Chapter Four.

Chapter Four.When morning broke, the reef-encircled islands could be indistinctly seen over the port-quarter rising out of the sparkling ocean. The wind being against us we expected to have a long beat before we could reach our destination; but Harry resolved to persevere, hoping that we might get a favourable breeze at last. Things on board went on as usual. After I had had my sleep out in the forenoon I gave Dick a lesson in navigation, which I had done regularly every day of late since I discovered that he was anxious to learn.“I am most grateful to you, Mr Ned,” he said. “If I can fit myself to be an officer I shall not be ashamed to return home, which I should have had I gained no more knowledge than I should have done under ordinary circumstances, as a ship’s boy.”“Much depends on the way you work, and whether you keep to your good resolutions,” I observed. “But I say, Dick, you have never told me anything about yourself; though from the first I saw that you had had a good education.”“To tell you the truth, my father is a merchant in London, and my mother moves in good society,” he answered, speaking rapidly. “She was very fond of me, and I do not think that if I had been with her I could have run away; but I went off from school, where I was not happy, quite forgetting how miserable it would make her when she heard that I was missing. The thought of that has preyed on my mind more than anything else. I wrote to her, however, when I reached Brisbane, and paid the postage with the last shilling I had, so that she knows now that I am alive, though I did not like to tell her how miserable I was. I only asked her and my father to forgive me, and promised to return home when I had made my fortune, for I just then fancied if I could escape from the ship that I should be able to do that. I soon found when I did get on shore that I was miserably mistaken, and if it had not been for you I believe that I should have died. I am sure that none of my own brothers, of whom I have five older than I am, could have treated me more kindly. I have three sisters also, and when I look at Mrs Morton and Miss Fanny they remind me of them, and I think of my folly in leaving them all and running the chance of never seeing them again.”After Dick had made this confession I felt more than ever inclined to befriend him.When I told Harry, he said that he would consider what was right to be done. “I think it best, however, that Dick should remain in his present position for a time,” he added. “He is learning the details of seamanship from old Tom and the rudiments of navigation from you, and as he does not mix much with the crew he will gain no harm from them.”We were standing on that evening close hauled to the south-east when, just as the sun went down, dark clouds began to gather to windward.“We’ll shorten sail at once,” said Harry. “It may not come on to blow, but it looks like it and we cannot be too cautious.” He issued the order to Tom, and we soon had the schooner under snug canvas. It was fortunate that she was. Not ten minutes afterwards, just as Harry had gone below, a squall struck her.“Luff! Luff!” shouted Tom, but before Jack Lizard, who was at the helm, could do so, over the schooner heeled, till the water rushed through the scuppers high up her deck. Lower and lower she went, until I thought she was going to capsize. Harry sprang up from below. Tom had rushed forward, and with the hands stationed there let fly the jib-sheets, and was hauling down the forestay-sail—the foresail had been stowed. Suddenly she rose, and I heard a loud crack, like the report of a musket fired close to my ear.“We’ve sprung the mainmast, I fear,” exclaimed Harry, and he called the men aft to lower the mainsail, while he and I sprang to the peak and throat halliards to let them go. On examining the mast we found that it was so badly sprung that it would be impossible again to set sail on it without the risk of carrying it away. It seemed a wonder that it had not gone altogether.“We must bear up for Samoa,” said Harry. “It is very provoking, but there is no place nearer where we can hope to obtain a fresh spar.”Accordingly the headsails were again hoisted, the fore-topsail was set, and the helm being put up, away we ran before the wind on a course for Upalu, the centre island of the group, in which Apia, the chief port, is situated. The wind increased, and we soon had to close-reef the fore-topsail, the only sail we could carry; then down came the rain in huge drops, or rather in sheets which wetted us as thoroughly as if we had jumped overboard, and so deluged the deck that had it not run out at the scuppers as the vessel rolled from side to side the water would have been up to our ankles in a few minutes. What with the pattering of the rain, the howling of the wind and the dashing of the sea, we could scarcely hear each other’s voices. Though we had no sail set on the mainmast, and had secured it with spars lashed round the injured part, and additional stays, I frequently, as the schooner pitched into the fast rising seas, expected to see it carried away altogether. Old Tom, who seemed to have the same fear, told us to look out and stand from under, in case it should go, but the difficulty was to know in what direction it would fall, should it come down.On we ran day after day, the gale apparently following us, though Harry said that as storms were generally circular we should in time run out of it. Each time, however, that I turned out to keep my watch, there we were, running on; the seas leaping and hissing and foaming around us; the dark clouds flying overhead; the vessel rolling and pitching in the same uncomfortable fashion as before. Harry did his best to keep up the spirits of his wife and Fanny, who behaved like heroines, though they agreed that they little expected to meet with such weather in the Pacific.“It is as well to get it over, and we may hope to have finer for the rest of the voyage,” answered Harry, to console them.We had other dangers to encounter, of which he did not speak. Although the sea we were traversing was pretty well known by this time, there might be small islands or coral reefs improperly placed on the chart, or not laid down at all, and at any moment during the darkness of night, or even in the daytime, we might come upon one, when in an instant the vessel would have been dashed to pieces, and all on board must have perished. We had, therefore, to keep the sharpest possible look-out, for a moment’s want of vigilance might cause our destruction. Once I saw the sea leaping and foaming high up above the surrounding water away on the starboard hand. I pointed out the spot to Tom.“The end of a reef,” he observed. “If we’d been a little more to the nor’ard we should likely enough have been on it, but a miss is as good as a mile. We may be thankful to have escaped.”He afterwards told me that we passed another reef to the northward while I was below, how many we escaped during the night we could not tell. Thus some of the dangers to be encountered by those navigating among coral islands will be understood. At length, one morning when I came on deck to keep my watch, I saw the stars shining brightly overhead—the wind had fallen, the sea was going down, and the schooner, with her squaresail rigged out, was running gaily along. At noon we took an observation, when we found that we were less than a hundred miles from the port of Apia, which we therefore expected to reach the next day, unless the wind should fail us.We were more fortunate than we expected. Early the next morning the land was seen over the port bow rising in a succession of ridges to a moderate height above the sea. We had made an excellent landfall, for the harbour of Apia was almost directly ahead. Before we reached it, a large whaleboat came off and put an Englishman on board, who introduced himself as the chief pilot of the place. He carried us through a somewhat intricate passage between coral rocks to a safe anchorage not far from the shore.We were surprised to see several tastefully-built houses among trees, a large church, stores, and other buildings, besides a number of whitewashed cottages, many of which, the pilot told us, were inhabited by natives who have learned the art of building and the use of lime from the missionaries. Through their instrumentality also, although but a few years ago the people inhabiting different parts of the island were constantly fighting with each other, warfare has entirely ceased, and all have become Christians by profession, many of them adorning the Gospel by their lives and conversation, while others have gone forth to carry its blessings to the still benighted heathen in the western islands of the Pacific.I must be brief in my account of the events which occurred during our stay at Apia. On going on shore we were received with great kindness by several of the English and American residents, who invited Harry and his wife and her sister to take up their abode at their houses, but they preferred sleeping on board the schooner. We were fortunate in finding a mast from a vessel wrecked on the coast, which by cutting down slightly could be made to replace the mainmast we had sprung.We had been in harbour a couple of days when a fine-looking young chief came on board, prompted by curiosity to see the vessel so unlike the whalers which generally visit the port. He was unpicturesquely dressed in shirt and trousers and we should not have taken him to be a chief, except from his handsome figure, unless he had introduced himself as Toa, the nephew of the great chief Maleatoa. He spoke English well, and seemed very intelligent. On being introduced to Mary and Fanny, he made a bow which would have become a French courtier, and appeared wonderfully struck by them. He soon drew me aside and inquired who they were. When I told him that one was married to my brother, and the other was her sister, he appeared suddenly lost in thought, but said nothing at the time. We asked him into the cabin, as we were just going to sit down to dinner. He behaved in all respects like a polished gentleman, narrowly watching us, and imitating the way he saw us eat. He told us a great deal about his country, the progress it had made during the last few years since the inhabitants had become Christians and wars had ceased; the roads that had been constructed, the houses built, the fields cultivated, and horses and cattle introduced. He described their astonishment on first seeing a large animal, a mule, which they supposed to be an enormous dog, and accordingly gave it an appropriate name. In return for the civility we had shown him on board, he invited me to accompany him on a sporting expedition into the interior.“I will show you how we catch pigeons and kill wild hogs,” he said.Harry gave me leave to go, and I asked if Dick might accompany me, as I knew he would like it. My brother consented. On going on shore early the next morning we found the chief and several companions waiting for us. Each person carried a tame pigeon on his arm secured by a string, as also a bamboo thirty or forty feet long with a small net at the end of it. Several attendants accompanied us carrying guns and ammunition.