog with excitement, the two vessels 
 sailed slowly up the harbour before a light north- 
 east breeze, and came to anchor in Sydney Cove, 
 close to the Investigator^ on board of which ship 
 the Governor and a number of naval officers 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 221 
 
 awaited their arrival. For once discipline was 
 relaxed, and Captain King had good-naturedly 
 permitted the townspeople to throng on board to 
 learn all the news about the Policy's prize. As 
 Captain Foster made his way to the quarter-deck, 
 he saw that behind the Governor and his staff 
 were Dolly and her parents and several ladies. 
 
 In a very few minutes he made his report, and 
 the Governor again shook his hand warmly ; but 
 the look in Dolly's eyes and the pressure of her 
 hand were the young seaman's sweetest reward, 
 for it told him that she had surrendered. 
 
 Then, returning to his own ship, he was warmly 
 greeted by Sergeant Burt, and for a few moments 
 the two remained talking in the whaler's cabin. 
 Then, just as Foster was ready to go ashore, Mr. 
 Scarsbrook, who had been inspecting the captured 
 privateer, came on board, bringing Dolly with him. 
 
 Whilst they were all chatting merrily together 
 Captain Portveldt made his appearance, and with 
 the most perfect sang-froid saluted Dolly and her 
 father. 
 
 "Veil, Mees Dorotee, you see I have gome back, 
 at der bressing invidadion of mein goot friendt, 
 Captain Voster here, und I do vish him mit you 
 blendy of habbiness." 
 
 And Dolly, who at first meant to meet him with 
 a sarcastic little speech, felt her eyes fill with tears 
 at the manly way in which he bore his misfortune, 
 
222 FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 
 
 and could only falter out some few words of con- 
 solation. 
 
 Then there was a Prize Court, and 
 
 "Mr. Charles Sparrow Foster, commander of 
 the whaler and letter of marque called the Policy, 
 presented to the Court a memorial stating his 
 capture of the Swift on the I2th day of Sep- 
 tember, off the island of Flores, she being under 
 Dutch colours . . . and the property of subjects 
 of a Power at war with his Britannic Majesty, 
 and praying also that the Court would be pleased 
 to grant an award of condemnation in his favour 
 in order that the said prize should be for the 
 advantage of himself, his owners, and his ship's 
 company." 
 
 and the Court having heard confirmatory evidence 
 from Richard Portveldt, a subject of the Batavian 
 Republic, to the effect 
 
 "That he commanded the Swift ; that every- 
 thing on board of her was Dutch property, and 
 she belonged to Messrs. Wirry and Talman, of 
 Batavia, and himself, all of whom were residents 
 of Batavia, who purchased her for the sum of 
 1 8,000 dols. : that she was taken up by the 
 Dutch East India Company at Batavia ; and 
 was on her way thither when she was captured 
 by the Policy, &c."~ 
 
FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE 223 
 
 accordingly condemned the prize, which was 
 advertised in the Sydney Gazette for sale by 
 auction, Mr. Lord, the auctioneer, setting forth 
 that he would sell 
 
 " At his warehouse, Sydney, at noon precisely, 
 the 3rd of November, the good ship Swift ', prize 
 to Policy, Charles Foster, commander. French 
 built in the year 1800. Was condemned a prize 
 to his Majesty's ship La Minerva, and sold in 
 1 80 1 to the Americans, as appears by the bill of 
 sale, and by them sold to the Dutch at Batavia, 
 where she was examined, copper-bolted, and new 
 coppered in August, 1802. It is unnecessary to 
 say anything respecting the properties of the 
 Swift further than that she was the companion 
 of La Brave and La Mouche, which so very much 
 harassed the British in Europe, and set all our 
 cruisers at defiance until her capture, prior to 
 which she was justly celebrated as the fastest 
 sailing-vessel the French Republic had." 
 
 The prize was knocked down for .3,000, and 
 Captain Foster's share was spent in a handsome 
 wedding present for Dolly, which, at her particular 
 request, took the form of a passage to Batavia 
 and a hundred guineas delivered to Captain 
 Portveldt immediately after the marriage cere- 
 mony. 
 
The Adventure of Elizabeth 
 Morey^ of New York 
 
 IN the sea story of Australia, from the days of 
 Captain Phillip in 1788, to the end of the 
 ' fifties " in the present century, American ships 
 and seamen have no little part. First they came 
 into the harbour of Sydney Cove as traders 
 carrying provisions for sale to the half-starved 
 settlers, then as whalers, and before another thirty 
 years had passed, the starry banner might be met 
 with anywhere in the Pacific, from the sterile 
 shores of the Aleutian Islands to the coasts of 
 New Zealand and Tasmania. 
 
 Early one morning in October, 1804, tne 
 American ship Union sailed in through Sydney 
 Heads, and dropped anchor in the Cove. She 
 was last from Tongatabu, the principal island of 
 the Friendly Group. As soon as she had been 
 boarded by the naval officer in charge of the 
 port, and her papers examined, the master stated 
 
 that he had had a very exciting adventure with 
 
 224 
 
THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY 225 
 
 the Tongatabu natives, who had attempted to cut 
 off the ship, and that there was then on board a 
 young woman named Elizabeth Morey, whom he 
 had rescued from captivity among the savages. 
 
 In a few minutes the young woman made her 
 appearance in the main cabin, and was introduced 
 to the officer. Her age was about six-and-twenty, 
 and her manners " extremely engaging ; " yet 
 whilst she expressed her willingness to tell the 
 story of her adventures among the islanders, she 
 declined to say anything of her birth or parentage 
 beyond the fact that she was a native of New 
 York, and some years previously had made her 
 way to the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Her extraordinary narrative was borne out in 
 all details as far as her rescue was concerned by 
 the master of the Union, who, she said, had treated 
 her with undeviating kindness and respect. 
 
 This is her story : 
 
 In February of the year 1802, when she was 
 living at the Cape of Good Hope, she made the 
 acquaintance of a Captain Melton, the master 
 of the American ship Portland. His dashing 
 appearance, his command of apparently unlimited 
 money, and his protestations of affection for the 
 unfortunate girl soon led her to respond to his 
 advances, and ultimately to consent to accompany 
 him on a voyage to the islands of the South 
 Pacific. 
 
 16 
 
226 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 After a prosperous voyage the Portland arrived 
 at what is now known as Nukualofa Harbour, on 
 the Island of Tongatabu. Within a few hours 
 after anchoring, Captain Melton received a note 
 from a white man named Doyle, who was the 
 only European living on the island, asking him to 
 come on shore and visit the chief, who particularly 
 wished to see him and secure his aid in repelling 
 an invasion from the neighbouring group of islands 
 known as Haabai. Had Melton known that this 
 man Doyle was an escaped convict from Van 
 Dieman's Land, he would at least have been 
 careful ; had he known that the man was, in 
 addition, a treacherous and bloodthirsty villain, he 
 would have hove-up anchor, and, sailing away, 
 escaped his fate. But Doyle, in his note, enume- 
 rated the advantages that would accrue to him 
 (Melton) by assisting the chief, and the seaman 
 fell into the trap. " You must try," said the writer 
 of the letter, " to send at least one boat's crew 
 well armed." 
 
 Melton was a man with an elastic conscience. 
 Without troubling his head as to the right or 
 wrong side of this quarrel among savages, he 
 promptly complied with the request of the beach- 
 comber, and called for volunteers ; the whole of 
 the ship's company responded. The chief mate, 
 Gibson, picked four men; Anderson, the second 
 officer, eight men, and these were at once despatched 
 on shore by the captain. 
 
OF NEW YORK 227 
 
 The engagement came off on the following day, 
 and the American allies of the chief (whom Miss 
 Morey calls Ducara) inflicted fearful slaughter 
 upon the enemy, and returned to the ship highly 
 satisfied with themselves, and their native friends, 
 who promised them every indulgence likely to 
 gratify their tastes. 
 
 In the evening Ducara himself came on board, 
 and politely thanked the captain for his assistance. 
 He slept all night in the cuddy, attended by 
 Doyle, his minister of destruction, and took his 
 leave early in the morning, promising to send 
 ample refreshments on board in part return for 
 favours received, and requesting that boats should 
 be sent that evening to convey his gifts to the ship. 
 Within a few hours after the chief had returned to 
 the shore, many hundreds of stalwart natives were 
 seen carrying baskets of provisions down to the 
 beach, and piling them in heaps in readiness for 
 the boats. Melton, at this stage, seemed to have 
 some sort of suspicion in his mind about sending 
 the boats ashore after dark, for he gave the mate 
 instructions not to despatch them until he gave 
 orders. The mate, however, who had been smitten 
 by the beauty of a Tongan girl who had expressed 
 her unqualified approval of his fighting capabilities 
 in a very unconventional manner, had the utmost 
 confidence in the good will of the natives, and 
 took it upon himself to disobey his captain's 
 
228 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 commands ; consequently two boats were sent off 
 just as daylight was breaking, and whilst the 
 skipper lay asleep in his cabin. 
 
 Within a couple of hours the smaller of the two 
 boats returned, loaded with yams, " gnatu " (tappa 
 cloth), baked pigs, and fish. She was steered 
 by the beachcomber, Doyle, and was rowed by 
 two of the ship's boys, instead of the four men 
 who had taken her ashore ; these boys, it must be 
 mentioned, had formed part of the crew of the 
 larger boat, and had remained on the beach whilst 
 the men had gone into the village at the invitation 
 of Doyle and his fellow - conspirators. They, 
 therefore, knew nothing of what had kept their 
 shipmates from returning to the boats, when Doyle 
 appeared and said he wished to go off to the ship, 
 and that the others would follow later on. 
 
 Accompanying the boat was a flotilla of canoes, 
 filled with hundreds of savages, who were allowed 
 to come alongside, though the girl Morey was so 
 terrified by their savage aspect that she begged 
 her lover to instantly recall the rest of his men 
 and heave up anchor. Melton, however, although 
 he was now in a state of suspense owing to the 
 non-appearance of his boats' crews, answered her 
 calmly enough. 
 
 " The two boys and Doyle say that the hands 
 went up to the chiefs house to see a native dance," 
 he said. " I'll punish them for it when they return." 
 
OF NEW YORK 229 
 
 Meanwhile the boat was unloaded, and again 
 sent on shore with the two boys, and Doyle's 
 native friends clambered up on board from any 
 accessible part of the ship. The beachcomber 
 himself, a wild-looking, dark-skinned ruffian, who 
 had clothed himself in a shirt and trousers, now 
 came aft and again assured the captain that he 
 need feel no alarm at the great number of naked 
 savages who now thronged the deck, from the 
 windlass right aft to the wheel. Perhaps, how- 
 ever, the villain had some feeling of humanity in 
 his vile heart, for seeing the terrified face of the 
 girl Morey, he suggested that she should go below 
 until the natives had returned to the shore. 
 
 But so impressed was she with a sense of immi- 
 nent peril that she refused to leave the poop, and 
 begged Melton earnestly, " for God's sake to take 
 heed, and not thrust himself among the savages on 
 the main deck." 
 
 The beachcomber gave her a glance half rage, 
 half pity; then with his left hand he suddenly 
 dashed her aside, and with a ferocious yell sprang 
 at Melton and thrust a dagger into the throat of 
 the unfortunate man. In an instant his savage 
 followers began their work of slaughter, and Mr. 
 Gibson, the chief mate, the boatswain, and four 
 seamen were soon lying dead upon the blood- 
 stained decks, their heads battered out of all 
 human semblance by the clubs of the islanders. 
 
230 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 Two lads, Miss Morey, and her negro servant- 
 woman, were spared, but hurried down below. 
 
 The bodies of the murdered men were at once 
 thrown overboard to the sharks by Doyle's orders, 
 and he then directed the natives to clear the decks. 
 
 Elizabeth Morey, terrified out of her senses at 
 the dreadful scenes she had witnessed, attempted 
 to spring overboard, but the beachcomber caught 
 her as she came on deck, urged her not to be 
 frightened, and promised her " in the name of the 
 Virgin" that no harm should come to her. As 
 soon as the decks had been ridden of all traces of 
 the bloody work just completed, the half-uncon- 
 scious girl was lifted over the side, placed in a 
 canoe, taken on shore, and handed over to the care 
 of a chiefs wife. 
 
 When she came to her senses she learnt from 
 Doyle that all who were left alive of the ship's 
 company were herself and servant, a Malay sea- 
 man, five boys, and an old sailor, who was a dwarf ; 
 the latter had evidently been spared, either on 
 account of the natives ranking him as a boy, or 
 from their aversion to inflict injuries upon any one 
 physically or mentally afflicted. 
 
 The following three days were spent by the 
 natives in unloading the ship, the work being 
 carried on in the most systematic manner under 
 the command of Doyle, the survivors of the crew 
 being compelled to assist in the task. The cargo, 
 
OF NEW YORK 231 
 
 which consisted mainly of bales of cotton, was got 
 on shore in something less than a week ; then the 
 islanders began to dismantle the ill-fated ship. 
 By the eighth day all the sails except the fore and 
 main topsails were unbent and taken ashore. 
 
 On the afternoon of this day but half a dozen 
 natives were on board ; they, with the five " boys " 
 (probably lads under eighteen years of age), and 
 the dwarf sailor before mentioned, were " spelling " 
 for an hour or so before beginning to unbend the 
 topsails, when, noticing that their captors were off 
 their guard, the brave little man determined to 
 retake the ship. In a few minutes he gained over 
 his youthful shipmates to the attempt ; they pro- 
 mised to stand by him to the last. Quietly arming 
 themselves with axes, with iron belaying pins, with 
 handspikes, with anything heavy and deadly they 
 could lay their hands upon, they waited for the 
 signal to begin the attack. Doyle, the blood- 
 stained murderer, lay upon the skylight under the 
 awning, half asleep and unsuspecting of danger ; 
 his native associates either slept or lounged about 
 the main deck. 
 
 A few hurried, whispered words passed between 
 the six whites ; then the dwarf, carrying an axe 
 negligently in his hand, ascended to the poop and 
 laid it down on the deck. Then he turned, and 
 his quick seaman's eye took in the surroundings. 
 The trade wind was blowing freshly, the ship (she 
 
232 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 was a full-rigged ship, though under five hundred 
 tons), was straining at her hempen cable, and the 
 low, palm -clad shore was nearly two miles away. 
 He picked up the axe and running towards Doyle, 
 buried the weapon to the head in his bosom ! 
 
 In less than five minutes the dreadful work was 
 done, and Doyle and the six Tongans were welter- 
 ing in their gore upon the very deck which was still 
 stained by the traces of their own crimes. Before 
 the natives on shore could realise what had hap- 
 pened, the cable was cut, the topsails loosed and 
 sheeted home, and the Portland standing out to 
 sea through the dangerous network of reefs which 
 surrounded the harbour. Her recapture was a 
 bloody deed, but the law of self-preservation is 
 inexorable under such circumstances. 
 