“We shall depend upon the provisions we find in the woods for our support,” said Toa to me. “We can easily obtain all we require.”We proceeded for about four hours amid tangled bushes, across marshes, and up the slippery sides of hills, till we arrived at a district with here and there open spots, but generally covered with brushwood. The attendants set to work to clear away a large circle by cutting down the brushwood; we then retired to a spot which had been previously fixed on, where a camp was formed, and some, arbours which would shelter us for the night erected. Some of our people had in the meantime collected some wild bread-fruit, dug up some wild yams, and brought down some cocoanuts, which gave us an ample repast. Formerly the chiefs would have indulged in drinking kava, but that custom had been abandoned. Having satisfied our hunger we returned to our ambushes round the ring. Each sportsman, if so he could be called, now stuck a stick with a cross-piece on it into the ground for his pigeon, which was secured by a string forty yards in length, to perch on. After remaining a short time quiet Toa gave the signal, and the birds were simultaneously thrown into the air, when they flew up and commenced, as they had been taught, wheeling round and round. In a short time a number of wild pigeons seeing them from a distance, and supposing from their movements that they were hovering over their food, came from all directions to join them. I was much surprised at the dexterity with which as the wild birds circled among the decoy pigeons the sportsmen, rapidly raising their nets, captured them. The moment a bird was caught the net was again raised and another captured in the same manner. Toa in this way caught a dozen in as many minutes. Dick and I tried our skill, but we only knocked against the tame birds. It was a long time before I managed to catch even one; Dick was still less successful. It seemed at first very easy, but then it must be remembered that the rods were upwards of thirty feet long, and that the birds flew very rapidly. “Formerly,” said Toa to us, “large parties of young men used to go out for a month together, but we have now other occupation for our time, and only now and then engage in the sport.”“This is a funny sort of fishing in the air,” said Dick.“I call it birding,” I answered.“Very right,” observed Toa; “I will show you how we fish some day.”We caught several dozen pigeons during the morning. The afternoon was to be devoted to hog-shooting, at a spot a short distance off. We were divided into two parties—Dick and I accompanied Toa, while another young chief, who had arrived with a number of ugly-looking dogs, led another party.After going some distance we arrived at a spot where the pigs had been rooting about, and away went the curs in chase. Before long their shrill yelping bark told us that the herd was found, and following the sound we discovered the chief and a companion tying the legs of a young boar, which had been caught by running it down with some of the dogs. The barking increased as we went on.Presently Toa cried out, “Take care; get behind the trees all of you,” and we saw an enormous wild boar which the dogs had been keeping at bay.The chief advanced running from tree to tree with great rapidity, that he might get near enough to the animal to shoot it without injuring the dogs. At length the boar caught sight of him and charged. Toa fired, and apparently missed, and the brute came rushing towards me. I aimed at his fore-shoulder, hoping, if I did not kill him outright, to stop his career. In another moment he would have been into my side, for I had no time to reload, when, just as he was near me, I made a spring and caught the bough of a tree, which I could not under other circumstances have reached, and my feet struck his back as he dashed under them. Toa had now reloaded, but before he could fire the boar again charged; he, however, nimbly sprang behind a tree, and the brute rushed past, giving me an opportunity to recover my rifle. He now caught sight of Dick, at whom he made a dash. Dick not attempting to fire, nimbly sprang up a young tree. On seeing its enemy thus escaping, the boar made a dash at the tree, and attacked it with its tusks, biting at it with the greatest fury, till Toa, approaching, settled it with a ball through its head. In this way, in a short time, we killed four large hogs, each weighing at least five hundredweight. Thus it will be seen that the sport, if exciting, was not wanting in danger, and I must own that I was very glad when it was over, and we had all escaped without wounds.We had a luxurious supper on boar’s flesh and wild pigeons, and roots and fruits of various descriptions, all of which had been collected in the woods, showing the abundance of food to be obtained in that favoured region.After supper, Toa invited me to walk out with him away from the rest, when he confided to me his deep admiration for Fanny Amiel, and inquired whether I thought she would consent to remain at Samoa and become his wife. I did not answer at once, as I was unwilling to offend him, and yet was certain that she would not consent to any such proposal. I replied that English ladies preferred marrying their own countrymen, and then not until they were certain of their good qualities and had been long acquainted. I undertook, however, to mention the subject to my brother, but observed that I could not venture to say anything about it to the lady herself, who would be much pained at having to refuse him. He seemed somewhat downcast at my reply, but soon recovered his spirits, and we returned to the camp to prepare for sleep.As, with the exception of wild boars, there are no savage animals in Samoa, and the people of different tribes no longer tried to surprise and murder each other, no sentries were placed, and every one laid down to rest in perfect security.Next morning we returned to Apia. The tide was high as we went down to the harbour, at which time, when there is a swell, the breakers burst with considerable force over the reefs outside. We found a number of boys and girls swimming off, some with boards, others without them, and others paddling in paopaos, or little canoes. On reaching the reef, where the waves curled up and broke into foam, the swimmers threw themselves forward with a jump, just as the sea took them, and away they glided in the midst of the white foam, shouting and yelling at the top of their voices. The chief took us off in his canoe to see the fun. When the breaker had spent itself the swimmers were left in smooth water, on which all turned again towards the sea, breasting the smaller waves, and quietly sinking down again as the larger and stronger ones passed over, or frequently dashing boldly through them.“They will keep at that sport till the tide falls and the reef is left bare,” observed our friend Toa, as we pulled on board the schooner. “When I was a lad I was very fond of it, and could beat most of my companions, keeping longer at it and going out farther than any of them.”He had brought, I should have said, a number of pigeons and some of the wild boar’s flesh as a present to Harry, and which was very acceptable on board. The ladies were on deck when we got alongside, and I was much afraid that Toa might say something to Fanny which would annoy her, before I had time to tell my brother that he might give her due warning. The young chief, however, stood in a modest manner without advancing, till Mary went up to him to thank him for his present. I in the meantime managed to tell Harry what the chief had said to me.“I am sorry for this, but we must manage to get him on shore again as politely as possible, and I will not tell her of his proposal before he has gone.”Our attention, however, was just then attracted by seeing a vessel standing in for the harbour; she approached within a mile or so, when the wind fell. She had a signal flying for a pilot, and the men who brought us in went out to her. Toa, who had an eye to business, wishing to be on board early to see what trading could be done, said that he should go out, and invited me to accompany him in his large canoe. As we got near the vessel we found three of her boats towing ahead. On boarding her the captain said he must get in at once, as she was leaking terribly, and was besides short of provisions and water. Toa, on this, offered to bring out provisions; and the pilot told him that it was dangerous, without a leading breeze, to attempt entering the harbour, especially as the tide was falling. The brig was, I found, theCaesar, an American vessel, bound from California to Sydney, and had come to Apia for the reasons the captain stated.“If you won’t take her in, I will by myself,” he exclaimed. “Where’s the difficulty? The boats can tow her, as there isn’t a breath of wind to stop her way.”“But you cannot tell how the tide will set you, and I advise you to let the boats tow you off,” answered the pilot.The skipper, however, was obstinate, and was, I suspect, pot-valiant. He ordered the boats to continue pulling ahead, while he went to the helm himself. The pilot on this, again warning him that he was risking the safety of the vessel, stepped into his boat and pulled for the harbour. Toa, however, believing that he could leave at any moment in his canoe, remained on board, and I, of course, had to stay with him. All apparently went well for some minutes, till, just as we were at the entrance, the tide caught the vessel; the after-part struck heavily; she heeled broadside on to the reef, and the next moment, with a tremendous roar, a breaker burst over us. All was confusion on board; shrieks and cries arose from the passengers, the men swearing as they rolled and slipped about. The skipper, however, recovered in a moment his self-possession, and swore he would shoot the first man that attempted to leave the vessel; but as he had no gun or revolver in his hand, no one appeared to care for the threat. One of the crew, a New Zealander, indeed, immediately jumped overboard, when the captain threw a marline-spike at his head, but, sinking, he avoided it, and managed to reach the smooth water inside the reef, where the pilot had in the meantime anchored his boat prepared to assist those who might be able to reach her. Other boats were coming off from the shore, those which had been towing, as well as the chiefs canoe, had been cut adrift directly the vessel struck, and pulled away, or they would have been swamped in an instant.It will be understood that owing to the heavy breakers it was impossible to get off from the vessel on the sea side, and that our only hope of safety was to pass through the foaming surf on the reef, till we reached smooth water in the inside. The vessel, lightly built, was already breaking up, and her bottom planks were appearing, floating up to the surface, while the water rushed freely in and out of her. There was therefore no time to be lost. Toa at once proposed to the skipper to tie a rope to a plank, and to swim with it to the boats inside the reef, so that the passengers and those unable to help themselves might be passed along it, and their lives saved. The rope was speedily got up.“I will go with you,” I said to Toa.“Come along,” he answered, and taking my hand he jumped with me into the foaming surf. The first great roller curled high above our heads, and broke with a terrific roar. As it did so we let go the plank and sank down, keeping our eyes turned upwards to watch when it had passed. Quickly returning to the surface, we again clutched the plank and shoved it before us. We had twice to perform the same operation before we reached the smooth water. I wanted to return, but Toa advised me to remain, as I was not accustomed to the water as he was. He quickly again made his way along the rope to the deck of the vessel. The next moment he appeared again, holding a young lady with one arm, while he dragged himself along the rope with the other, but he twice had to descend to avoid the rollers. The young lady seemed more dead than alive when he placed her in the boat, but she quickly recovered, while he, not in the slightest degree exhausted, dashed off again on board the vessel, and brought another girl in the same way through the surf. A third time he went, and on this occasion he encountered a young man, a gentleman apparently, who was endeavouring to make his way by himself along the rope. He was clutching the rope desperately, when a roller going over him tore him away from his hold. Toa, seeing what had happened, dashed after him, and seizing him brought him back to the rope. Again Toa had to dive twice with the almost senseless stranger, whom he at length placed, greatly exhausted, in the boat. The young ladies had quickly recovered, so that I was able to pay attention to the last comer, and with the assistance of the old pilot and two other men we brought him to.“The sooner we get ashore with these people the better, and let them have a change of duds,” said the old pilot. “But I do not like leaving, while there are any people remaining on board.”“Oh, pray wait,” said one of the young ladies. “There is a poor woman and her child and several other people, besides the captain and crew, who, I suppose, do not require so much help.”By this time, seeing the possibility of getting alongside the ill-fated vessel in a boat, two put off from the shore, manned by stout fellows. The first succeeded in getting alongside and bringing away a number of the passengers, but the next was less successful. The brig gave a tremendous roll, and striking the boat, capsized her in a moment, and the whole of the people were scattered about in the raging surf. They were, however, all picked up in various ways by the boats, but one poor woman had her child washed from her arms. It was being rapidly carried away by the receding sea, when Toa, who was on board the brig, sprang after it and catching it in one arm, held its head above the surf while he swam forward with the other. Thus the little fellow was borne along by his preserver. Now the brave chief rose to the summit of a foaming sea, now he sank down into the trough, again to rise with the boy still grasped in his powerful hand. In a short time he placed him in the arms of his almost frantic mother. Loud cheers burst from all the spectators as they witnessed the gallant act, which few, indeed, would have been able to accomplish.Shortly after the last person had been taken from the brig she broke into a thousand fragments, which, with her cargo, soon, for a mile or more on either side, strewed the beach. I felt much interested in the stranger whom Toa had saved, and as he required to be attended to more than any one else, I invited him at once to come on board theDainty, where I was sure Harry would be glad to receive him till he was better able than at present to go on shore. The ladies who had friends preferred at once going on shore to the house of one of the English residents. The pilot, therefore, pulled up alongside the schooner. Harry, on hearing the account I gave him, immediately begged the stranger to come on board. He signified his gratitude, but was scarcely able to speak.As Harry and I helped him along the deck, we called old Tom and Dick to come and assist us; and with their help we carried him below.I saw Dick looking at him with wondering eyes. At last he exclaimed—“Who are you? Are you Charles Tilston?”“Yes,” answered the stranger, gazing at Dick’s countenance; “and you are my brother Dick, whom I have come to look for.”“Yes, I am Dick,” was the answer. “Oh, Charlie, I should never have forgiven myself if you had lost your life, for it was I, from what you tell me, who brought you out here.”“You will have plenty of time to talk about this by-and-by,” said Harry. “Let me advise you at once to go to bed.”Charles Tilston acknowledged the wisdom of this advice, and Harry and old Tom assisting to get off his clothes put him into my berth, when having swallowed some warm broth he fell fast asleep. Dick begged that he might be allowed to remain and watch over him, promising not to speak again till he saw that his brother was sufficiently recovered to enter into conversation. As Harry thought a doctor should see our guest he sent me on shore to procure the services of one who had a short time before landed from a whaler. While I was waiting for him Toa landed, and was received with loud acclamations by all the people, the account of his having so gallantly saved the child being the theme of conversation.As Harry was now only waiting for a breeze to sail, thinking that I might not see Toa again, I bade him farewell, and thanked him for having saved my life.“I must come and see you to-morrow morning,” he said. “You will not sail till then, as there will be no wind to carry you out. And now, my friend, I have a favour to ask, I must beg you to tell the fair Pearl of the Ocean that her figure has ever been present before my eyes, that her voice has rung in my ear, that my thoughts have been occupied with her, and her alone, ever since I saw her.”“I will not fail to deliver your message,” I answered. “But I must remind you of what my brother said, and you must not be disappointed should she decline your offer.” I flattered myself that I had made a very diplomatic reply, but the young chief did not look at all satisfied as I wished him good-bye.I returned on board with the doctor, who prescribed for Charles Tilston, and said he had little doubt that he would soon come round. I did not fail to give Fanny the chiefs message. She and Mary laughed heartily.“I must not tamper with his affections,” she said, “but I cannot possibly encourage him, and I think that when he comes on board again it will be better for me not to appear.”Mary and I agreed with her, and it was settled that she should remain in the cabin when Toa paid his farewell visit. In former years had a chief conceived a similar fancy he would probably have attempted to carry off the lady by force, but this was not likely to occur under present circumstances. Harry, however, thought it prudent to keep a strong watch at night on deck. It was my middle watch, and as I was looking out across the harbour I thought I saw a fleet of canoes passing at some distance from where we lay; still, as I felt sure that Toa would not use any violence, this did not make me anxious. The canoes soon disappeared, but after some time I fancied that I again saw them hovering in the distance. Presently I heard a voice, which sounded softly as it came over the water, singing in the Samoan language. What was the meaning of the words I could not tell, but it struck me that they were those of a love ditty, and that Toa had taken this method of expressing the feelings of his heart. As Fanny was probably fast asleep in her cabin, it would be entirely thrown away upon her, and I had no intention of calling her up to listen to the serenade. I determined, however, to call Harry should the canoes approach nearer; but the song ceased, and they disappeared in the darkness.I told old Tom, who relieved me.“There’s no harm in that sort of thing,” he observed. “If the young chief takes to singing he will not dream of doing anything worse. Maybe he’ll not break his heart after all, though he may think of Miss Fanny for many a long day to come.”In the morning the doctor came off again, and pronounced Charles Tilston very much better. He was able, indeed, to get up and breakfast with us in the cabin. He expressed his gratitude to Harry for the attention he had paid him, and especially for the care he had taken of Dick. He then told us, that on receiving Dick’s letter he had immediately set out, by his father’s desire, to bring him home. Wishing to take the shortest route, he had come over to America, and crossed the continent to San Francisco; he there found theCaesaron the point of sailing, and had accordingly taken a passage in her.“I scarcely expected to reach Sydney,” he said. “The skipper was drunk the greatest part of every day, and sometimes for days together. It was a mercy that we got even as far as Samoa; and had we not been wrecked, I had intended to leave the brig, and proceed by some other vessel. Now that I have found my young brother I do not like to quit him again, but I am unwilling to deprive you of his services.”“It will give me much pleasure if you will remain on board then,” said Harry. Charles Tilston, greatly to my satisfaction, at once accepted the invitation; for I had taken a great fancy to him, and was unwilling also to lose Dick. Harry arranged with him to go on shore to purchase some clothing and other necessaries at the store, in case his own portmanteau should not be recovered. The natives had, in the meantime, been collecting the goods thrown upon the beach from the wrecked vessel, not one of which was stolen, and bringing them into the town. We at once went to the place where they were stowed, and among them Charles Tilston discovered his own portmanteau, which he said professed to be waterproof. On opening it, he found that no wet had got in. It being delivered to him on a small payment for salvage, we returned with it on board. All that morning the calm continued, but in the afternoon, a breeze springing up, the pilot came off, and agreed to take us out. Just as the sails were loosed, before we hove up the anchor, Toa came alongside in his canoe. As was agreed on, Fanny remained below, but Mary came on deck to receive him, and to thank him for his kindness to me, but she said nothing about her sister.“And I am also most grateful to you for saving my life,” said Charles Tilston. “Had it not been for you I am fully convinced that I should have been drowned, and I beg you to accept a few articles—all I have to offer—as a remembrance of me.” On this he put into his hand a handsome clasp knife, adding some gold pieces, with which the chief seemed highly pleased. I saw him continually looking towards the companion-hatch, as if he expected Fanny to appear, but he waited in vain. At last, Harry had to remind him that we were on the point of getting under weigh, and that it would be better for him to take his leave before we hove up the anchor. He was evidently trying to say something, but his tongue seemed to cling to the roof of his mouth; and heaving a sigh he stepped into his canoe and cast off. The anchor was immediately run up to the bows, and the sails filling, as there was a leading breeze, we ran swiftly out of the harbour. I saw the young chief standing up in his canoe, and waving to us his last farewells. Not till we were well outside did Fanny venture on deck.“Take care,” said Mary laughing; “he may still come after us.”However, he did not move his paddle, and we were soon out at sea, steering with a fair breeze to the eastward.