 Elizabeth Morey, aroused from a troubled 
 slumber by the cries of her captors, came to the 
 doorway of the chiefs house, and stood watching 
 the ship, which, though only under her fore and 
 main topsails, was fast slipping through the water. 
 In two hours the Portland was safe, and the 
 broken-hearted girl sank upon her knees and 
 wept. She was now utterly alone, for her negro 
 servant woman had gone on board the ship with 
 Doyle to get some of her clothing, and had been 
 carried off. The only remaining member of the 
 Portland's crew was a Malay a man of whom she 
 had an instinctive dread ; for, since the massacre of 
 
OF NEW YORK 233 
 
 the ship's company he had one day asked her 
 with a mocking grin if she could not " clean his 
 coat." His coat was Melton's white duck jacket, 
 and the ensanguined garment brought all the 
 horror of her lover's death before her again. 
 
 Then followed fifteen long, long months of 
 horror, misery, and agony. She was a woman, 
 and her terrible fate evokes the warmest pity. 
 Whatever may have been her past before she 
 met Captain Melton and accompanied him on his 
 fateful voyage, her sufferings during those fifteen 
 dreadful months may be imagined but not written 
 of nor suggested, except by the neurotic "new 
 woman" writer, who loves to dwell upon things 
 vile, degrading, terrifying, and abhorrent to the 
 clean and healthy mind. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 In August, 1804, the American whaler Union, of 
 Nantucket, after having refreshed at Sydney Cove, 
 as Port Jackson was then called, sailed on a sperm- 
 whaling cruise among the South Sea Islands. 
 She arrived at Tongatabu on the last day of 
 September. As soon as the anchor was let go a 
 fleet of canoes appeared, and the occupants made 
 the most friendly demonstrations towards Captain 
 Pendleton and his officers. In the leading canoe 
 was a man whom the captain took to be a Malay, 
 and upon being questioned this surmise proved 
 to be correct. In broken English he informed 
 
234 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 Pendleton that the ship would be provided with 
 plenty of fresh food, water, and wood, if the ship's 
 boats were sent ashore. The captain's boat was 
 thereupon swung out and lowered, and manned by 
 six men, the captain and Mr. John Boston, the 
 supercargo, going with them. These people were 
 armed with six muskets and two cutlasses. 
 
 As soon as the boat was well clear of the ship 
 the natives became very troublesome, clambering 
 up the chain plates, and forcing themselves on 
 board in great numbers. The chief mate, Daniel 
 Wright, seems to have shown more sense than 
 most of the poor fools who, by their own negli- 
 gence, brought about and still bring about even 
 to the present day these South Sea tragedies. 
 He got his men together and tried to drive off 
 the intruders, but despite his endeavours thirty or 
 forty of them kept to the deck, and their country- 
 men in the canoes alongside rapidly passed them 
 up a number of war-clubs. 
 
 Wright, with the greatest tact, and with appa- 
 rently good-humoured force, at last succeeded in 
 clearing the decks and bustling all the natives 
 except the chief, over the side into their canoes. 
 He (Wright) was a big, brawny, New Englander, 
 had served in the American Navy before he had 
 taken to whaling, and knew the value of coolness 
 and discipline in an emergency, though he felt 
 much inclined to pistol the chief, who all this time 
 
OF NEW YORK 235 
 
 had been pretending to support his authority, 
 though actually telling his people to be " more 
 patient, as the time had not yet come." 
 
 This chief, whose name is not given in the 
 Sydney Gazette of 1804, but who may have been 
 the same "Ducara" of the Portland massacre, or 
 one of Ducara's matabulis, at last took his leave 
 with the usual protestations of regard so natural 
 to even the present Christianised Tongan native 
 of this year of grace 1900, when he means mischief, 
 even in the minor matter of cheating or defrauding 
 his white creditor. Descending into his canoe, he 
 led the whole flotilla to the beach. Then the mate 
 hoisted the ensign, and fired a gun as a warning 
 to those of the ship's company on shore to return. 
 
 No notice was taken of the signal, and pre- 
 sently through his glass Mr. Wright saw that the 
 captain's boat was lying broadside on to the beach, 
 surrounded by a crowd of islanders, and without a 
 boat-keeper. This was sufficiently alarming. It 
 was now late in the afternoon, and Captain Pen- 
 dleton had been absent five hours. He at once 
 came to the conclusion that the people who had 
 gone ashore in the boat were either prisoners or 
 had been murdered. To send another boat after 
 them, he felt sure, would only lead to the destruc- 
 tion of the whole ship's company in detail, and 
 the ultimate loss of the ship without there being 
 the least chance of effecting any good. So he 
 
236 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 called the hands aft, explained the situation, and 
 began to prepare to resist capture. All the avail- 
 able firearms were loaded, heavy stones which 
 formed the ship's ballast, were placed along the 
 waterways fore and aft in readiness to smash the 
 canoes which he anticipated would come alongside, 
 the trying-out works fires were lighted, and the 
 huge try-pots filled with water, which when boiling 
 would add to their means of defence, by pouring 
 it down in bucketsful upon the savages ; the cable 
 was prepared for slipping, sails loosened, and every 
 other precaution which suggested itself to him 
 made. 
 
 The sun dropped into the western sea-rim, and 
 there was still no sign of the captain's boat. On 
 the shore an ominous silence prevailed, though 
 now and then it would be broken by the weird, 
 resonant boom of a conch-shell. The night was 
 passed in the greatest anxiety by all on board, 
 every man, musket in hand, keeping a keen look- 
 out. 
 
 Almost as the dawn broke, two canoes were 
 seen to put off from Nukualofa beach, and come 
 towards the ship. They were manned by young 
 Tongan "bucks" who, in reply to the mate's 
 questions as to the whereabouts of the captain and 
 his crew, answered him with gestures which the 
 ship's company rightly enough construed as mean- 
 ing that their comrades had all been killed, and 
 
OF NEW YORK 237 
 
 that their turn would come shortly. This so 
 enraged the seamen that they tried to induce Mr. 
 Wright to open fire on the canoes, destroy them, 
 and get the ship away before worse happened. 
 But the mate, hoping that his people on shore 
 were still alive, and that he could yet rescue them, 
 refused to comply, and the whole of that day and 
 night passed without further happening. 
 
 On the following morning several canoes came 
 within hail and then lay-to. In one of them was 
 the Malay, who asked the mate to come ashore, as 
 the captain and the supercargo wished to see him. 
 The mate temporised and requested the Malay to 
 come on board and explain matters, but he refused 
 and returned to the shore. 
 
 In a few hours he reappeared at the head of a 
 fleet of canoes, and then, to Mr. Wright's intense 
 astonishment, he saw that the Malay was accom- 
 panied by a young white woman, who was sitting 
 on the for'ard outrigger of the canoe of which the 
 Malay was steersman. The flotilla brought to 
 within pistol-shot of the ship, and the woman 
 stood up and called to him in English 
 
 " Come on shore and see the captain. He wants 
 to speak to you." 
 
 The mate made no answer, but beckoned to the 
 fleet of canoes to come nearer. And then, mer- 
 cifully, as he took another look at the white 
 woman, he saw her, when the surrounding savages 
 
238 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 were not watching, shake her head vehemently to 
 him not to comply with the request she had 
 made. 
 
 The flotilla came still nearer, and again Eliza- 
 beth Morey was made to repeat the request for 
 him to " come on shore and see the captain." 
 Wright, surmising that she was acting under 
 coercion, appeared to give little heed to her 
 request, but told the Malay, who seemed to direct 
 the natives, that he would wait for the captain. 
 Then the fleet of canoes turned, and headed for 
 the shore, and the captive white woman gave the 
 mate a despairing, agonised look that not only 
 rilled him with the deepest commiseration for her, 
 but almost convinced him that poor Pendleton and 
 the others were dead. 
 
 Another night of wearing anxiety passed, and 
 again with the dawn a single canoe came off, 
 manned by half a dozen armed natives steered by 
 the Malay and carrying Miss Morey. This canoe 
 was followed by many others, but the leading one 
 alone came close enough to the whaleship to com- 
 municate. Little by little her savage crew drew 
 nearer, watching every movement of those on 
 board with the utmost suspicion ; the mate, who 
 was standing at the break of the poop on the 
 starboard side, desired them to come closer, holding 
 in his hand a loaf of bread, which he said he 
 wanted to give to the white woman. The loaf was 
 
OF NEW YORK 239 
 
 enclosed in a piece of white paper, on which he 
 had written these words 
 
 " I fear that all on shore are murdered. I will 
 wait here a few days in the hope that you may be 
 able to escape to us." 
 
 For some minutes the savages watched the 
 white man, who, apparently disgusted with his 
 attempts to induce them to come closer and take 
 the loaf of bread, placed it on the rail and lit his 
 pipe. The Malay again urged him to come ashore 
 and " see the captain " but Wright made an impa- 
 tient gesture and told him he must come closer if 
 he wanted to talk. The scoundrel did bring the 
 canoe a few fathoms nearer, and then stopped her 
 way. 
 
 Then the girl, unable to restrain herself any 
 longer, stood up and cried out 
 
 "All your friends on shore have been killed," 
 then she leapt into the water and swam towards 
 the ship. 
 
 A yell of rage burst from the natives in the 
 canoes, but it was answered by the fire of mus- 
 ketry from the ship and the thunder of two car- 
 ronades, which, loaded with iron nuts and bolts, 
 had been in readiness, one on the poop, the other 
 on the topgallant forecastle and the girl suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the ship's side in time to take 
 hold of a life-buoy secured to a line which was 
 thrown to her, and Wright, jumping overboard, 
 
240 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 helped the poor creature up over the side into 
 safety. 
 
 Then began a desperate and furious assault to 
 capture the ship. The savages, led by the rene- 
 gade Malay, made three successive attempts to 
 board, but were each time beaten back by Wright 
 and his gallant seamen, and the crystal water 
 around the Union was soon reddened to a deep 
 hue. Meanwhile the cable had been slipped, and, 
 like the Portland, the Union's company were saved 
 from death by the freshness of the trade- wind 
 alone. In half an hour after the last attack had 
 been repelled, the ship was out of danger from 
 pursuit. As soon as the vessel had cleared the 
 passage Wright hove her to, and went down below 
 to Miss Morey, who, exhausted and almost hyste- 
 rical as she was, yet answered his questions 
 readily. 
 
 " You must forgive me, madam, but it is my 
 duty to at once ask you an important question. 
 Are you sure that Captain Pendleton and the 
 supercargo are dead ? I cannot take the ship 
 away if there is any uncertainty about their fate." 
 
 " I beseech you, sir, to have no doubts. I saw 
 the two gentlemen beaten to death by clubs before 
 my eyes. . . They were sitting down to eat when 
 they were murdered. One was killed by the Malay 
 man, the other by an old matabuli* . . . Oh, for 
 1 Counsellor. 
 
OF NEW YORK 241 
 
 God's sake, sir, do not delay ! The natives have 
 been planning to capture this ship and murder her 
 people for the past three days." 
 
 Then as she became more collected she satisfied 
 him that all of Captain Pendleton's party had 
 been cruelly and treacherously murdered, and also 
 told him her own terrible story previous to the 
 arrival of the Union. 
 
 The destruction of poor Pendleton and Mr. 
 Boston had been planned, she said, by the Malay ; 
 and when he and his native friends found that 
 they could not induce Mr. Wright to further 
 weaken his ship's company by sending another 
 boat's crew on shore, so that the Union might the 
 more easily be captured, she was ordered under 
 the most awful threats to act as decoy. Resolved 
 to upset their diabolical plan, or die in the attempt, 
 she gave an apparently cheerful assent to the medi- 
 tated scheme of murder, and hence her appearance 
 in the canoe with the treacherous Malay. 
 
 Under the kindly care of Mr. (now Captain) 
 Wright, the young woman soon regained her 
 health and strength in a great measure and her 
 delight knew no bounds when he announced to 
 her his intention of returning to Sydney Cove to 
 refit before proceeding home to America. The 
 Union^ as we have before stated, entered Sydney 
 harbour in October, 1804, and before that time the 
 simple gratitude of the rescued girl to her rescuer 
 
 17 
 
242 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY, 
 
 had changed into a deeper and tenderer feeling. 
 But we must not anticipate. 
 
 As soon as Captain Wright had made his report 
 to the New South Wales authorities, Miss Morey 
 went on shore, where she was treated most hos- 
 pitably by the wives of some of the military 
 officers, whilst Wright was refitting his ship. 
 
 A few days afterwards there arrived in Sydney 
 Harbour an East India ship, the captain of which 
 gave Wright some interesting particulars concern- 
 ing the Portland and Captain Melton. The latter 
 had had a peculiar history. At the end of the 
 year 1800 he appeared in Manila, where he was 
 entrusted with the command of a brig belonging 
 to a Mr. John Stewart Kerr, the American Consul 
 of that city. His orders were to proceed to 
 Batavia, and there dispose of his cargo, bringing 
 in return saleable goods for the Manila market. 
 He was given also a letter of credit for $20,000 
 the better to load the vessel. On arrival at 
 Batavia he sold the cargo and the brig into the 
 bargain, and purchased in her place the Portland, 
 a ship of about 400 tons. From Batavia he wrote 
 to Kerr he seemed to have been the Captain 
 " Bully " Hayes of his time informed him of 
 what he had done and mentioned that as he 
 intended to make " a long pleasure cruise " among 
 the islands of the South Pacific, he did not expect 
 to return to Manila for some considerable time! 
 
OF NEW YORK 243 
 
 He also, it is needless to say, duly cashed his 
 letter of credit for $20,000, which six months 
 afterwards was duly presented and taken up by 
 Mr. Kerr. 
 
 The Portland was then chartered by a firm of 
 Dutch merchants at Batavia to proceed to Serra 
 Bay to load rice and return to Batavia. Melton 
 sailed to Serra Bay, loaded his cargo of rice, and 
 instead of returning to Batavia, went to the Isle of 
 France and there cheerfully sold it. The next 
 account of him received at Manila was that he 
 was having a " real good time " at the Cape of 
 Good Hope, where his fascinating manners and 
 command of money (Kerr's money) made him 
 many friends. Suddenly, however, he and the 
 Portland disappeared, and Elizabeth Morey, as we 
 have mentioned, accompanied him. He had given 
 out that he was bound for the North-west coast of 
 America, to enter into the fur trade, but, beyond 
 that rumour, nothing more was heard of him until 
 the Union arrived at Port Jackson, and Elizabeth 
 Morey told the tale of his dreadful end. 
 