When morning broke, the reef-encircled islands could be indistinctly seen over the port-quarter rising out of the sparkling ocean. The wind being against us we expected to have a long beat before we could reach our destination; but Harry resolved to persevere, hoping that we might get a favourable breeze at last. Things on board went on as usual. After I had had my sleep out in the forenoon I gave Dick a lesson in navigation, which I had done regularly every day of late since I discovered that he was anxious to learn.

“I am most grateful to you, Mr Ned,” he said. “If I can fit myself to be an officer I shall not be ashamed to return home, which I should have had I gained no more knowledge than I should have done under ordinary circumstances, as a ship’s boy.”

“Much depends on the way you work, and whether you keep to your good resolutions,” I observed. “But I say, Dick, you have never told me anything about yourself; though from the first I saw that you had had a good education.”

“To tell you the truth, my father is a merchant in London, and my mother moves in good society,” he answered, speaking rapidly. “She was very fond of me, and I do not think that if I had been with her I could have run away; but I went off from school, where I was not happy, quite forgetting how miserable it would make her when she heard that I was missing. The thought of that has preyed on my mind more than anything else. I wrote to her, however, when I reached Brisbane, and paid the postage with the last shilling I had, so that she knows now that I am alive, though I did not like to tell her how miserable I was. I only asked her and my father to forgive me, and promised to return home when I had made my fortune, for I just then fancied if I could escape from the ship that I should be able to do that. I soon found when I did get on shore that I was miserably mistaken, and if it had not been for you I believe that I should have died. I am sure that none of my own brothers, of whom I have five older than I am, could have treated me more kindly. I have three sisters also, and when I look at Mrs Morton and Miss Fanny they remind me of them, and I think of my folly in leaving them all and running the chance of never seeing them again.”

After Dick had made this confession I felt more than ever inclined to befriend him.

When I told Harry, he said that he would consider what was right to be done. “I think it best, however, that Dick should remain in his present position for a time,” he added. “He is learning the details of seamanship from old Tom and the rudiments of navigation from you, and as he does not mix much with the crew he will gain no harm from them.”

We were standing on that evening close hauled to the south-east when, just as the sun went down, dark clouds began to gather to windward.

“We’ll shorten sail at once,” said Harry. “It may not come on to blow, but it looks like it and we cannot be too cautious.” He issued the order to Tom, and we soon had the schooner under snug canvas. It was fortunate that she was. Not ten minutes afterwards, just as Harry had gone below, a squall struck her.

“Luff! Luff!” shouted Tom, but before Jack Lizard, who was at the helm, could do so, over the schooner heeled, till the water rushed through the scuppers high up her deck. Lower and lower she went, until I thought she was going to capsize. Harry sprang up from below. Tom had rushed forward, and with the hands stationed there let fly the jib-sheets, and was hauling down the forestay-sail—the foresail had been stowed. Suddenly she rose, and I heard a loud crack, like the report of a musket fired close to my ear.

“We’ve sprung the mainmast, I fear,” exclaimed Harry, and he called the men aft to lower the mainsail, while he and I sprang to the peak and throat halliards to let them go. On examining the mast we found that it was so badly sprung that it would be impossible again to set sail on it without the risk of carrying it away. It seemed a wonder that it had not gone altogether.

“We must bear up for Samoa,” said Harry. “It is very provoking, but there is no place nearer where we can hope to obtain a fresh spar.”

Accordingly the headsails were again hoisted, the fore-topsail was set, and the helm being put up, away we ran before the wind on a course for Upalu, the centre island of the group, in which Apia, the chief port, is situated. The wind increased, and we soon had to close-reef the fore-topsail, the only sail we could carry; then down came the rain in huge drops, or rather in sheets which wetted us as thoroughly as if we had jumped overboard, and so deluged the deck that had it not run out at the scuppers as the vessel rolled from side to side the water would have been up to our ankles in a few minutes. What with the pattering of the rain, the howling of the wind and the dashing of the sea, we could scarcely hear each other’s voices. Though we had no sail set on the mainmast, and had secured it with spars lashed round the injured part, and additional stays, I frequently, as the schooner pitched into the fast rising seas, expected to see it carried away altogether. Old Tom, who seemed to have the same fear, told us to look out and stand from under, in case it should go, but the difficulty was to know in what direction it would fall, should it come down.

On we ran day after day, the gale apparently following us, though Harry said that as storms were generally circular we should in time run out of it. Each time, however, that I turned out to keep my watch, there we were, running on; the seas leaping and hissing and foaming around us; the dark clouds flying overhead; the vessel rolling and pitching in the same uncomfortable fashion as before. Harry did his best to keep up the spirits of his wife and Fanny, who behaved like heroines, though they agreed that they little expected to meet with such weather in the Pacific.

“It is as well to get it over, and we may hope to have finer for the rest of the voyage,” answered Harry, to console them.

We had other dangers to encounter, of which he did not speak. Although the sea we were traversing was pretty well known by this time, there might be small islands or coral reefs improperly placed on the chart, or not laid down at all, and at any moment during the darkness of night, or even in the daytime, we might come upon one, when in an instant the vessel would have been dashed to pieces, and all on board must have perished. We had, therefore, to keep the sharpest possible look-out, for a moment’s want of vigilance might cause our destruction. Once I saw the sea leaping and foaming high up above the surrounding water away on the starboard hand. I pointed out the spot to Tom.

“The end of a reef,” he observed. “If we’d been a little more to the nor’ard we should likely enough have been on it, but a miss is as good as a mile. We may be thankful to have escaped.”

He afterwards told me that we passed another reef to the northward while I was below, how many we escaped during the night we could not tell. Thus some of the dangers to be encountered by those navigating among coral islands will be understood. At length, one morning when I came on deck to keep my watch, I saw the stars shining brightly overhead—the wind had fallen, the sea was going down, and the schooner, with her squaresail rigged out, was running gaily along. At noon we took an observation, when we found that we were less than a hundred miles from the port of Apia, which we therefore expected to reach the next day, unless the wind should fail us.

We were more fortunate than we expected. Early the next morning the land was seen over the port bow rising in a succession of ridges to a moderate height above the sea. We had made an excellent landfall, for the harbour of Apia was almost directly ahead. Before we reached it, a large whaleboat came off and put an Englishman on board, who introduced himself as the chief pilot of the place. He carried us through a somewhat intricate passage between coral rocks to a safe anchorage not far from the shore.

We were surprised to see several tastefully-built houses among trees, a large church, stores, and other buildings, besides a number of whitewashed cottages, many of which, the pilot told us, were inhabited by natives who have learned the art of building and the use of lime from the missionaries. Through their instrumentality also, although but a few years ago the people inhabiting different parts of the island were constantly fighting with each other, warfare has entirely ceased, and all have become Christians by profession, many of them adorning the Gospel by their lives and conversation, while others have gone forth to carry its blessings to the still benighted heathen in the western islands of the Pacific.

I must be brief in my account of the events which occurred during our stay at Apia. On going on shore we were received with great kindness by several of the English and American residents, who invited Harry and his wife and her sister to take up their abode at their houses, but they preferred sleeping on board the schooner. We were fortunate in finding a mast from a vessel wrecked on the coast, which by cutting down slightly could be made to replace the mainmast we had sprung.

We had been in harbour a couple of days when a fine-looking young chief came on board, prompted by curiosity to see the vessel so unlike the whalers which generally visit the port. He was unpicturesquely dressed in shirt and trousers and we should not have taken him to be a chief, except from his handsome figure, unless he had introduced himself as Toa, the nephew of the great chief Maleatoa. He spoke English well, and seemed very intelligent. On being introduced to Mary and Fanny, he made a bow which would have become a French courtier, and appeared wonderfully struck by them. He soon drew me aside and inquired who they were. When I told him that one was married to my brother, and the other was her sister, he appeared suddenly lost in thought, but said nothing at the time. We asked him into the cabin, as we were just going to sit down to dinner. He behaved in all respects like a polished gentleman, narrowly watching us, and imitating the way he saw us eat. He told us a great deal about his country, the progress it had made during the last few years since the inhabitants had become Christians and wars had ceased; the roads that had been constructed, the houses built, the fields cultivated, and horses and cattle introduced. He described their astonishment on first seeing a large animal, a mule, which they supposed to be an enormous dog, and accordingly gave it an appropriate name. In return for the civility we had shown him on board, he invited me to accompany him on a sporting expedition into the interior.

“I will show you how we catch pigeons and kill wild hogs,” he said.

Harry gave me leave to go, and I asked if Dick might accompany me, as I knew he would like it. My brother consented. On going on shore early the next morning we found the chief and several companions waiting for us. Each person carried a tame pigeon on his arm secured by a string, as also a bamboo thirty or forty feet long with a small net at the end of it. Several attendants accompanied us carrying guns and ammunition.

“We shall depend upon the provisions we find in the woods for our support,” said Toa to me. “We can easily obtain all we require.”

We proceeded for about four hours amid tangled bushes, across marshes, and up the slippery sides of hills, till we arrived at a district with here and there open spots, but generally covered with brushwood. The attendants set to work to clear away a large circle by cutting down the brushwood; we then retired to a spot which had been previously fixed on, where a camp was formed, and some, arbours which would shelter us for the night erected. Some of our people had in the meantime collected some wild bread-fruit, dug up some wild yams, and brought down some cocoanuts, which gave us an ample repast. Formerly the chiefs would have indulged in drinking kava, but that custom had been abandoned. Having satisfied our hunger we returned to our ambushes round the ring. Each sportsman, if so he could be called, now stuck a stick with a cross-piece on it into the ground for his pigeon, which was secured by a string forty yards in length, to perch on. After remaining a short time quiet Toa gave the signal, and the birds were simultaneously thrown into the air, when they flew up and commenced, as they had been taught, wheeling round and round. In a short time a number of wild pigeons seeing them from a distance, and supposing from their movements that they were hovering over their food, came from all directions to join them. I was much surprised at the dexterity with which as the wild birds circled among the decoy pigeons the sportsmen, rapidly raising their nets, captured them. The moment a bird was caught the net was again raised and another captured in the same manner. Toa in this way caught a dozen in as many minutes. Dick and I tried our skill, but we only knocked against the tame birds. It was a long time before I managed to catch even one; Dick was still less successful. It seemed at first very easy, but then it must be remembered that the rods were upwards of thirty feet long, and that the birds flew very rapidly. “Formerly,” said Toa to us, “large parties of young men used to go out for a month together, but we have now other occupation for our time, and only now and then engage in the sport.”