 ***** 
 
 No further mention of the names of Captain 
 Daniel Wright, Elizabeth Morey, or the good ship 
 Union appear in the early Sydney records after 
 1806; but that the girl's rescue by the gallant mate 
 of the whaleship led to her ultimate happiness 
 we can safely assume, for in the year 1836 there 
 
244 THE ADVENTURE OF ELIZABETH MOREY 
 
 were married in Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, one 
 " Marie Kaiulani Shepherd, daughter of John 
 Shepherd, to Daniel Morey Wright, master of the 
 ship Patience ', of New Bedford, and son of Daniel 
 and Elizabeth Wright, of Salem, U.S.A." 
 
The Americans in the South Seas 
 
 PERHAPS the proper title of this article should 
 be " The Influence of American Enterprise 
 upon the Maritime Development of the first Colony 
 in Australia," but as such a long-winded phrase 
 would convey, at the outset, no clearer conception 
 of the subject-matter than that of "The Americans 
 in the South Seas," we trust our readers will be 
 satisfied with the simpler title. 
 
 It is curious, when delving into some of the 
 dry-as-dust early Australian and South Sea official 
 records, or reading the more interesting old news- 
 papers and books of " Voyages," to note how soon 
 the Americans " took a hand " in the South Sea 
 trade, and how quickly they practically monopo- 
 lised the whaling industry in the Pacific, from 
 the Antipodes to Behring Straits. 
 
 The English Government which had despatched 
 the famous " First Fleet " of convict transports 
 to the then unknown shores of Botany Bay, had 
 
 2-45 
 
246 THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
 
 not counted upon an American intrusion into the 
 Australian Seas, and when it came, Cousin 
 Jonathan did not receive a warm welcome from 
 the English officials stationed in the newly founded 
 settlement on the shore of Sydney Cove, as the 
 first settlement in Australia was then called. This 
 was scarcely to be wondered at, for many of those 
 officers who formed part of the " First Fleet " 
 expedition had fought in the war of the rebellion, 
 and most of them knew, what was a fact, that 
 the English Government only a few years earlier 
 had seriously considered proposals for colonising 
 New South Wales with American loyalists, who 
 would have, in their opinion, made better settlers 
 than convicts. And it is probable that if the 
 crowded state of the English gaols and prison 
 hulks had not forced the Government into quickly 
 finding penal settlements for their prisoners, the 
 plan would have been carried out. 
 
 When his Majesty's ship Guardian, under the 
 command of Nelson's " brave captain, Riou," was 
 wrecked off the Cape of Good Hope, and her 
 cargo of stores, badly needed by the starving 
 colonists of New South Wales, were lying at Cape 
 Town without means of transport, an American 
 merchant skipper saw his chance and offered 
 to convey them to Sydney Cove. But the 
 English officers, although they knew that the 
 colony was starving, were afraid to take the 
 
THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 247 
 
 responsibility of chartering a " foreign " ship. 
 Lieutenant King afterwards to become famous 
 in Australian history wrote to the almost heart- 
 broken and expectant Governor Phillip from the 
 Cape as follows: "There is here a Whitehaven 
 man who, on his own head, intends going 
 immediately to America and carrying out two 
 vessels, one of 100 or 120 tons a Marble Head 
 schooner and the other a brig of 1 50 tons, both 
 of which he means to load with salt beaf and pork 
 which he can afford to sell in the colony at /d. a 
 pound. He wished encouragement from me, but 
 anything of that kind being out of my power 
 to give him, he has taken a decided part and 
 means to run the risque. I mention this so that 
 you may know what is meant." 
 
 This " risque," undertaken by the adventurous 
 " Whitehaven man " was the genesis of the 
 American trading and whaling industry in the 
 Southern Seas, and American enterprise had much 
 to do with the development of the infant colony 
 of New South Wales, inasmuch as American ships 
 not only brought cargoes of food to the starving 
 colonists, but American whalemen showed the 
 unskilled British seamen (in this respect) how to 
 kill the sperm whale and make a profit of the 
 pursuit of the leviathan of the Southern Seas. 
 
 In 1791 some returning convict transports, 
 whose captains had provided themselves with 
 
2^ THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
 
 whaling gear, engaged in the whale fishing in the 
 South Pacific on their way home to England. 
 Whales in plenty were seen, but the men who 
 manned the boats were not the right sort of men to 
 kill them they knew nothing of sperm-whaling, 
 although some of them had had experience of 
 right whaling in the Arctic Seas a very different 
 and tame business indeed to the capture of the 
 mighty cachalot. Consequently, they were not 
 very successful, but the Enderby Brothers, a firm 
 of London shipowners, were not to be easily 
 discouraged, and they sent out vessel after vessel, 
 taking care to engage some skilled American 
 whalemen for each ship. Sealing parties were 
 formed and landed upon islands in Bass's Straits, 
 and regular whaling and sealing stations were 
 formed at several points on the Australian coast, 
 and by 1797 the whale fishing had become of such 
 importance that a minute was issued by the Board 
 of Trade, dated December 26th, setting forth that 
 the merchant adventurers of the southern whale 
 fishery had memoralised the Board to the effect 
 that the restrictions of the East India company 
 and the war with Spain prevented the said whalers 
 from successfully carrying on their business, 
 and that the Board had requested the East India 
 Company, while protecting its own trading rights, 
 to do something towards admitting other people 
 to trade. The effect of the Board's minute 
 
THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 249 
 
 worded of course in much more " high falutin " 
 language as should be the case when a mere Board 
 of Trade addressed such a high and mighty 
 corporation as the Honourable East India Com- 
 pany was that directors permitted whaling to be 
 carried on at Kerguelen's Land (in the Indian 
 Ocean), off the coasts of New Holland, the 
 New Hebrides, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the 
 Philippines and Formosa, but they restrained 
 trading further north than the Equator and further 
 east than 51 of east longitude, and that restraint 
 remained for a long time to come. 
 
 For the Spanish war trouble the whalers took 
 another remedy : they obtained letters of marque 
 and pretty soon added successful privateering 
 to their whaling ventures, and the Spaniards 
 on the coast of Peru and on the Spanish Pacific 
 Islands before a year had passed found that 
 an English whaler was a vessel armed with other 
 weapons besides harpoons and lances, and was 
 a good ship to keep clear of. 
 
 By this time the Americans were taking a share 
 in the whaling and sealing industries rather 
 more than their share the Englishmen thought, 
 for in 1804 Governor King issued a proclamation 
 which sets forth that : " Whereas it has been 
 represented to me that the commanders of some 
 American vessels have, without any permission or 
 authority whatever, not only greatly incommoded 
 
250 THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
 
 his Majesty's subjects in resorting to and continu- 
 ing among the different islands in Bass's Straits 
 for skins and oil, but have also in violation of the 
 law of nations and in contempt of the local 
 regulations of this Territory and its dependencies, 
 proceeded to build vessels on these islands and in 
 other places ... to the prejudice and infringe- 
 ments of his Majesty's rights and properties 
 thereon," he (King) had, while waiting for in- 
 structions from England, decided to prevent any 
 foreigner whatever from building vessels whose 
 length of keel exceeded 14 feet, except, of course, 
 such vessel was built in consequence of shipwreck 
 by distressed seamen. There was nothing un- 
 reasonable in this prohibition, as the whole territory 
 being a penal settlement, one of the Royal instruc- 
 tions for its government was that no person 
 should be allowed to build vessels without the 
 express permission of the Governor, so the 
 Americans were only asked to obey the existing 
 law. The proclamation ended with a clause 
 ordering that all vessels coming from the State of 
 New York should do fourteen days quarantine in 
 consequence of the plague having broken out there. 
 Just about this time news reached Sydney that 
 the crew of an American sealer lying in Kent's 
 Bay among Cape Barren Islands (Bass's Straits) 
 were building a schooner from the wreck of an 
 East Indiaman named the Sydney Cove a ship 
 
THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 251 
 
 famous in Australian sea story. King despatched 
 an officer to the spot with orders to "command 
 the master to desist from building any vessel what- 
 ever, and should he refuse to comply, you will 
 immediately cause the King's mark to be put on 
 some of the timbers, and forbid him and his people 
 from prosecuting the work, and also forbid the 
 erection of any habitation on any part of the coast 
 . . . taking care not to suffer any or the least act 
 of hostility, or losing sight of the attention due to 
 the subjects of the United States," &c. 
 
 Writing to England on this matter, King says : 
 " This is the third American vessel that has within 
 the last twelve months been in the Straits and 
 among the islands, procuring seal skins and oils 
 for the China market." In the same letter he tells 
 how the loss of the ships Cato and Porpoise on 
 Wreck Reef had led to the discovery of beche-de- 
 mer, which could then be sold in Canton for 50 a 
 ton ; this find was another reason for keeping 
 foreigners out of Australian waters. 
 
 As no more is heard of the schooner building in 
 Bass's Straits, we may assume that the Americans 
 quietly obeyed the laws and desisted ; but there 
 were soon more causes of trouble. 
 
 In March, 1805, a general order set forth that 
 American ships, after receiving assistance and relief 
 at Sydney Cove, were continually returning this 
 hospitality by secreting on board and carrying off 
 
252 THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
 
 runaway convicts, and so it was ordered that every 
 English or foreign vessel entering the ports of the 
 settlement should give security for themselves in 
 ^500, and two freeholders in the sum of ^50 each, 
 not to carry off any person without the Governor's 
 certificate that such person was free to go. This 
 order had some effect in putting a stop to the 
 practice, but not a few persons managed to leave 
 the colony and reach American shores without 
 there being evidence enough to show how they got 
 away. Muir, one of the "Scotch Martyrs," escaped 
 in the American Ship Otter as far back as 1795 ; 
 and although his story has been told before in 
 detail, we may here briefly mention that the Otter 
 was hired expressly to affect his escape. Muir got 
 on board safely enough, and the ship sailed, but 
 was wrecked off the west coast of America. After 
 sufferings and privations enough to satisfy even 
 the sternest justice, Muir managed to reach Mexico, 
 and embarked in a Spanish frigate for Europe. 
 The vessel was taken by an English man-of-war 
 after a sharp engagement, in which Muir was 
 severely wounded. His identity was concealed 
 from the English commander, and he managed 
 to reach Paris, only to die of his wound. 
 
 In October, 1804, there was serious trouble in 
 Bass's Straits between English and American 
 sealers. Messrs. Kable and Underwood, Sydney 
 shipowners, had a sealing establishment in Kent's 
 
THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 253 
 
 Bay, and among the men employed were some 
 " assigned " convicts. One Joseph Murrell, master 
 of the sealing schooner Endeavour, wrote to his 
 owners a letter in which he stated he was too ill to 
 write coherently, in consequence of the usage he 
 had received from one Delano, master of the 
 American schooner Pilgrim. Delano's name was 
 familiar to Governor King, inasmuch as he had 
 taken a part in the 1803 attempt to colonise Port 
 Philip, as follows : One of the officers, Lieutenant 
 Bowen, on his way across Bass's Straits in a small 
 boat, had the misfortune to carry away his rudder, 
 and when in danger was rescued by Delano. 
 Bowen, anxious to deliver some despatches, hired 
 the Pilgrim's tender from Delano to carry them, 
 omitting to make a bargain beforehand ; and for 
 this paltry service the American charged 400! 
 The British Government growled, but paid. 
 
 But let Captain Murrell tell his story: "At 
 four in the morning on the i/th I was suddenly 
 seized by the chief mate [of the Pilgrim~\ and 
 three other American ruffians " (they were really 
 Chilenos), " two of whom caught me by the hair, 
 the other two by the arms. They dragged 
 me out of bed and trailed me in this fashion 
 along the ground till they came to the sea beach. 
 Here they beat me with clubs, then kept me 
 three-quarters of an hour naked whilst they were 
 searching for the rest of my people." Murrell 
 
254 THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
 
 goes on to detail as to how he threatened them 
 with the wrath of the Governor, to which they 
 replied that the Governor was not there to protect 
 him. He was then taken to a tree and lashed to 
 it, stripped, and all the Americans took a hand in 
 flogging him into insensibility. When he recovered, 
 he says, he asked for death rather than torture, 
 and was answered savagely that he and his men 
 were the means of depriving the Americans of 
 3,000 dollars' worth of skins by their operations, 
 and that Englishmen had better keep away 
 from Cape Barren and leave the field open to 
 Americans. 
 
 "Then," he wrote, "they began to sport away 
 with their bloody cruelties, until some few English- 
 men belonging to other [sealing] gangs out of Port 
 Jackson, stung to the quick to see the cruelties 
 exercised upon me without humanity, law, or 
 justice, determined not to suffer it, and began to 
 assemble. This occasioned the Americans to face 
 about, at which instant I got my hands loose and 
 ran into the sea, determined to be drowned rather 
 than be tortured to death. I was followed by a 
 number of Americans to the seaside, who stoned 
 me, and sent into the water after me a Sandwich 
 Island savage, who gave me desperate blows with 
 a club. I put up my arm to save my head and he 
 broke my arm in three places. I was then dragged 
 on shore and left lying on the beach, the men 
 
THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 255 
 
 remarking that they supposed I had had enough, 
 but that there were more of their country's ships 
 expected, who would not let me off so lightly. 
 Then they took away some of my people, rescuing 
 from my custody a King's prisoner." 
 
 In all a dozen men convicts and others were 
 taken away by Delano and his ruffianly crowd 
 of Chilenos and Portuguese, and this particular 
 sealing station was practically destroyed. 
 
 Captain Moody, of the colonial schooner 
 Governor King, had recorded a similar instance 
 a few months earlier, and there is no doubt that 
 the colonials had just cause for complaint ; as 
 there is equally no doubt that they themselves 
 were not altogether innocent of provocation. 
 Nothing, however, came of these quarrels, for 
 although the Governor wrote to England on the 
 matter, the authorities "remembered to forget" 
 to answer, and the rival sealing parties continued 
 to fight without bringing about a serious battle, 
 and the whaling and sealing industry continued 
 to grow in such fashion as is here indicated. 
 What it had become little more than a generation 
 later is shown in the remainder of this article, 
 mentioning incidentally that an American whaler, 
 the Topaz, Captain Folger, was the first discoverer 
 of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers on 
 Pitcairn Island in 1808; and that Wilkes' United 
 States Exploring Expedition of 1836-42 was in a 
 
256 THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
 
 large measure suggested to America by the great 
 increase in that half of the century of American 
 South Sea trade. What this increase was can 
 best be told in the words of the man Mr. Charles 
 Enderby who was unquestionably the highest 
 authority and whose house founded this very 
 industry in the Southern Ocean. In April, 1849, 
 Charles Enderby received a charter of incorporation 
 for a proposed southern whale fishery, together 
 with a grant of the Auckland Islands (but that is 
 another story), and to celebrate the occasion a 
 banquet was held at the London Tavern, Bishops- 
 gate Street, London, presided over by the senior 
 naval Lord of the Admiralty, who proposed the 
 health of the guest of the evening, Charles Enderby. 
 In replying to that toast Mr. Enderby quoted the 
 whalemen's shipping list, in which it was shown 
 that in March, 1849, "the United States, whose 
 flag was to be found on every sea, had 596 whale- 
 ships of 190,000 tons, and manned by 18,000 
 seamen, while the number of English ships 
 engaged in the whale trade was only fourteen ! " 
 
 During the next decade the English did some- 
 thing to improve this state of affairs, but their 
 endeavour was made too late, and by the time 
 they woke up to the situation the heyday of South 
 Sea whaling was gone. 
 
 We are so accustomed to take it for granted 
 that the English (the original brand thereof, not 
 
THE AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH SEAS 257 
 
 the American pattern) were fifty years ago in 
 command of all sea commerce, that the old- 
 fashioned English sailor was superior to all others, 
 and that his ships beat every one else's in every- 
 thing appertaining to the sea, that this fact of how 
 thoroughly the Americans beat us in the great 
 whaling industry is never remembered. And 
 whaling was and is now a branch of sea service 
 that needs men to successfully work in it, for it 
 cannot be profitably pursued with the human 
 paint-scrubbers who to-day make up such a large 
 section of our mercantile marine ; and the success 
 of the American whaling seamen may supply a 
 clue to the Nelson-like fashion in which American 
 men-of-warsmen tackle the serious business of the 
 American Navy. 
 
 18 
 
The Brass Gun of the Buccaneers 
 
 /^HALLONER was a trader at Jakoits Harbour 
 V-x' in Ponape, one of the loveliest of the great 
 Caroline Archipelago in the North Pacific. He 
 was a quiet but determined-looking man of fifty, 
 and at the time of this story had been living on 
 Ponap for over five years. Unlike the generality 
 of the white men who were settled on the island, 
 he never carried arms and never entered into any 
 of the disputes that too often occurred among them 
 and ended in bloodshed. 
 
 Many of his neighbours were scoundrels and 
 ruffians of the deepest dye deserters from whale- 
 ships and men-of-war, or escaped criminals from 
 California and the Australian colonies. Some of 
 these earned a living by trading with the natives 
 for turtle-shell and cocoanut oil, others were simply 
 beachcombers, who attached themselves to the 
 leading chiefs and gave their services to them in 
 
 war time, receiving in return houses and land, and 
 
 258 
 
THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 259 
 
 spending their lives in time of peace in the wildest 
 dissipation and excesses. 
 
 In those days the American whaling fleet made 
 Jakoits and the other three harbours on the beau- 
 tiful island their rendezvous before sailing northward 
 to the coasts of Japan and Siberia. Sometimes 
 there would be as many as thirty ships arrive 
 within a week of each other, carrying from thirty 
 to forty hands each ; and these, when given liberty 
 by their captains, at once associated with the 
 beachcombing element, and turned an island 
 paradise into a hell during their stay on shore. 
 
 There was among these beachcombers a man 
 named Larmer. He was of Herculean stature and 
 strength, and was, in a manner, their leader. It was 
 his habit in his drunken moments to vaunt of the 
 bloody deeds which he had perpetrated during his 
 crime-stained career in the Pacific Islands. For 
 the lives of natives he had absolutely no regard, 
 and had committed so many murders in the Gilbert 
 Islands that he had been forcibly taken on board a 
 whaler by the few white men living there, and 
 threatened with instant death if he returned. 
 
 The whaleship landed him on Ponape, and his 
 presence soon became a curse. Being possessed of 
 plenty of arms and ammunition, he soon gained the 
 friendship of a native chief ruling over the western 
 district of the island, and his savage nature at once 
 showed itself by his offering to destroy the inhabi- 
 
260 THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 
 
 tants of a little island named Pakin, who had in 
 some way offended this chief. His offer was 
 accepted, and, accompanied by five ruffianly whites 
 and some hundreds of natives, the unfortunate 
 people were surprised and butchered. Elated with 
 this achievement, Larmer returned to Ponape, and, 
 during the orgy which took place to celebrate the 
 massacre, he shot dead one of his white companions 
 who had displeased him over some trifling matter. 
 
 The news was brought by a native to Challoner, 
 who with a fellow-trader and several local chiefs 
 was sitting outside his house smoking and enjoy- 
 ing the cool of the evening, and watching the 
 flashing torches of a number of canoes catching 
 flying fish beyond the barrier reef. Neither of 
 them felt surprised, and Challoner remarked to 
 the native that it was good to know that one bad 
 and useless man was dead, but that it would be 
 better still to hear that the man who slaughtered 
 a whole community in cold blood was dead also. 
 
 " I wouldn't have said that if I were you," said 
 Dawson, the other trader, nervously ; " that fellow 
 Larmer is bound to hear of it." 
 
 " I am quite prepared," Challoner replied quietly, 
 " as you know, Dawson. Things cannot go on like 
 this. I have never killed a man in my life, but to 
 kill such a brute as Larmer would be a good 
 action." 
 
 The distance between Challoner's place and Kiti, 
 
THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 261 
 
 where Larmer dwelt with his villainous associates, 
 was but ten miles. Yet, although Larmer had now 
 been living on the island for a year, Challoner had 
 only once met and spoken to him. 
 
 ***** 
 
 During a visit which he (Challoner) had made 
 to a little harbour called Metalanim, he had 
 explored some very ancient ruins there, which 
 were generally believed by the white uneducated 
 traders to have been constructed by the old 
 buccaneers, though the most learned antiquarians 
 confess themselves puzzled to solve the mystery 
 of their existence. But that these ruins had been 
 used as a depot or refuge of some sort by those 
 who sailed the North Pacific more than two 
 hundred years ago was evident, for many traces 
 of their occupancy by Europeans had been found 
 by the few white men who had visited them. 
 
 It was Challoner's fortune to discover amid the 
 mass of tangled vines and creepers that grew all 
 over the walls, and even down in the curious 
 chambers, an old brass cannon. With the aid of 
 some of his native friends he succeeded in dragging 
 it forth and conveying it in his boat to his house, 
 where, upon cleaning it, he found it bore the 
 Spanish arms over the date of its casting in 
 Manila, in the year 1716. Much interested in this, 
 he refused to sell the gun to several whaleship 
 captains, who each wanted to buy it. He would 
 
262 THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 
 
 sell it, he thought, to better advantage by sending 
 it to Australia or Europe. 
 
 Soon after its discovery he had set his people to 
 work to clean and polish it. One day he saw 
 coming towards him a man, who from his huge 
 figure he knew must be Larmer, the beachcomber. 
 
 " I say, boss," said the man roughly, " let's have 
 a look at that cannon you've found, will yar ? " 
 
 " There it is," said Challoner quietly, pointing to 
 his boat-house, but not deigning to accompany the 
 beachcomber and show him the weapon. 
 
 Larmer made a brief but keen inspection, and 
 then walked into the trader's room and, unasked, 
 sat down. 
 
 " It's as good as new," he said. " What do you 
 want for it ? " 
 
 " I will not sell it," replied the trader coldly, 
 eyeing the beachcomber steadily, "at least to no 
 one in Ponape. There is too free a display of and 
 use of arms here as it is," and he looked pointedly 
 at the brace of heavy Colt's revolvers in his visitor's 
 belt. 
 
 A scowl darkened Larmer's face. " I'll give you 
 a hundred dollars for the thing," he said. " I want 
 it, and I mean to have it." And he rose and dashed 
 his huge hand down upon the table. 
 
 Challoner was unarmed, but his face betrayed 
 neither fear nor any other emotion. He was 
 standing with his back to the doorway of his 
 
THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 263 
 
 bedroom. A thick curtain of navy blue calico 
 concealed the interior of this room from the view 
 of any one in the living room, and Larmer had 
 seen no one but the trader about. 
 
 For some few seconds there was silence ; the 
 beachcomber, with his clenched fist still on the 
 table, was trying to discover whether the man 
 before him was intimidated. Challoner stood 
 unmoved. 
 
 " Yes," began Larmer again, " I want that 
 cannon. Sru, the chief of Kiti, an' me is going 
 on a little war-party again. But I'll pay you for it" 
 
 " And I tell you that I won't sell it. Least of all 
 to a man like you, who would use it for murder." 
 
 The beachcomber's hand went to his belt and 
 stayed there, as the trader stepped aside from the 
 doorway and he saw a rifle pointed at his heart. It 
 was held by the trader's wife. 
 
 "Put up your hands," said Challoner, with a 
 contemptuous laugh. " And now listen to me. I 
 want no quarrel with you don't force one on me. 
 Now clear out." 
 
 Without a word the baffled man turned away. 
 But the look of savage hatred that gleamed in his 
 fierce eyes told Challoner that he had made a 
 dangerous enemy. And only a few days passed 
 before he heard from the natives that Larmer said 
 he would have his revenge and the brass gun 
 as well before many months were over. 
 
264 THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 
 
 But the trader, though apparently taking no 
 heed, was yet watchful. His influence with the 
 natives of the Jakoits district was great, for they 
 both liked and trusted him as a just and honour- 
 able man, and he knew that they would rally round 
 him if Larmer attempted either to carry off the 
 gun or do harm to him. 
 
 For some months matters went on at Jakoits 
 very quietly, and the last of the whaling fleet 
 having sailed, Challoner and Dawson went about 
 their usual work again, such as trading along the 
 coast in their whaleboats and storing their cocoanut 
 oil in readiness for the Mocassin, the trading ship 
 which visited them once a year, and was now due. 
 
 Although living only a few miles apart from 
 each other, the two did not very often meet, but 
 Challoner was one day surprised to see Dawson's 
 boat pulling into the beach, for he had had a visit 
 from his friend only the previous evening. The 
 moment the boat touched the sand Dawson jumped 
 out, and Challoner at once saw by the anxious 
 expression on his face that something was wrong. 
 
 He soon learnt Dawson's news, which was bad 
 enough. The Mocassin had run ashore in the night 
 at a place five miles away from Dawson's village, 
 and it was feared she would become a total wreck 
 unless she could be lightened and floated over the 
 reef into smooth water. The captain had sent an 
 urgent message for aid, and in less than half ah 
 
THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 265 
 
 hour the two men were on their way to the wreck, 
 accompanied by nearly every male native in 
 Challoner's village. 
 
 Towards sunset on the following day, just as the 
 boats were in sight, returning from the wreck, Tiaru, 
 the trader's wife, with her one child and some of 
 her female relatives, were coming from their bathe in 
 the sea, when they heard screams from the village, 
 and presently some terrified women fled past them, 
 calling out that Larmer and another white man 
 and a number of their native allies were carrying 
 away the brass gun. In an instant the young wife 
 gave the babe to a woman near her, and darted 
 towards her husband's house. A number of women 
 and children, encouraged by her presence, ran to 
 alarm the approaching boats. 
 
 In front of the trader's house Larmer and another 
 beachcomber were directing a score of Kiti natives 
 how to sling the heavy gun between two stout 
 poles. A sentry stood on guard at the gate of 
 Challoner's fence, but Tiaru dashed his crossed 
 musket aside, and then sprang into the midst of 
 her husband's enemies. 
 
 "Set down the gun," she panted indignantly, 
 " ye coward men of Roan Kiti, and ye white men 
 thieves, who only dare to come and steal when 
 there are but women to meet and fight with thee." 
 
 Larmer laughed. 
 
 " Get out o' this, you meddling fool," he said in 
 
266 THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 
 
 English, and then, calling to the natives to hasten 
 ere it grew dark, he took no further notice of the 
 woman before him. Then, as they prepared to 
 raise their burden by a united effort upon their 
 naked shoulders, Tiaru sprang into the house and 
 quickly reappeared with a heavy knife in her hand. 
 Twisting her lithe body from the grasp of one of 
 the beachcombers, with flaming eyes she burst in 
 amongst the gun carriers and began slashing at the 
 strips of green bark with which the cannon was 
 lashed to the poles. 
 
 " Curse you ! " said Larmer fiercely, striding 
 forward and seizing her by her long hair. " Take 
 away her knife, Watty, quick ! " And he dragged 
 her head back with brutal strength to release his 
 hold with a cry of savage fury as the woman turned 
 upon him and with a swift stroke severed the 
 ringers of his left hand. Again she raised her 
 hand as Larmer drew a pistol and shot her 
 through the body. She fell without a cry upon 
 the gun beneath. 
 
 " By , you've done it now ! " said the man 
 
 Watty. " Look there ! There's all our natives 
 running away. We're as good as dead men if we 
 stay here five minutes longer. I'm off, anyway " ; 
 and then, hurriedly binding up his companion's 
 bleeding hand, he disappeared into the surround- 
 ing forest after his native allies. 
 
 For a few moments Larmer stood irresolute, 
 
THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 267 
 
 looking first at the body of the woman lying across 
 the gun, then at his wounded hand. Already the 
 shouts of Challoner's natives sounded near ; and he 
 knew that the boats had reached the beach. The 
 gun, which had cost him so dear, must be aban- 
 doned, but he would take a further revenge upon 
 its owner. He ran quickly to a fire which burned 
 dimly in Challoner's cooking-house, lit a bunch of 
 dried palm leaves, and thrust it into the thatch 
 of the dwelling-house. Then he struck into the 
 jungle. 
 
 As Challoner, followed by Dawson and the men 
 of Jakoits village, rushed along the narrow path 
 that led to his house, they heard the roar and 
 crackle of the flames ; when they gained the open 
 they saw the bright light shining on the old cannon, 
 whose polished brass was stained and streaked with 
 red. Tiaru lay across the breech, dead. 
 
 ***** 
 
 For nearly two days Challoner and his natives 
 followed the tracks of the murderer into the heart 
 of the mountain forest of Ponape. Dawson and 
 another party had left early the same night for the 
 Roan Kiti coast, where they landed and formed a 
 cordon, which it would be impossible for Larmer 
 to pass. 
 
 Watty, his fellow-scoundrel, was captured early 
 next morning. He had lost his way and was lying 
 asleep beside a fire on the banks of a small stream. 
 
268 THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 
 
 He was promptly shot by Dawson. Larmer was to 
 be taken alive. 
 
 Meanwhile Challoner and his men pressed 
 steadily on, driving their prey before them. At 
 noon on the second day they caught sight of his 
 huge figure ascending a rocky spur, and a party of 
 natives ran swiftly to its base and hid at the margin 
 of a small, deep pool. Challoner knew that his man 
 wanted a drink, and would soon descend the spur 
 to get it. 
 
 For some hours not a sound broke the silence, 
 then a stone rolled down, and presently Larmer's 
 head appeared above a boulder. He looked care- 
 fully round, and then, finding all quiet, began the 
 descent. On the very edge of the pool he again 
 stopped and listened, holding his pistol at full 
 cock. His left hand was slung to his chest by a 
 piece of green hibiscus bark, which was passed 
 round his neck and roughly tied. 
 