“This is a funny sort of fishing in the air,” said Dick.

“I call it birding,” I answered.

“Very right,” observed Toa; “I will show you how we fish some day.”

We caught several dozen pigeons during the morning. The afternoon was to be devoted to hog-shooting, at a spot a short distance off. We were divided into two parties—Dick and I accompanied Toa, while another young chief, who had arrived with a number of ugly-looking dogs, led another party.

After going some distance we arrived at a spot where the pigs had been rooting about, and away went the curs in chase. Before long their shrill yelping bark told us that the herd was found, and following the sound we discovered the chief and a companion tying the legs of a young boar, which had been caught by running it down with some of the dogs. The barking increased as we went on.

Presently Toa cried out, “Take care; get behind the trees all of you,” and we saw an enormous wild boar which the dogs had been keeping at bay.

The chief advanced running from tree to tree with great rapidity, that he might get near enough to the animal to shoot it without injuring the dogs. At length the boar caught sight of him and charged. Toa fired, and apparently missed, and the brute came rushing towards me. I aimed at his fore-shoulder, hoping, if I did not kill him outright, to stop his career. In another moment he would have been into my side, for I had no time to reload, when, just as he was near me, I made a spring and caught the bough of a tree, which I could not under other circumstances have reached, and my feet struck his back as he dashed under them. Toa had now reloaded, but before he could fire the boar again charged; he, however, nimbly sprang behind a tree, and the brute rushed past, giving me an opportunity to recover my rifle. He now caught sight of Dick, at whom he made a dash. Dick not attempting to fire, nimbly sprang up a young tree. On seeing its enemy thus escaping, the boar made a dash at the tree, and attacked it with its tusks, biting at it with the greatest fury, till Toa, approaching, settled it with a ball through its head. In this way, in a short time, we killed four large hogs, each weighing at least five hundredweight. Thus it will be seen that the sport, if exciting, was not wanting in danger, and I must own that I was very glad when it was over, and we had all escaped without wounds.

We had a luxurious supper on boar’s flesh and wild pigeons, and roots and fruits of various descriptions, all of which had been collected in the woods, showing the abundance of food to be obtained in that favoured region.

After supper, Toa invited me to walk out with him away from the rest, when he confided to me his deep admiration for Fanny Amiel, and inquired whether I thought she would consent to remain at Samoa and become his wife. I did not answer at once, as I was unwilling to offend him, and yet was certain that she would not consent to any such proposal. I replied that English ladies preferred marrying their own countrymen, and then not until they were certain of their good qualities and had been long acquainted. I undertook, however, to mention the subject to my brother, but observed that I could not venture to say anything about it to the lady herself, who would be much pained at having to refuse him. He seemed somewhat downcast at my reply, but soon recovered his spirits, and we returned to the camp to prepare for sleep.

As, with the exception of wild boars, there are no savage animals in Samoa, and the people of different tribes no longer tried to surprise and murder each other, no sentries were placed, and every one laid down to rest in perfect security.

Next morning we returned to Apia. The tide was high as we went down to the harbour, at which time, when there is a swell, the breakers burst with considerable force over the reefs outside. We found a number of boys and girls swimming off, some with boards, others without them, and others paddling in paopaos, or little canoes. On reaching the reef, where the waves curled up and broke into foam, the swimmers threw themselves forward with a jump, just as the sea took them, and away they glided in the midst of the white foam, shouting and yelling at the top of their voices. The chief took us off in his canoe to see the fun. When the breaker had spent itself the swimmers were left in smooth water, on which all turned again towards the sea, breasting the smaller waves, and quietly sinking down again as the larger and stronger ones passed over, or frequently dashing boldly through them.

“They will keep at that sport till the tide falls and the reef is left bare,” observed our friend Toa, as we pulled on board the schooner. “When I was a lad I was very fond of it, and could beat most of my companions, keeping longer at it and going out farther than any of them.”

He had brought, I should have said, a number of pigeons and some of the wild boar’s flesh as a present to Harry, and which was very acceptable on board. The ladies were on deck when we got alongside, and I was much afraid that Toa might say something to Fanny which would annoy her, before I had time to tell my brother that he might give her due warning. The young chief, however, stood in a modest manner without advancing, till Mary went up to him to thank him for his present. I in the meantime managed to tell Harry what the chief had said to me.

“I am sorry for this, but we must manage to get him on shore again as politely as possible, and I will not tell her of his proposal before he has gone.”

Our attention, however, was just then attracted by seeing a vessel standing in for the harbour; she approached within a mile or so, when the wind fell. She had a signal flying for a pilot, and the men who brought us in went out to her. Toa, who had an eye to business, wishing to be on board early to see what trading could be done, said that he should go out, and invited me to accompany him in his large canoe. As we got near the vessel we found three of her boats towing ahead. On boarding her the captain said he must get in at once, as she was leaking terribly, and was besides short of provisions and water. Toa, on this, offered to bring out provisions; and the pilot told him that it was dangerous, without a leading breeze, to attempt entering the harbour, especially as the tide was falling. The brig was, I found, theCaesar, an American vessel, bound from California to Sydney, and had come to Apia for the reasons the captain stated.

“If you won’t take her in, I will by myself,” he exclaimed. “Where’s the difficulty? The boats can tow her, as there isn’t a breath of wind to stop her way.”

“But you cannot tell how the tide will set you, and I advise you to let the boats tow you off,” answered the pilot.

The skipper, however, was obstinate, and was, I suspect, pot-valiant. He ordered the boats to continue pulling ahead, while he went to the helm himself. The pilot on this, again warning him that he was risking the safety of the vessel, stepped into his boat and pulled for the harbour. Toa, however, believing that he could leave at any moment in his canoe, remained on board, and I, of course, had to stay with him. All apparently went well for some minutes, till, just as we were at the entrance, the tide caught the vessel; the after-part struck heavily; she heeled broadside on to the reef, and the next moment, with a tremendous roar, a breaker burst over us. All was confusion on board; shrieks and cries arose from the passengers, the men swearing as they rolled and slipped about. The skipper, however, recovered in a moment his self-possession, and swore he would shoot the first man that attempted to leave the vessel; but as he had no gun or revolver in his hand, no one appeared to care for the threat. One of the crew, a New Zealander, indeed, immediately jumped overboard, when the captain threw a marline-spike at his head, but, sinking, he avoided it, and managed to reach the smooth water inside the reef, where the pilot had in the meantime anchored his boat prepared to assist those who might be able to reach her. Other boats were coming off from the shore, those which had been towing, as well as the chiefs canoe, had been cut adrift directly the vessel struck, and pulled away, or they would have been swamped in an instant.

It will be understood that owing to the heavy breakers it was impossible to get off from the vessel on the sea side, and that our only hope of safety was to pass through the foaming surf on the reef, till we reached smooth water in the inside. The vessel, lightly built, was already breaking up, and her bottom planks were appearing, floating up to the surface, while the water rushed freely in and out of her. There was therefore no time to be lost. Toa at once proposed to the skipper to tie a rope to a plank, and to swim with it to the boats inside the reef, so that the passengers and those unable to help themselves might be passed along it, and their lives saved. The rope was speedily got up.

“I will go with you,” I said to Toa.

“Come along,” he answered, and taking my hand he jumped with me into the foaming surf. The first great roller curled high above our heads, and broke with a terrific roar. As it did so we let go the plank and sank down, keeping our eyes turned upwards to watch when it had passed. Quickly returning to the surface, we again clutched the plank and shoved it before us. We had twice to perform the same operation before we reached the smooth water. I wanted to return, but Toa advised me to remain, as I was not accustomed to the water as he was. He quickly again made his way along the rope to the deck of the vessel. The next moment he appeared again, holding a young lady with one arm, while he dragged himself along the rope with the other, but he twice had to descend to avoid the rollers. The young lady seemed more dead than alive when he placed her in the boat, but she quickly recovered, while he, not in the slightest degree exhausted, dashed off again on board the vessel, and brought another girl in the same way through the surf. A third time he went, and on this occasion he encountered a young man, a gentleman apparently, who was endeavouring to make his way by himself along the rope. He was clutching the rope desperately, when a roller going over him tore him away from his hold. Toa, seeing what had happened, dashed after him, and seizing him brought him back to the rope. Again Toa had to dive twice with the almost senseless stranger, whom he at length placed, greatly exhausted, in the boat. The young ladies had quickly recovered, so that I was able to pay attention to the last comer, and with the assistance of the old pilot and two other men we brought him to.

“The sooner we get ashore with these people the better, and let them have a change of duds,” said the old pilot. “But I do not like leaving, while there are any people remaining on board.”

“Oh, pray wait,” said one of the young ladies. “There is a poor woman and her child and several other people, besides the captain and crew, who, I suppose, do not require so much help.”

By this time, seeing the possibility of getting alongside the ill-fated vessel in a boat, two put off from the shore, manned by stout fellows. The first succeeded in getting alongside and bringing away a number of the passengers, but the next was less successful. The brig gave a tremendous roll, and striking the boat, capsized her in a moment, and the whole of the people were scattered about in the raging surf. They were, however, all picked up in various ways by the boats, but one poor woman had her child washed from her arms. It was being rapidly carried away by the receding sea, when Toa, who was on board the brig, sprang after it and catching it in one arm, held its head above the surf while he swam forward with the other. Thus the little fellow was borne along by his preserver. Now the brave chief rose to the summit of a foaming sea, now he sank down into the trough, again to rise with the boy still grasped in his powerful hand. In a short time he placed him in the arms of his almost frantic mother. Loud cheers burst from all the spectators as they witnessed the gallant act, which few, indeed, would have been able to accomplish.

Shortly after the last person had been taken from the brig she broke into a thousand fragments, which, with her cargo, soon, for a mile or more on either side, strewed the beach. I felt much interested in the stranger whom Toa had saved, and as he required to be attended to more than any one else, I invited him at once to come on board theDainty, where I was sure Harry would be glad to receive him till he was better able than at present to go on shore. The ladies who had friends preferred at once going on shore to the house of one of the English residents. The pilot, therefore, pulled up alongside the schooner. Harry, on hearing the account I gave him, immediately begged the stranger to come on board. He signified his gratitude, but was scarcely able to speak.

As Harry and I helped him along the deck, we called old Tom and Dick to come and assist us; and with their help we carried him below.

I saw Dick looking at him with wondering eyes. At last he exclaimed—

“Who are you? Are you Charles Tilston?”

“Yes,” answered the stranger, gazing at Dick’s countenance; “and you are my brother Dick, whom I have come to look for.”

“Yes, I am Dick,” was the answer. “Oh, Charlie, I should never have forgiven myself if you had lost your life, for it was I, from what you tell me, who brought you out here.”

“You will have plenty of time to talk about this by-and-by,” said Harry. “Let me advise you at once to go to bed.”

Charles Tilston acknowledged the wisdom of this advice, and Harry and old Tom assisting to get off his clothes put him into my berth, when having swallowed some warm broth he fell fast asleep. Dick begged that he might be allowed to remain and watch over him, promising not to speak again till he saw that his brother was sufficiently recovered to enter into conversation. As Harry thought a doctor should see our guest he sent me on shore to procure the services of one who had a short time before landed from a whaler. While I was waiting for him Toa landed, and was received with loud acclamations by all the people, the account of his having so gallantly saved the child being the theme of conversation.

As Harry was now only waiting for a breeze to sail, thinking that I might not see Toa again, I bade him farewell, and thanked him for having saved my life.

“I must come and see you to-morrow morning,” he said. “You will not sail till then, as there will be no wind to carry you out. And now, my friend, I have a favour to ask, I must beg you to tell the fair Pearl of the Ocean that her figure has ever been present before my eyes, that her voice has rung in my ear, that my thoughts have been occupied with her, and her alone, ever since I saw her.”

“I will not fail to deliver your message,” I answered. “But I must remind you of what my brother said, and you must not be disappointed should she decline your offer.” I flattered myself that I had made a very diplomatic reply, but the young chief did not look at all satisfied as I wished him good-bye.

I returned on board with the doctor, who prescribed for Charles Tilston, and said he had little doubt that he would soon come round. I did not fail to give Fanny the chiefs message. She and Mary laughed heartily.

“I must not tamper with his affections,” she said, “but I cannot possibly encourage him, and I think that when he comes on board again it will be better for me not to appear.”

Mary and I agreed with her, and it was settled that she should remain in the cabin when Toa paid his farewell visit. In former years had a chief conceived a similar fancy he would probably have attempted to carry off the lady by force, but this was not likely to occur under present circumstances. Harry, however, thought it prudent to keep a strong watch at night on deck. It was my middle watch, and as I was looking out across the harbour I thought I saw a fleet of canoes passing at some distance from where we lay; still, as I felt sure that Toa would not use any violence, this did not make me anxious. The canoes soon disappeared, but after some time I fancied that I again saw them hovering in the distance. Presently I heard a voice, which sounded softly as it came over the water, singing in the Samoan language. What was the meaning of the words I could not tell, but it struck me that they were those of a love ditty, and that Toa had taken this method of expressing the feelings of his heart. As Fanny was probably fast asleep in her cabin, it would be entirely thrown away upon her, and I had no intention of calling her up to listen to the serenade. I determined, however, to call Harry should the canoes approach nearer; but the song ceased, and they disappeared in the darkness.

I told old Tom, who relieved me.

“There’s no harm in that sort of thing,” he observed. “If the young chief takes to singing he will not dream of doing anything worse. Maybe he’ll not break his heart after all, though he may think of Miss Fanny for many a long day to come.”

In the morning the doctor came off again, and pronounced Charles Tilston very much better. He was able, indeed, to get up and breakfast with us in the cabin. He expressed his gratitude to Harry for the attention he had paid him, and especially for the care he had taken of Dick. He then told us, that on receiving Dick’s letter he had immediately set out, by his father’s desire, to bring him home. Wishing to take the shortest route, he had come over to America, and crossed the continent to San Francisco; he there found theCaesaron the point of sailing, and had accordingly taken a passage in her.

“I scarcely expected to reach Sydney,” he said. “The skipper was drunk the greatest part of every day, and sometimes for days together. It was a mercy that we got even as far as Samoa; and had we not been wrecked, I had intended to leave the brig, and proceed by some other vessel. Now that I have found my young brother I do not like to quit him again, but I am unwilling to deprive you of his services.”