 The silence all around him was reassuring, but 
 he still held out the pistol as he bent his knees to 
 drink. Ere his lips could touch the water two 
 half-naked figures sprang upon him and bore him 
 down. He was too weak to resist. 
 
 " Do not bind him," said Challoner, " but tie his 
 right hand behind his back." 
 
 Larmer turned his bloodshot eyes upon the 
 trader, but said nothing. 
 
 " Give him a drink." 
 
THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS 269 
 
 A native placed a gourd of water to his lips. He 
 drank greedily. Then, in silence, Challoner and his 
 men began their march back. 
 
 ***** 
 
 At sunset the people of Jakoits gathered together 
 in front of the blackened space whereon the trader's 
 house had stood. Raised on four heavy blocks of 
 stone was the still blood-stained cannon, and bound 
 with his back to its muzzle was Larmer. 
 
 Challoner made a sign, the brown-skinned men 
 and women moved quickly apart in two parties, 
 one on each side of the gun. Then Rul, the chief 
 of the Jakoits' village, advanced with a lighted stick, 
 touched the priming, and sprang aside. A sheet of 
 flame leaped out, a bursting roar pealed through the 
 leafy forest aisles, and Challoner had avenged his 
 murdered wife. 
 
Susani 
 
 A FEW weeks ago I was reading a charmingly 
 written book by a lady (the wife of a dis- 
 tinguished savant) who had spent three months on 
 Funafuti, one of the lagoon islands of the Ellice 
 Group. Now the place and the brown people of 
 whom she wrote were once very familiar to me, 
 and her warm and generous sympathy for a dying 
 race stirred me greatly, and when I came across 
 the name " Funafala," old, forgotten memories 
 awoke once more, and I heard the sough of the 
 trade wind through the palms and the lapping of 
 the lagoon waters upon the lonely beaches of 
 Funafala, as Senior, the mate of the Venus, and 
 myself watched the last sleep of Susani. 
 
 Funafala is one of the many islands which 
 encircle Funafuti lagoon with a belt of living 
 green, and to Funafala "the island of the pandanus 
 palm " Senior and I had come with a party of 
 
 natives from the village on the main island to 
 
 270 
 
SUSANI 271 
 
 spend a week's idleness. Fifty years ago, long 
 before the first missionary ship sailed into the 
 lagoon, five or six hundred people dwelt on 
 Funafala in peace and plenty now it holds but 
 their bones, for they were doomed to fade and 
 vanish before the breath of the white man and his 
 civilisation and "benefits," which to the brown 
 people mean death, and as the years went by, the 
 remnant of the people on Funafala and the other 
 islets betook themselves to the main island after 
 which the lagoon is named for there the whale- 
 ships and trading schooners came to anchor, and 
 there they live to this day, smitten with disease 
 and fated to disappear altogether within another 
 thirty years, and be no more known to man except 
 in the dry pages of a book written by some learned 
 ethnologist. 
 
 But twice every year the people of Funafuti 
 betake themselves to Funafala to gather the cocoa- 
 nuts, which in the silent groves ripen and fall and 
 lie undisturbed from month to month ; then for 
 a week or ten days, as the men husk the nuts, the 
 women and children fish in the daytime among 
 the pools and runnels of the inner reef, and at 
 night with flaring torches of palm-leaf they stand 
 amid the sweeping surf on the outer side of the 
 narrow islet, and with net and spear fill their 
 baskets with blue and yellow crayfish. Then 
 when all the work is done, the canoes are filled with 
 
272 SUSANI 
 
 the husked cocoanuts, and with laughter and song 
 for they are yet a merry-hearted though vanish- 
 ing people they return to the village, and for 
 another six months Funafala is left to the ceaseless 
 call of the restless sea upon the outer reef, and the 
 hoarse cry of the soaring frigate birds. 
 
 One afternoon Senior and myself, accompanied 
 by a young, powerfully-built native named Suka, 
 were returning to the temporary village on 
 Funafala a collection of rude huts thatched with 
 palm leaves from a fishing excursion on the outer 
 reef, when we were overtaken by a series of sudden 
 squalls and downpours of rain. We were then 
 walking along the weather shore of the island, 
 which was strewn with loose slabs of coral stone, 
 pure white in colour and giving forth a clear, 
 resonant sound to the slightest disturbing move- 
 ment. On our right hand was a scrub of puka 
 trees, which afforded no shelter from the torrential 
 rain ; on our left the ocean, whose huge, leaping 
 billows crashed and thundered upon the black, 
 shelving reef, and sent swirling waves of whitened 
 foam up to our feet. 
 
 For some minutes we continued to force our 
 way against the storm, when Suka, who was 
 leading, called out to us that a little distance on 
 along the beach there was a cluster of papa (coral 
 rocks), in the recesses of which we could obtain 
 
SUSANI 273 
 
 shelter. Even as he spoke the rain ceased for a 
 space, and we saw, some hundreds of yards before 
 us, the spot of which he had spoken a number of 
 J a gg e d, tumbled-together coral boulders which 
 some violent convulsion of the sea had torn away 
 from the barrier reef and hurled upon the shore, 
 where, in the course of years, kindly Nature had 
 sent out a tender hand and covered them with a 
 thick growth of a creeper peculiar to the low-lying 
 atolls of the mid-Pacific, and hidden their rugged 
 outlines under a mantle of vivid green. 
 
 As we drew near, the bright, tropic sun shone 
 out for a while, and the furious wind died away, 
 seeming to gather fresh strength for another 
 sweeping onslaught from the darkened weather 
 horizon. 
 
 " Quick," said Suka, pointing to the rocks, " 'tis 
 bad to be smitten with such rain as this. Let us 
 rest in the papa till the storm be over." 
 
 Following our all but naked guide, who sprang 
 from stone to stone with the surefootedness of a 
 mountain goat, we soon reached the cluster of 
 rocks, the bases of which were embedded in the 
 now hard and stiffened sand, and almost at the 
 same moment another heavy rain squall swept 
 down and blurred sea and sky and land alike. 
 
 Bidding us to follow, Suka began to clamber up 
 the side of the highest of the boulders, on the sea- 
 ward face of which, he said, was a small cave, used 
 
 19 
 
274 SUSANI 
 
 in the olden days as a sleeping place by fishermen 
 and sea-bird catchers. Suddenly, when half-way 
 up, he stopped and turned to' us, and with a smile 
 on his face, held up his hand and bade us listen. 
 Some one was singing. 
 
 " It is Susani," he whispered, " she did not sleep 
 in the village last night. She comes to this place 
 sometimes to sing to the sea. Come, she is not 
 afraid of white men." 
 
 Grasping the thick masses of green vine called 
 AfAt which hung from the summit of the rock, 
 we at last reached the foot of the cave, and looking 
 up we saw seated at the entrance a young native 
 girl of about twelve years of age. Even though we 
 were so near to her she seemed utterly unconscious 
 of our presence, and still sang in a low, soft voice 
 some island chant, the words of which were strange 
 to both my companion and myself although we 
 were well acquainted with nearly all the Toke- 
 lauan dialects. 
 
 Very quietly we stood awaiting till she turned 
 her face towards us, but her eyes were bent sea- 
 ward upon the driving sheets of rain, and the 
 tumbling surf which thrashed upon the shore. 
 
 " Wait," said Suka in a low voice ; " she will see 
 us soon. Tis best not to disturb her. She is 
 afflicted of God and seeth many things." 
 
 Her song ceased, and then Suka, stepping for- 
 ward, touched her gently upon the arm. She looked. 
 
SUSANI 275 
 
 up and smiled into his face, and then she let her 
 full, dark eyes rest upon the strangers who stood 
 behind, then again she turned to Suka in mute, 
 inquiring wonder. 
 
 He bent down and placed his cheek against 
 hers, " Be not afraid, Susani ; they be good friends. 
 And see, little one, sit thee further back within the 
 cave, for the driving rain beats in here at the 
 mouth and thy feet are wet and cold." 
 
 She rose without a word and stood whilst the 
 kindly-hearted native unrolled an old mat which 
 lay at the end of the cave and spread it out in the 
 centre. 
 
 " Come, Susani, dear one," he said gravely, and 
 his usually harsh and guttural voice sounded soft 
 and tender. " Come, sit thee here, and then in a 
 little while shall I get wood and make a fire 
 so that we may eat. Hast eaten to-day, little 
 one?" 
 
 She shook her head ; a faint smile parted her 
 lips, and then her strange, mournful eyes for a 
 moment again sought ours as she seated herself 
 on the mat. Suka beckoned us to approach and 
 sit near her, himself sitting a little apart and to 
 one side. 
 
 " Susani," he said, bending forward and speaking 
 slowly and carefully, "fealofani tau lima i taka 
 soa " (" give your hand to my friends "). 
 
 The girl held out her left hand, and Senior and 
 
276 SUSANI 
 
 I each took it in turn gently within our own, and 
 uttered the native greeting of " Fakaalofa" 
 
 "She can talk," said Suka, "but not much. 
 Sometimes for many days no word will come from 
 her lips. It is then she leave th the village and 
 walks about in the forest or along the beaches 
 when others sleep. But no harm can come to her, 
 for she is tausi mau te Atua* And be not vexed 
 in that she gave thee her left hand, for, see " 
 
 He touched the girl's right arm, and we now 
 saw that it hung limp and helpless upon her 
 smooth, bared thigh. 
 
 " Was she born thus?" asked Senior, as he placed 
 his strong, rough hand upon her head and stroked 
 her thick, wavy hair, which fell like a mantle over 
 her shoulders and back. 
 
 " Nay, she was born a strong child, and her 
 mother and father were without blemish, and good 
 to look upon the man was as thick as me" (he 
 touched his own brawny chest), " but as she grew 
 and began to talk, the bone in her right arm began 
 to perish. And then the hand of God fell upon 
 her mother and father, and they died. But let me 
 go get wood and broil some fish, for she hath not 
 eaten." Then he bent forward and said 
 
 " Dost fear to stay here, Susani, with the white 
 men?" 
 
 She looked at us in turn, and then said slowly 
 1 In God's special keeping. 
 
SUSANI 277 
 
 " Nay, I have no fear, Suka." 
 
 " Poor little beggar ! " said Senior pityingly. 
 
 Ten minutes later Suka had returned with an 
 armful of dry wood and some young drinking 
 cocoanuts. Fish we had in plenty, and in our 
 bags were some biscuits, brought from the 
 schooner. As Senior and I tended the fire, Suka 
 wrapped four silvery sea mullet in leaves, and then 
 when it had burnt down to a heap of glowing coals 
 he laid them in the centre and watched them care- 
 fully, speaking every now and then to the child, 
 who seemed scarcely to heed, as she gazed at 
 Senior's long, yellow beard, and his bright, blue 
 eyes set in his honest, sun-tanned face. Then, 
 when the fish were cooked, Suka turned them out 
 of their coverings and placed them on broad, 
 freshly plucked puka leaves, and Senior brought 
 the hard ship biscuits, and, putting one beside a 
 fish, brought it to the child and bade her eat. 
 
 She put out her left hand timidly, and took it 
 from him, her strange eyes still fixed wonderingly 
 upon his face. Then she looked at Suka, and 
 Suka, with an apologetic cough, placed one hand 
 over his eyes and bent his head for he was a 
 deacon, and to eat food without giving thanks 
 would be a terrible thing to do, at least in the 
 presence of white men, who, of course, never 
 neglected to do so. 
 
 The child, hungry as she must have been, ate 
 
278 SUSANI 
 
 her food with a dainty grace, though she had but 
 one hand to use, and our little attentions to her 
 every now and then seemed at first to increase her 
 natural shyness and timidity. But when the rude 
 meal was finished, and my companion and myself 
 filled our pipes and sat in the front of the cave, 
 she came with Suka and nestled up against his 
 burly figure as he rolled a cigarette of strong, 
 black tobacco in dried banana leaf. The rain 
 had ceased, but the fronds of the coco-palms 
 along the lonely shore swayed and beat together 
 with the wind, which still blew strongly, though 
 the sun was now shining brightly upon the white 
 horses of the heaving sea. 
 
 For nearly half an hour we sat thus, watching 
 the roll and curl of the tumbling seas upon the 
 reef and the swift flight of a flock of savage-eyed 
 frigate birds which swept to and fro, now high in 
 air, now low down, with wing touching wave, in 
 search of their prey, and listening to the song of 
 the wind among the trees. Then Suka, without 
 speaking, smiled, and pointed to the girl. She had 
 pillowed her head upon his naked bosom and 
 closed her long-lashed eyes in slumber. 
 
 " She will sleep long," he said. " Will it vex 
 thee if I stay here with her till she awakens ? See, 
 the sky is clear and the rain hath ceased, and ye 
 need but walk along the beach till " 
 
 " We will wait, Suka," I answered ; " we will 
 
SUSAN I 279 
 
 wait till she awakens, and then return to the 
 village together. How comes it that one so young 
 and tender is left to wander about alone ? " 
 
 Suka pressed his lips to the forehead of the 
 sleeping girl. " No harm can come to her. God 
 hath afflicted, but yet doth He protect her. And 
 she walketh with Him and His Son Christ, else 
 had she perished long ago, for sometimes she will 
 leave us and wander for many days in the forest 
 or along the shore, eating but little and drinking 
 nothing, for she cannot open a cocoanut with her 
 one hand, and there are no streams of fresh, sweet 
 water here as there be in the fair land of Samoa. 
 And yet God is with her always, always, and she 
 feeleth hunger and thirst but little." 
 
 Senior placed his hand on mine and gripped it 
 so firmly that I looked at him with astonishment. 
 He was a cold, self-contained man, making no 
 friends, never talking about himself, doing his duty 
 as mate of the Venus as a seaman should do it, 
 and never giving any one even myself, with 
 whom he was more open than any other man 
 any encouragement to ask him why he, a highly 
 educated and intelligent man, had left civilisa- 
 tion to waste his years as a wanderer in the South 
 Seas. Still grasping my hand, he turned to me 
 and spoke with quivering lips 
 
 " ' She walketh with God ! ' Did you hear that ? 
 Did you look into her eyes and not see in them 
 
280 SUSAN I 
 
 what fools would call insanity, and what I know is 
 a knowledge of God above and Christ and the 
 world beyond. 'God has afflicted her/ so this 
 simple-minded native, whom many men in their 
 unthinking moments would call a canting, naked 
 kanaka, says ; but God has not afflicted her. He 
 has blessed her, for in her eyes there is that 
 which tells me better than all the deadly-dull 
 sermons of the highly cultured and fashionable 
 cleric, who patters about the Higher Life, or the 
 ranting Salvationist who bawls in the streets of 
 Melbourne or Sydney about the Blood of the 
 Lamb, that there is peace beyond for all. . . . ' God 
 has afflicted this poor child!' Would that He 
 might so afflict me physically as He has afflicted 
 her if He but gave me that inner knowledge of 
 Himself which so shines out and is glorified in her 
 face." 
 
 His voice, rising in his excitement, nearly 
 awakened her ; so Suka, with outstretched hand, 
 enjoined silence. 
 
 " She sleeps, dear friends." 
 
 A year had come and gone, and the Venus again 
 lay at anchor in the broad lagoon of Funafuti. 
 Suka had come aboard whilst the schooner was 
 beating up to the anchorage, and said that there 
 had been much sickness on the island, that many 
 people had died, and that Susani with other 
 
SUSANI 281 
 
 children was tali mate (nearly dead). Could we 
 give them some medicine ? for it was a strong 
 sickness this, and even the " thick " * man or 
 woman withered and died from it. Soon they 
 would all be dead. 
 
 Alas ! we could not help them much, for our 
 medicine chest was long since depleted of the only 
 drug that would have been of service. At every 
 island in the group from Nanomea southwards we 
 had found many of the people suffering and dying 
 from a malignant type of fever introduced by an 
 Hawaiian labour vessel. Then an additional mis- 
 fortune followed a heavy gale, almost of hurri- 
 cane force, had set in from the westward and 
 destroyed countless thousands of cocoanut trees, 
 so that with the exception of fish, food was very 
 scarce. 
 
 We sent Suka on shore in the boat at once with 
 a few mats of rice and bags of biscuit all the 
 provisions we could spare. Then as soon as the 
 vessel was anchored the captain, Senior, and my- 
 self followed. The resident native teacher met us 
 on the beach, his yellow face and gaunt frame 
 showing that he, too, had been attacked. Many 
 of the people, he told us, had gone to the tem- 
 porary village on Funafala, where a little more 
 food could be obtained than on the main island, 
 the groves of palms there not having suffered so 
 1 f.e. y strong, stout. 
 
282 SUSANI 
 
 severely from the gale. Among those who had 
 gone were Susani and the family who had adopted 
 her, and we heard with sorrow that there was no 
 hope of the child living, for that morning some 
 natives had arrived from Funafala with the news 
 that nearly all the young children were dead, and 
 those remaining were not expected to live beyond 
 another day or two. 
 
 After spending an hour with the teacher, and 
 watching him distribute the rice and biscuit among 
 his sick and starving people, we returned to the 
 ship with the intention of sailing down to Funafala 
 in the boat and taking the natives there some pro- 
 visions. The teacher thanked us warmly, but 
 declined to come with us, saying that he could not 
 leave the many for the few, " for," he added sadly, 
 " who will read the service over those who die ? 
 As you sail down the lagoon you will meet canoes 
 coming up from Funafala bringing the dead. I 
 cannot go there to bury them." 
 
 It was nearly midnight when we put off from 
 the schooner's side, but with Suka as pilot we ran 
 quickly down to the island. A few natives met us 
 as we stepped on shore, and to these we gave the 
 provisions we had brought, telling them to divide 
 them equally. Then with Suka leading, and carry- 
 ing a lighted torch made from the spathe of the 
 cocoanut tree, we made our way through the 
 darkened forest to the house in which Susani and 
 
SUSANI 283 
 
 her people were living. It was situated on the 
 verge of the shore, on the weather side of the 
 narrow island, so as to be exposed to the cooling 
 breath of the trade wind, and consisted merely of 
 a roof of thatch with open sides, and the ground 
 within covered with coarse mats, upon which we 
 saw were lying three figures. 
 
 Making as little noise as possible Suka called 
 out a name, and a man threw off his sleeping mat 
 and came out ; it was Susani's adopted father. 
 
 " No," he said in his simple manner, in answer 
 to our inquiries, " Susani is not yet dead, but she 
 will die at dawn when the tide is low. Tis now 
 her last sleep." 
 
 Stepping very softly inside the house so as not 
 to disturb her, we sat down to wait her awakening. 
 Suka crouched near us, smoking his pipe in silence, 
 and watching the sleeping girl to see if she moved. 
 
 Just as the weird cries of the tropic birds 
 heralded the approach of dawn, the woman who 
 lay beside Susani rose and looked into her face. 
 Then she bade us come nearer. 
 
 " She is awake." 
 
 The child knew us at once, even in that im- 
 perfect light, for the moment Senior and myself 
 stood up she tried to raise herself into a sitting 
 posture ; in an instant Suka sprang to her aid and 
 pillowed her head upon his knees ; weak as she 
 was, she put out her hand to us, and then let it lie 
 
284 SUSAN I 
 
 in the mate's broad palm, her deep, mysterious 
 eyes resting upon his face with a strange look of 
 happiness shining in them. Presently her lips 
 moved, and we all bent over her to listen ; it was 
 but one word 
 
 " Fakaalofa ! " ' 
 
 She never spoke again, but lay breathing softly, 
 and as the sun shot blood red from the sea and 
 showed the deathly pallor of her face, poor Suka 
 gave way, and his stalwart bosom was shaken with 
 the grief he tried in vain to suppress. Once more 
 she raised her thin, weak hand as if she sought to 
 touch his face ; he took it tremblingly and placed 
 it against his cheek ; in another moment she had 
 ceased to breathe. 
 
 As I walked slowly along the beach to the boat 
 I looked back ; the White Man and the Brown 
 were kneeling together over the little mat-shrouded 
 figure. 
 
 1 " My love to you." 
 
The Brothers-in-Law : A tale of 
 the Equatorial Islands 
 
 ," said Tavita the teacher, pointing 
 with his paddle to a long, narrow peninsula 
 which stretched out into the shallow waters of the 
 lagoon, " there, that is the place where the battle 
 was fought. In those days a village of thirty 
 houses or more stood there ; now no one liveth 
 there, and only sometimes do the people come here 
 to gather cocoanuts." 
 
 The White Man nodded. " Tis a fair place to 
 look upon. Let us land and rest awhile, for the 
 sun is hot." 
 
 The native pastor swung the bow of the canoe 
 round towards the shore, and presently the little 
 craft glided gently upon the hard, white sand, and 
 the two men got out, walked up to the grove of 
 cocoa-palms, and sat down under their shade 
 to rest and smoke until the sun lost some of 
 its fierce intensity and they could proceed on 
 
 their journey homeward to the principal village. 
 
 285 
 
286 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: 
 
 The White Man was the one trader living in 
 Peru, 1 the native was a Samoan, and one of the 
 oldest and bravest missionaries in the Pacific. For 
 twenty years he had dwelt among the wild, intract- 
 able, and savage people of Peru twenty years of 
 almost daily peril, for in those days the warlike 
 people of the Gilbert Group resented the coming 
 of the few native teachers scattered throughout the 
 archipelago, and only Tavita's undaunted courage 
 and genial disposition had preserved the lives of 
 himself and his family. Such influence as he now 
 possessed was due, not to his persistent attempts 
 to preach Christianity, but to his reputation for 
 integrity of conduct and his skill as a fisherman 
 and carpenter. 
 
 The White Man and he were firm friends, and 
 that day they had been down to the north end of 
 the lagoon to collect a canoe load of the eggs of a 
 small species of tern which frequented the un- 
 inhabited portion of the island in myriad swarms. 
 
 Presently, as they sat and smoked, and lazily 
 watched a swarm of the silvery mullet called kanae 
 disporting themselves on the glassy surface of the 
 lagoon, the White Man said 
 
 " Who were these white men, Tavita, who fought 
 in the battle ? " 
 
 1 Francis Island, or Peru, is one of the largest atolls of the 
 Gilbert Group in the South Pacific, about one hundred and 
 twenty miles south of the Equator 
 
A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS 287 
 
 " Hast never heard the story ? " inquired the 
 teacher in Samoan. 
 
 The trader shook his head. " Only some of it 
 a little from one, a little from another." 
 
 " Then listen," said Tavita, re-filling his pipe and 
 leaning his broad back against the bole of a cocoa- 
 palm. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " It was nineteen years ago, and I had been 
 living on the island but a year. In those days 
 there were many white men in these islands. 
 Some were traders, some were but papalagi tafea * 
 who spent their days in idleness, drunkenness, and 
 debauchery, casting aside all pride and living like 
 these savage people, with but a girdle of grass 
 around their naked waists, their hands ever imbued 
 in the blood of their fellow white men or that of 
 the men of the land. 
 
 " Here, on this island, were two traders and many 
 beachcombers. One of the traders was a man 
 named Carter, the other was named West. Carter 
 the people called * Karta/ the other by his fore 
 name, which was ' Simi ' (Jim). They came here 
 together in a whaleship from the Bonin Islands 
 with their wives two sisters, who were Portuguese 
 half-castes, and both very beautiful women. 
 Carter's wife had no children ; West, who was the 
 younger man, and who had married the younger 
 1 Beachcombers. 
 
288 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: 
 
 sister, had two. Both brought many thousands of 
 dollars worth ot trade with them to buy cocoanut 
 oil, for in those days these natives here did not 
 make copra as they do now they made oil from 
 the nuts. 
 
 " Karta built a house on the north end of the 
 island, where there is the best anchorage for ships, 
 West chose to remain on the lee side where he had 
 landed, and bought a house near to mine. In quite 
 a few days we became friends, and almost every 
 night we would meet and talk, and his children 
 and mine played together. He was quite a young 
 man, and had been, he told me, the third mate of 
 an English ship which was cast away on the Bonin 
 Islands four years before, where he had met Karta, 
 who was a trader there, and whose wife's sister he 
 married. 
 
 "One day they heard from the captain of a 
 whaleship that there was much money to be made 
 on this island of Peru, for although there were 
 many beachcombers living here there was no trader 
 to whom the people could sell their oil. So that 
 was why they came here. 
 
 " Now, although these two men were married 
 to two sisters, there was but little love between 
 them, and then as time went on came distrust, and 
 then hatred, born out of Karta's jealousy and 
 wicked heart ; but until they came to live here on 
 Peru there had been no bad blood not even 
 
A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS 289 
 
 enough to cause a bitter word, though even then 
 the younger man did not like Karta, who was a 
 man of violent temper, unfaithful to his wife, and 
 rude and insulting in his manner to most men, 
 white or brown. And Serena, his wife, hated him, 
 but made no sign. 
 
 " As time went on, both men prospered, for there 
 was much oil to be had, and at the end of the first 
 year a schooner came from Sydney and bought it. 
 I went on board with Simi, after the oil had been 
 rafted off to the ship's side. Karta, too, came on 
 board to be paid for his oil. He had been drink- 
 ing much grog and his face was flushed and angry. 
 With him were three beachcombers whose foul 
 language and insolent demeanour angered both 
 the captain and Simi, who were quiet men. There 
 were six or seven of these beachcombers living on 
 the island, and they all disliked Simi, who would 
 have none of their company ; but in Karta's house 
 they were made welcome. Night after night they 
 would gather there and drink and gamble, for some 
 of them had bags of dollars, for dissolute and idle 
 as they were for the most of their time they could 
 make money easily by acting as interpreters for the 
 natives, to the captains of the whaleships, or as 
 pilots to the trading vessels sailing northward to 
 the Marshall Islands. 
 
 " The captain paid Simi partly in money and 
 partly in trade goods, for the two hundred casks of 
 
 20 
 
290 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW : 
 
 oil he bought, and then Simi and I turned to go 
 on shore. Karta had scarce spoken ten words to 
 Simi, who yet bore him no ill-will, although for 
 many months tales had come to us of the evil life 
 he led and the insults he put upon his wife Serena. 
 
 " But after he had bidden farewell to the captain, 
 Simi held out his hand to his brother-in-law and 
 said ( My wife Luisa sendeth love and greetings 
 to Serena. Is she in good health ? * 
 
 " Karta would not take the hand held out to him. 
 
 " ' What is that to thee or thy wife either ? ' he 
 answered rudely. ' Look to thy own business and 
 meddle not with mine.' 
 
 " Simi's face grew red with anger, but he spoke 
 quietly and reproved his brother-in-law for his rude 
 speech. 'Why insult me needlessly before so 
 many strangers ? ' he said. ' What harm have I or 
 my wife Luisa ever done to thee ? ' 
 
 "'Curse thee and Luisa, thy wife,' said Karta 
 again ; ' she and thee, aye, and Serena too, are well 
 matched, for ye be all cunning sneaks and fit 
 company for that fat-faced Samoan psalm-singer 
 who stands beside thee.' 
 
 " At these words the three beachcombers laughed, 
 and when they saw that Simi made no answer, but 
 turned aside from Karta in contempt, one of them 
 called him a coward. 
 
 " He turned upon him quickly. * Thou liest, thou 
 drunken, useless cumberer of the earth/ he said, 
 
A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS 291 
 
 looking at him scornfully ; ' no coward am I, nor a 
 noisy boaster like thee. This is no place for us to 
 quarrel. But say such a thing to me on the beach 
 if ye dare.' 
 
 " ' He is my friend/ said Karta, speaking with 
 drunken rage, and thrusting his face into Simi's, 
 ' he is as good a man as thee any day. To strike 
 him or any one of us thou art afraid, thou cat- 
 hearted coward and miser.' 
 
 " Simi clenched his hands, but suddenly thrust 
 them into his pockets and looked at the captain 
 and the officers of the ship. 
 
 "'This is no place for me,' he again said in a low 
 voice ; ' come, Tavita, let us go/ and without even 
 raising his eyes to Karta and the three other men 
 he went out of the cabin. 
 
 "That night he, Luisa, and I and my wife sat 
 talking ; and in the fulness of her anger at the 
 insults heaped upon her husband, Luisa told us of 
 some things. 
 
 "'This man Karta hateth both my sister and 
 myself, as well as my husband. He hateth me 
 because that it was I whom he desired to 'marry, 
 four years ago ; but I feared him too much to 
 become his wife, for even in those days I knew 
 him to be a drunkard and a gambler, and a 
 licentious man. Then although she loved him not 
 my sister Serena became his wife, for he was a man 
 of good property, and promised to give over his evil 
 
292 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: 
 
 ways and be a good husband to her. And he 
 hateth her and would gladly see her dead, for she 
 hath borne him no children. He is for ever fling- 
 ing cruel words at her, and hath said to her before 
 me that a childless man is a thing of scorn and 
 disgrace even to the savage people of this island. 
 And he makes no secret of his wickedness with 
 other women. That is why my sister Serena is 
 dull and heavy-minded ; for she is eaten up with 
 grief and shame.' 
 
 " ' That is true,' said Simi, * I have known this 
 for a year past, for when he is drunk he cannot 
 conceal his thoughts. And he is full of anger 
 against me because I have nought in common 
 with him. I am neither a drinker of grog nor 
 a gambler, and have suffered from him what I 
 would surfer from no other man. I am no brawler, 
 but yet 'tis hard to bear.' 
 
 ***** 
 
 " Just as dawn came, and I was sunk in slumber, 
 I heard a footstep outside my door, and then Simi 
 called to me. ' Bring thy wife to my house quickly,' 
 he said, ' evil work hath been done in the night.' 
 
 " My wife and I followed him, and when we 
 entered we saw Luisa his wife kneeling beside 
 a couch and weeping over Serena, who lay still 
 and quiet as if dead. 
 
 " * Look,' he said sternly, * look what that devil 
 hath done ! ' 
 
A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS 293 
 
 " He lifted Serena's left arm the bone was 
 broken in two places, above and below the elbow. 
 
 " We set to work quickly, and fitting the broken 
 bones in place we bound her arm up in stiff, 
 smooth strips of the spathe of the cocoanut tree, 
 and then washed and dressed her feet, which were 
 cut and bleeding, for she had walked barefooted, 
 and clothed only in her night-dress, all the way 
 from the north end of the island, which is nearly 
 two leagues from my house. 
 
 " After she had drunk some coffee and eaten a 
 little food she became stronger, and told us all 
 that had befallen her. 
 
 " ' Karta and the three other white men came 
 back from the ship when it was long past mid- 
 night, and I knew by the noise they made that 
 they had all been drinking grog. I heard them 
 talking and laughing and saying that thou, Simi, 
 were a paltry coward ; and then one of them he 
 who is called Joe said that he would one day end 
 thee with a bullet and take Luisa to wife, as so 
 fine a woman deserved a better man than a cur for 
 a husband. And Karta Karta my husband 
 laughed and said that that could not be, for he 
 meant to take thee, Luisa, for himself when he 
 had ridden himself of me. His shameless words 
 stung me, and I wept silently as I lay there, and 
 pressed my hands to my ears to shut out their 
 foul talk and blasphemies. 
 
294 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: 
 
 " ' Suddenly I heard my husband's voice as he 
 rose from the table and came towards the sleeping 
 room. He threw open the door and bade me 
 come out and put food before him and his friends. 
 
 " ' I rose at his bidding, for his face terrified me 
 it was the face of a devil and began to clothe my- 
 self. He tore the dress from my hands and cursed 
 me, and bade me go as I stood. In my fear I 
 sprang to the window and tried to tear down the 
 cane lattice-work so as to escape from the house 
 and the shame he sought to put upon me. He 
 seized me by the waist and tried to tear me away, 
 but I was strong strong with the strength of a 
 man. Then it was that he went mad, for he took 
 up a heavy paua stick and struck me twice on the 
 arm. And had it not been that the other white 
 men came in and dragged him away from me, 
 crying shame on him, and throwing him down 
 upon the floor, I would now be dead. 
 
 " ' I lay quiet for a little time and then rising to 
 my feet looked out into the big room, where the 
 three men were still holding my husband down. 
 One of them bade me run for my life, for Karta, 
 he said, had gone mad with grog. 
 
 " ' I feared to seek aid from any of the natives, 
 for they, too, dread Karta at such times ; so I 
 walked and ran, sometimes along the beach, some- 
 times through the bush till I came here. That is all.' 
 
A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS 295 
 
 " That morning the head man in our village 
 caused the shell to sound, 1 to call the people 
 together so that they might hear from Simi the 
 story of the shame put upon his wife's sister and 
 upon himself and his house. As the people 
 gathered around the moniep? and the head men 
 sat down inside, the captain of the ship came on 
 shore, and great was his anger when he heard the 
 tale. 
 
 " ' Let this poor woman come to my ship/ he 
 said ; ' her life here is not safe with such a man as 
 that. For I know his utter vileness and cruelty to 
 her. With me she shall be safe and well cared for, 
 and if she so wishes she shall come with me to 
 Fiji where my wife liveth, and her life will be 
 a life of peace.' 
 
 " So Serena was put in the ship's boat, and 
 Luisa went with her to remain on board till the 
 ship sailed, which would be in three days. Then 
 Simi and the head men talked together in the 
 council house, and they made a law and sent a 
 message to Karta. This was the message they 
 sent to him : * Because of the evil thou hast done 
 and of the shame thou hast put upon the sister of 
 the wife of our white man, come no more to this 
 town. If thou comest then will there be war 
 between thy town and ours, and we will burn the 
 houses and harry and slay thee and the seven 
 1 A conch-shell. 2 The council house. 
 
296 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: 
 
 other white men, and all men of thy town who 
 side with thee, and make slaves of the women and 
 children. This is our last word.' 
 
 "A swift messenger was sent. Before the sun 
 was in mid-heaven he returned, crying out as he 
 ran, ' War is the answer of Karta and his village. 
 War and death to Simi and to us all are his words ; 
 and to Luisa, the wife of the white man, he 
 sendeth this message : " Prepare a feast for thy 
 new husband, for he cometh to take thee away 
 from one who cannot stand against him."' 
 
 "In those days there were seven hundred fight- 
 ing men in our town, and a great clamour arose. 
 Spears and clubs and muskets and hatchets were 
 seized, the armour of stout cinnet which covered a 
 man from head to foot was put on, women filled 
 baskets with smooth stones for the slings ; and 
 long before sundown the warriors set out, with 
 Simi and the head men leading them, to meet 
 their enemies mid-way at this very place where 
 we now sit. For this narrow strip of land hath 
 been the fighting-ground of Peru from the old, old 
 times long before I was born, and my years are 
 three score and seven. 
 
 " The night was dark, but Simi and his people, 
 when they reached this place, some by land and 
 some in canoes, lit great fires on the beach and 
 dug trenches in the sand very quickly, behind 
 which all those who carried muskets were placed, 
 
A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS 297 
 
 to fire into the enemy's canoes as they paddled 
 along the narrow passage to the landing place. 
 Karta and his white friends and the people of their 
 town had more than two hundred muskets, whilst 
 our village had less than fifty. But they were 
 strong of heart and waited eagerly for the fight. 
 
 "Just before sunrise we saw them coming. 
 There were over one hundred canoes, each carrying 
 five or six men. Karta and the beachcombers were 
 leading in a whaleboat, which was being rowed 
 very swiftly. When within rifle-shot she grounded. 
 
 " As they leapt out of the boat, rifles in hand, 
 they were followed by their natives, but our people 
 fired a volley together, and two of the white men 
 and many of their people fell dead in the shallow 
 water. Then Simi and twenty of our best men 
 leapt out of their trenches and dashed into the 
 water to meet them. Karta was in advance of 
 them all, and when he saw Simi he raised his rifle 
 and fired. The bullet missed the white man but 
 killed a native behind him. Then Karta, throwing 
 away his rifle, took two pistols from his belt and 
 shot twice at Simi who was now quite close to 
 him. These bullets, too, did Simi no harm, for 
 taking a steady aim at his foe he shot him through 
 the body, and as Karta fell upon his side one of 
 our people leapt on him and held his head under 
 the water till there was no more life in his wicked 
 heart. 
 
298 THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW. 
 
 " The fight was soon ended, for seeing three of 
 their number killed so quickly, the rest of the 
 white men ran back to their boat and tried to float 
 her again ; and then Simi, taking a shot-gun 
 loaded with slugs from one of his men, ran up to 
 them and shot dead the one named Joe. The 
 other white men he let escape, for all their 
 followers were now paddling off or swimming to 
 the other side of the lagoon, and Simi was no 
 lover of bloodshed. 
 
 " That day the people at the north end sent a 
 message for peace, and peace was made, for our 
 people had lost but one man killed, so the thing 
 was ended well for us. 
 
 " Serena came back from the ship, for now that 
 Karta was dead she had no fear. The three white 
 men who were spared soon left Peru in a whale- 
 ship, for they feared to remain. 
 
 " Simi and his wife and children and Serena did 
 not long stay with us, for he sold his house and 
 boats to a new trader who came to the island 
 about a month after the fight, and they went away 
 to live at a place in Fiji called Yasawa. They 
 were very good to me and mine, and I was sore in 
 my heart to see the ship sail away with them, and 
 at night I felt very lonely for a long time, knowing 
 that I should see them no more." 
 
Pdkia 
 
 LATE one evening, when the native village 
 was wrapped in slumber, Temana and I 
 brought our sleeping-mats down to the boat-shed, 
 and spread them upon the white, clinking sand. 
 For here, out upon the open beach, we could feel 
 a breath of the cooling sea-breeze, denied to the 
 village houses by reason of the thick belt of palms 
 which encompassed them on three sides. And 
 then we were away from Malepa's baby, which 
 was a good thing in itself. 
 
 Temana, tall, smooth-limbed, and brown-skinned, 
 was an excellent savage, and mine own good friend. 
 He and his wife Malepa lived with me as a sort 
 of foster-father and mother, though their united 
 ages did not reach mine by a year or two. 
 
 When Malepa's first baby was born, she and 
 her youthful husband apologised sincerely for the 
 offence against my comfort, and with many tears 
 
 prepared to leave my service. But although I 
 
 299 
 
300 PAKIA 
 
 was agreeable to let Malepa and her little bundle 
 of red-skinned wrinkles go, I could not part with 
 Temana, so I bade her stay. She promised not 
 to let the baby cry o' nights. Poor soul. She 
 tried her best ; but every night or rather towards 
 daylight that terrible infant would raise its fear- 
 some voice, and wail like a foghorn in mortal 
 agony. 
 
 We lit our pipes and lay back watching a moon 
 of silvered steel poised 'midships in a cloudless sky. 
 Before us, unbroken in its wide expanse, save for 
 two miniature islets near the eastern horn of the 
 encircling reef, the glassy surface of the sleeping 
 lagoon was beginning to quiver and throb to the 
 muffled call of the outer ocean ; for the tide was 
 about to turn, and soon the brimming waters 
 would sink inch by inch, and foot by foot from 
 the hard, white sand, and with strange swirlings 
 and bubblings and mighty eddyings go tearing 
 through the narrow passage at eight knots an 
 hour. 
 
 Presently we heard a footfall upon the path 
 which led to the boat-shed, and then an old man, 
 naked but for his titi, or waist-girdle of grass, 
 came out into the moonlight, and greeted us in 
 a quavering, cracked voice. 
 
 " Aue ! white man, my dear friend. So thou 
 and Temana sit here in the moonlight ! " 
 
 " Even so, Pakia, most excellent and good old 
 
PAKIA 301 
 
 man. Sit ye here beside us. Nay, not there, 
 but here on mine own mat. So. Hast thy pipe 
 with thee ? " 
 
 The ancient chuckled, and his wrinkled old face 
 beamed as he untwisted a black and stumpy clay 
 from his perforated and pendulous ear-lobe, which 
 hung full down upon his shoulder, and, turning it 
 upside down, tapped the palm of his left hand 
 with it. 
 
 " See ! " he said, with another wheezing, half- 
 whispered, half-strangled laugh, " see and hear the 
 emptiness thereof! Nothing has been in its belly 
 since cockcrow. And until now have I hungered 
 for a smoke. Twice did I think to come to thee 
 to-day and ask thee for kaitalafu (credit) for five 
 sticks of tobacco, but I said to my pipe, * Nay, let 
 us wait till night time.' For see, friend of my 
 heart, there are ever greedy eyes which watch the 
 coming and going of a poor old man ; and had I 
 gotten the good God-given tobacco from thee by 
 daylight, friends would arise all around me as I 
 passed through the village to my house. And 
 then, lo, the five sticks would become but one ! " 
 
 "Pakia," I said in English, as I gave him a 
 piece of tobacco and my knife, " you are a philo- 
 sopher." 
 
 He stopped suddenly, and placing one hand on 
 my knee, looked wistfully into my face, as an 
 inquiring child looks into the eyes of its mother. 
 
302 PAKIA 
 
 " Tell me, what is that ? " 
 
 I tried to find a synonym. " It means that you 
 are a tagata poto a wise man." 
 
 The old, brown, bald head nodded, and the dark, 
 merry eyes danced. 
 
 " Aye, aye. Old I may be, and useless, but I 
 have lived I have lived. And though when I am 
 dead my children and grandchildren will make a 
 tagi over me, I shall laugh, for I know that of one 
 hundred tears, ninety and nine will be for the 
 tobacco and the biscuit and the rice that with me 
 will vanish ! " 
 
 He filled and lit his pipe, and then, raising one 
 skinny, tattooed arm, pointed to the moon. 
 
 " Hast such a moon as that \\\ papalagi land ? " 
 
 " Sometimes." 
 
 " Aye, sometimes. But not always. No, not 
 always. I know, I know. See, my friend ; let us 
 talk. I am full of talk to-night. You are a good 
 man, and I, old Pakia, have seen many things. 
 Aye, many things and many lands. Aye, I, who 
 am now old and toothless, and without oil in my 
 knees and my elbows, can talk to you in two 
 tongues besides my own. . . . Temana ! " 
 
 " Oi y good father Pakia." 
 
 " Go away. The white man and I would talk." 
 
 I placed my hand on the bald head of the 
 ancient. "Temana shall go to the house and 
 bring us a bottle of grog. We will drink, and 
 
PAKIA 303 
 
 then you shall talk. I am one who would 
 learn." 
 
 The old man took my hand and patted it. 
 " Yes, let us talk to-night. And let us drink grog. 
 Grog is good to drink, sometimes. Sometimes it 
 is bad to drink. It is bad to drink when the 
 swift blood of youth is in our veins and a hot 
 word calls to a sharp knife. Ah ! I have seen it ! 
 Listen ! Dost hear the rush of the lagoon waters 
 through the passage? That is the quick, hot 
 blood of youth, when it is stirred by grog and 
 passion, and the soft touch of a woman's bosom. 
 I know it. I know it. But let Temana bring the 
 bottle. I am not afraid to drink grog with thee. 
 Ah, thou art not like some white men. Thou 
 can'st drink, and give some to a poor old man, and 
 if prying eyes and babbling tongues make mischief, 
 and the missionary sends thee a tusi (letter), and 
 says ' This drinking of grog by Pakia is wrong,' 
 thou sendest him a letter, saying, ' True, O teacher 
 of the Gospel. This drinking of grog is very 
 wrong. Wherefore do I send thee three dollars for 
 the school, and ask thy mercy for old Pakia, who 
 was my guest.' " 
 
 I slapped the ancient on his withered old back. 
 
 " To-night ye shall drink as much grog as ye 
 like, Pakia. The missionary is a good man, and 
 will not heed foolish talk." 
 
 Pakia shook his head. " Mareko is a Samoan. 
 
304 PAKIA 
 
 He thinketh much of himself because he hath 
 been to Sini (Sydney) and stood before many 
 white gentlemen and ladies, and told them about 
 these islands. He is a vain fool, though a great 
 man here in Nukufetau, but in Livapoola 1 he would 
 be but as a pig. Livapoola is a very beautiful 
 place, full of beautiful women. Ah ! you laugh. . . . 
 I am bent and old now, and my bones rattle under 
 my skin like pebbles in a gourd. Then I was 
 young and strong. Listen ! I was a boat-steerer 
 for three years on a London whaleship. I have 
 fought in the wars of Chile and Peru. I can tell 
 you many things, and you will understand. . . . 
 I have seen many lands." 
 
 Temana returned with a bottle of brandy, a 
 gourd of water, and three cups. 
 
 "Drink this, Paki'a, taka ta-ina? And talk. 
 Your talk is good to hear. And I can understand." 
 
 He drank the liquor neat, and then washed it 
 down with a cupful of water. 
 
 " Tdpa I Ah, the good, sweet grog ! And see, 
 above us is the round moon, and here be we three. 
 We three two young and strong, one whose 
 blood is getting cold. Ah, I will talk, and this 
 boy, Temana, will learn that Paki'a is no boasting 
 old liar, but a true man." Then, suddenly dropping 
 the Nukufetau dialect in which he had hitherto 
 spoken, he said quietly in English 
 
 1 Liverpool. 3 Lit., dear crony. 
 
PAKIA 305 
 
 " I told you I could speak other languages 
 beside my own, It is true, for I can talk English 
 and Spanish." Then he went back into native : 
 " But I am not a vain old man. These people 
 here are fools. They think that because on 
 Sundays they dress like white men and go to 
 church five times in one day, and can read and 
 write in Samoan, that they are as clever as white 
 men. Bah ! they are fools, fools ! Where are the 
 strong men of my youth ? Where are the thousand 
 and two hundred people who, when my father was 
 a boy, lived upon the shores of this lagoon ? They 
 are gone, gone ! " 
 
 " True, Paki'a. They are gone." 
 
 " Aye, they are perished like the dead leaves. 
 And once when I said in the hearing of the 
 kaupule (head men) that in the days of the po-uri 
 (heathen times) we were a great people and better 
 off than we are now, I was beaten by my own 
 grand-daughter, and fined ten dollars for speaking 
 of such things, and made to work on the road for 
 two months. But it is true it is true. Where 
 are the people now ? They are dead, perished ; 
 there are now but three hundred left of the 
 thousand and two hundred who lived in my 
 father's time. And of those that are left, what 
 are they ? They are weak and eaten up with 
 strange diseases. The men cannot hunt and fish 
 as men hunted and fished in my father's time. 
 
 21 
 
3o6 PAKIA 
 
 Tah I they are women, and the women are men, 
 for now the man must work for the woman, so 
 that she can buy hats and boots and calicoes, and 
 dress like a white woman. Give me more grog, 
 for these things fill my belly with bitterness, and 
 the grog is sweet. Ah ! I shall tell you many 
 things to-night." 
 
 " Tell me of them, old man. See, the moon is 
 warm to our skins. And as we drink, we shall 
 eat. Temana here shall bring us food. And we 
 shall talk till the sun shines over the tops of the 
 trees on Motu Luga. I would learn of the old 
 times before this island became lotu (Christian- 
 ised)." 
 
 " Oi. I will tell you. I am now but as an old, 
 upturned canoe that is used for a sitting-place 
 for children who play on the beach at night. And 
 I am called a fool and a bad man, because I some- 
 times speak of the days that are dead. Temana, 
 is Malepa thy wife virtuous ? " 
 
 "Se kau Hod" ("I do not know"), replied 
 Temana, with a solemn face. 
 
 " Ah, you cannot tell ! Who can tell nowadays ? 
 But you will know when some day she is fined 
 five dollars. In my time if a man doubted his 
 wife, the club fell swiftly, or the spear was sped, 
 and she was dead. And, because of this custom, 
 wives in those days were careful. Now, they care 
 not, and are fined five dollars many times. And 
 
PAKIA 307 
 
 the husband hath to pay the fine ! " He laughed 
 in his noiseless way, and then puffed at his pipe. 
 " And if he cannot pay, then he and his wife, and 
 the man who hath wronged him, work together on 
 the roads, and eat and drink together as friends, 
 and are not ashamed. And at night-time they 
 sing hymns together ! " 
 
 " People must be punished when wrong is done, 
 Paki'a," I said lamely. 
 
 " Bah ! what is five dollars to a woman ? Is it 
 a high fence set with spears over which she cannot 
 climb ? If a man hath fifty dollars, does not his 
 wife know it, and tell her lover (if she hath one) 
 that he may meet her ten times ! Give me more 
 water in this grog, good white man with the brown 
 skin like mine own ! " 
 
 The old fellow smoked his pipe in silence for a 
 few minutes ; then again he pointed to the moon, 
 nodded and smiled. 
 
 " Tah I What a moon ! Would that I were 
 young again ! See, in the days of my youth, on 
 such a night as this, all the young men and women 
 would be standing on the outer reef fishing for 
 malaU) which do but take a bait in the moonlight. 
 Now, because to-morrow is the Sabbath day, no 
 man must launch a canoe nor take a rod in his 
 hand, lest he stay out beyond the hour of midnight, 
 and his soul go to hell to burn in red fire for ever 
 and ever. Bah ! " 
 
308 PAKIA 
 
 " Never mind these things, Pakia. Tell me 
 instead how came ye to serve in the wars of Chile 
 and Peru, or of thy voyages in the folau manu 
 (whaleship)." 
 
 His eyes sparkled. " Ah, those were the days ! 
 Twice in one whaleship did I sail among the ice 
 mountains of the far south, where the wind cuts 
 like a knife and the sea is black to look at. Tdpa ! 
 the cold, the cold, the cold which burneth the 
 skin like iron at white heat ! But I was strong ; 
 and we killed many whales. I, Pakia, in one 
 voyage struck thirteen ! I was in the mate's 
 boat. . . . Look at this now ! " He held up his 
 withered arm and peered at me. "It was a strong 
 arm then ; now it is but good to carry food to 
 my mouth, or to hold a stick when I walk." 
 The last words he uttered wistfully, and then 
 sighed. 
 
 " The mate of that ship was a good man. He 
 taught me many things. Once, when we had left 
 the cold seas and were among the islands of 
 Tonga, he struck me in his rage because I threw 
 the harpoon at a great sperm whale, and missed. 
 That night I slipped over the side, and swam five 
 miles to the land. Dost know the place called 
 Lifuka ? 'Twas there I landed. I lay in a thicket 
 till daylight, then I arose and went into a house 
 and asked for food. They gave me a yam and a 
 piece of bonito, and as I ate men sprang on me 
 
PAKIA 309 
 
 from behind and tied me up hand and foot. Then 
 I was carried back to the ship, and the captain 
 gave those pigs of Tongans fifty dollars' worth of 
 presents for bringing me back." 
 
 " He thought well of thee, Pakia, to pay so 
 much." 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 " Aye, for I was a good man, and worth much 
 to him. And I was not flogged, for the mate was 
 my friend always. All the voyage I was a lucky 
 man, till we came to a place called Amboyna. 
 Here the mate became sick and died, so I ran 
 away. This time I was not caught, and when the 
 ship was gone, I was given work by an English- 
 man. He was a rich merchant not a poor trader 
 like thee. He had a great house, many servants, 
 and many native wives. Thou hast but two 
 servants, and no wife. Why have ye no wife? 
 It is not proper ! " 
 
 I expressed my deep sense of the insignificance 
 of my domestic arrangements, and gave him 
 another nip of brandy. 
 
 " But, like him, thou hast a big heart. May 
 you live long and become a mau koloa (rich man). 
 Ah ! the grog, the good grog. I am young again 
 to-night. . . . And so for two years I lived at 
 Amboyna. Then my master went to Peretania 
 to Livapoola and took me with him. I was his 
 servant, and he trusted me and made much of me. 
 
310 PAKIA 
 
 Ah, Livapoola is a fine place. I was six months 
 there, and wherever my master went I went with 
 him. By and by he married, and we went to 
 live at a place by the sea, in a fair white house of 
 stone, with rich lands encompassing it. It was a 
 foreign place, and we crossed the sea to go there. 
 There were many women servants there, and one 
 of them, named Lissi, began to smile at, and then 
 to talk to me. I gave her many presents, for 
 every week my master put a gold piece in my 
 hand. One day I asked him to give me this girl 
 for my wife. He laughed, and said I was foolish ; 
 that she was playing with me. I told her this. 
 She swore to me that when I had fifty gold pieces 
 she would be my wife, but that I must tell no 
 one. . . . Ah ! how a woman can fool a man ! I 
 was fooled. And every gold piece 1 got I gave to 
 her to keep for me. 
 
 " I have said that there were many servants. 
 There was one young man, named Harry, whose 
 work it was to take my master about in his puha 
 tia tia (carriage). Sometimes I would see him 
 talking to the girl, and then looking at me. Then 
 I began to watch ; but she was too cunning. 
 Always had she one word for me. * Be patient ; 
 when we have the fifty gold pieces all shall be 
 well. We shall go away from here, and get 
 married.' 
 
 " One night, as I lay upon the grass smoking 
 
PAKIA 311 
 
 my pipe, I heard voices, the voices of the man 
 Harry and Lissi. They were speaking of me. 
 They spoke loudly, and I heard all that was said. 
 ' He is but a simple fool/ she said, with a laugh ; 
 1 but in another month I shall have the last of his 
 money, and then thou and I shall go away quietly. 
 Faugh ! the tattooed beast ! ' and I heard her laugh 
 again, and the man laughed with her, but bade her 
 be careful lest I should suspect." 
 
 " She was a bad woman, Paki'a," I began, when 
 he interrupted me with a quick gesture. 
 
 " I crept back into the house and got a knife, 
 and waited. The night was dark, but I could see. 
 Presently they came along a narrow path which 
 led to the house. Then I sprang out, and drove 
 my knife twice into the man's chest. I had not 
 time to kill the woman, for at the third blow the 
 knife broke off at the hilt, and she fled in the 
 darkness. I wanted to kill her because she had 
 fooled me and taken my money forty-six gold 
 pieces. 
 
 "There was a great wood which ran from my 
 master's house down to the sea. I ran hard, very 
 hard, till I came to the water. I could see ships 
 in the harbour, quite near. I swam to one, and 
 tried to creep on deck and hide, but heard the 
 sailors talking. Presently I saw a vessel a 
 schooner come sailing slowly past. There was 
 a boat towing astern. I swam softly over, and got 
 
312 PAKIA 
 
 into the boat, and laid down till it was near the 
 dawn. There was but little wind then, and the 
 ship was not moving fast, so I got into the water 
 again, and held on to the side of the boat, and 
 began to cry out in a loud voice for help. As 
 soon as they heard me the ship was brought to 
 the wind, and I got back into the boat. I was 
 taken on board and given food and coffee, and 
 told the captain that I had fallen overboard from 
 another ship, and had been swimming for many 
 hours. Only the captain could speak a little 
 English all the others were Italians. It was an 
 Italian ship. 
 
 " I was a long time on that ship. We went first 
 to Rio, then down to the cold seas of the south, 
 and then to Callao. But the captain never gave 
 me any money, so I ran away. Why should a 
 man work for naught ? By and by an American 
 whaleship came to Callao, and I went on board. 
 I was put in the captain's boat. We sailed about 
 a long time, but saw no whales, so when the ship 
 came to Juan Fernandez I and a white sailor 
 named Bob ran away, and hid in the woods till 
 the ship was gone. Then we came out and 
 went to the Governor, who set us to work to 
 cut timber for the whaleships. Hast been to this 
 island?" 
 
 "No," I replied; "'tis a fair land, I have 
 heard." 
 
PAKIA 313 
 
 " Aye, a fair, fair land, with green woods and 
 sweet waters ; and the note of the blue pigeon 
 soundeth from dawn till dark, and the wild goats 
 leap from crag to crag." 
 
 " Didst stay there long, Paki'a ? " 
 
 He rubbed his scanty white beard meditatively. 
 "A year two years I cannot tell. Time goes 
 on and on, and the young do not count the days. 
 But there came a ship which wanted men. and I 
 sailed away to Niu Silani. 1 That, too, is a fair 
 land, and the men of the country have brown skins 
 like us, and I soon learnt their tongue, which is 
 akin to ours. I was a long time in that ship, for 
 we kept about the coast, and the Maoris filled her 
 with logs of kauri wood, to take to Sydney. It 
 was a good ship, for although we were paid no 
 money every man had as much rum as he could 
 drink and as much tobacco as he could smoke, 
 and a young Maori girl for wife, who lived on 
 board. Once the Maoris tried to take the ship as 
 she lay at anchor, but we shot ten or more. Then 
 we went to Sydney, where I was put in prison for 
 many weeks." 
 
 " Why was that ? " 
 
 " I do not know. It was, I think, because of 
 
 something the captain had done when he was in 
 
 Sydney before ; he had taken away two men and 
 
 a woman who were prisoners of the Governor, I 
 
 1 New Zealand. 
 
314 PAKIA 
 
 had seen them on board at Juan Fernandez ; they 
 went ashore there to live. But the Governor of 
 Sydney was good to me. I was brought before 
 him ; he asked me many questions about these 
 islands, and gave me some silver money. Then 
 the next day I was put on board a ship, which 
 took me to Tahiti. But see, dear friend, I 
 cannot talk more to-night, though my tongue 
 is loose and my belly warm with the good grog. 
 But it is strong, very strong, and I fear to 
 drink more, lest I disgust thee and lose thy 
 friendship." 
 
 " Nay, old man. Have no fear of that. And 
 see, sleep here with us till the dawn. Temana 
 shall bring thee a covering-mat." 
 
 " Ah-h-h ! Thou art good to old Pakia. I shall 
 stay till the dawn. It is good to have such a 
 friend. To-morrow, if I weary thee not, I shall 
 tell thee of how I returned to Chile and fought 
 with the English ship-captain in the war, and of 
 the woman he loved, and of the great fire which 
 burnt two thousand women in a church." 
 
 " Tah ! " said Temana incredulously ; " two 
 thousand ? " 
 
 " Aye ! " he snapped angrily, " dost think I be 
 drunk, boy? Go and watch thy wife. How 
 should an ignorant hog like thee know of such 
 things ? " 
 
 " J Sh, 'sh, old man. Be not so quick to anger. 
 
PAKIA 315 
 
 Temana meant no harm. Here is thy covering- 
 mat Lie down and sleep." 
 
 He smiled good-naturedly at us, and then, 
 pulling the mat over him to shield his aged frame 
 from the heavy morning dew, was soon asleep. 
 
Cfje mfjam |)i:r$s, 
 
 UNWIN BROTHERS, 
 WOKING AND LONDON. 
 
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