“It will give me much pleasure if you will remain on board then,” said Harry. Charles Tilston, greatly to my satisfaction, at once accepted the invitation; for I had taken a great fancy to him, and was unwilling also to lose Dick. Harry arranged with him to go on shore to purchase some clothing and other necessaries at the store, in case his own portmanteau should not be recovered. The natives had, in the meantime, been collecting the goods thrown upon the beach from the wrecked vessel, not one of which was stolen, and bringing them into the town. We at once went to the place where they were stowed, and among them Charles Tilston discovered his own portmanteau, which he said professed to be waterproof. On opening it, he found that no wet had got in. It being delivered to him on a small payment for salvage, we returned with it on board. All that morning the calm continued, but in the afternoon, a breeze springing up, the pilot came off, and agreed to take us out. Just as the sails were loosed, before we hove up the anchor, Toa came alongside in his canoe. As was agreed on, Fanny remained below, but Mary came on deck to receive him, and to thank him for his kindness to me, but she said nothing about her sister.

“And I am also most grateful to you for saving my life,” said Charles Tilston. “Had it not been for you I am fully convinced that I should have been drowned, and I beg you to accept a few articles—all I have to offer—as a remembrance of me.” On this he put into his hand a handsome clasp knife, adding some gold pieces, with which the chief seemed highly pleased. I saw him continually looking towards the companion-hatch, as if he expected Fanny to appear, but he waited in vain. At last, Harry had to remind him that we were on the point of getting under weigh, and that it would be better for him to take his leave before we hove up the anchor. He was evidently trying to say something, but his tongue seemed to cling to the roof of his mouth; and heaving a sigh he stepped into his canoe and cast off. The anchor was immediately run up to the bows, and the sails filling, as there was a leading breeze, we ran swiftly out of the harbour. I saw the young chief standing up in his canoe, and waving to us his last farewells. Not till we were well outside did Fanny venture on deck.

“Take care,” said Mary laughing; “he may still come after us.”

However, he did not move his paddle, and we were soon out at sea, steering with a fair breeze to the eastward.

Chapter Five.We had now a continuance of fine weather, and day after day sailed over the calm ocean, the surface just rippled by a gentle breeze, generally so much in our favour that we were able to rig out our big square sail, and to carry a topmast studding-sail. Though it was near the line the heat was not very oppressive, unless when the wind fell altogether, and then it was hot. Though I speak of the ocean being calm, there was always a perceptible swell, more perceptible when we were on the weather-side of a coral reef, against which the swell, finding an impediment to its progress, could be seen dashing with tremendous force, rising high in the air in masses of foam. We had before received a warning to keep at a respectful distance from such reefs whenever we could; but sometimes, unable to help ourselves, we were compelled to pass unpleasantly near. Night and day we kept a vigilant look-out. Sometimes, indeed, at night Harry thought it prudent to heave to, rather than attempt running on when the chart showed us that coral banks abounded ahead. In the daytime, when the sun shone, those even some way below the surface could be seen by the look-out aloft at a considerable distance, from the darker colour of the water to that of the surrounding ocean.Though it was very delightful to have the society of Mary and Fanny, yet at other times, when danger threatened, their presence greatly increased Harry’s anxieties, and I suspect that he often on these occasions wished that he had left them on shore. Mary, however, always expressed her satisfaction at being with him.“Just think how I should have felt all the time that you were away,” she said one day. “I should have been picturing you attacked by savages, or tossed about by storms, or thrown upon a coral reef, or undergoing all sorts of other misfortunes, till I got you safe back again; and I am very sure that you would not have taken as much care of yourself as you now do for my sake. So, whenever you go to sea, remember that I intend to accompany you.”We found Charles Tilston a very great addition to our society. He was well-informed, and full of life and spirits, right-minded, and earnest. He was very grateful also to Harry and me for the way we had treated Dick. He was so pleased at the account we gave of Queensland, that he proposed remaining and settling there with Dick as his companion.We were now approaching that part of the Pacific in which Tom Platt had assured us we should find the islands round which pearl oysters abounded; but, as he could not give us the exact longitude and latitude, we expected to have to search some time before we found them. He believed it, however, to be two or three days sail to the northward of the island on which he had been cast away, and which was laid down accurately on the chart, and for that island we accordingly steered. On our course there we sighted a large lagoon island, and, as we approached the north-west end, a number of canoes came off from the shore. While at some distance the natives on board them were heard singing; as they drew near the clamour increased. Now and then they interrupted their singing by giving way to loud shouts of laughter and violent gesticulations, as if they had been a party of madmen. Their canoes were small, being only fifteen feet long, and generally containing three persons. Each canoe was furnished with an outrigger, as also with a projecting point, both over the bows and stern, to enable them to get on board out of the water. They were formed of strips of cocoanut-wood neatly sewn together. When they got within a short distance of the schooner they ceased paddling, and no signs we could make would induce them to come alongside. To calm their fears, we offered them various articles. On this one canoe paddled briskly up, near enough to have the things thrown into her; then away she went, and another approached. After this, apparently to show their gratitude, they began a monotonous song. This made us all laugh, when they stopped and grinned in return; but although they seemed inclined to be friendly, they would not trust themselves near us. Harry, however, thought that they might possibly not object to our landing on their island. A boat was accordingly lowered, and Charles Tilston, Dick, and I, with Tom Tubb, Jacky Pott, and Lizard, went in her. We carried several articles for barter, hoping, as we observed a large grove of trees on the shore, to obtain some cocoanuts. The moment the natives saw the boat, however, they paddled away and returned to the shore. As we approached the beach they assembled, shaking their spears, dancing, shouting, and making signs to us to keep off. When we retired a short distance they calmed down, but when we again approached they resumed their former behaviour, thus giving us to understand that, though they wished to be friendly, they did not desire a closer acquaintanceship. When we once more retired, they followed us in their canoes, but without exhibiting any hostility. We found that Tom Tubb, the New Zealander, could make himself clearly understood, and we desired him to say that we wanted some cocoanuts; but they replied that they had only a sufficient number for themselves, and could not part with them. On our holding up various articles they cautiously approached, and presented us with some curious fish-hooks, matting, adzes made from the shell of the Tridachna and ground very sharp, as also with numerous pearl shells. We came to the conclusion that they had some good reason to mistrust white men; indeed, we afterwards discovered that such was the case. The articles they valued most were buttons, pieces of iron, bottles, and cloth. We tried to obtain some of their spears and clubs, but with these they would not part. As we rowed away we saw them waving green boughs, a universal sign of good-will among the Pacific islanders. Their clothing consisted of the maro, a cloth worn round the waist; the chiefs having also a mantle of matting over their shoulders, while some wore feathers in their hair. None of the females appeared; no doubt they had all been hidden as they saw us approaching. Their huts were constructed of long poles, bent so as to form a succession of arches, the ends of the poles being stuck in the ground, and the whole covered over with pandanus or palm leaves. They were evidently a very primitive race of people, and Charlie observed that if one missionary could gain their confidence he would be able to make much progress among them. Their island consisted of a coral reef of irregular shape, with a lagoon in the centre, in which were numerous knolls of various sizes rising four or five feet above the surface. The island itself, indeed, looked like a collection of islets, though in reality united by the reef, which was just a wash at half-tide, so that the inhabitants could have free communication with each other.We hoped to be more successful in obtaining cocoanuts and other vegetable productions at the next island at which we might touch. We made it the following day, but here also we were disappointed. It was a perfect lagoon island, consisting of a circle of land of a light clay colour, the lagoon of a beautiful blue tint. The highest ground was not more than twelve feet above the level of the sea, and we calculated that it was about six hundred feet wide to its lagoon. The shrubs were not numerous, seldom more than twelve to fifteen feet high. Amid them rose conspicuously cocoanut-palms, and pandanus. There was but one narrow entrance into the lagoon; but, from the surf breaking on either side of it, Harry considered that it would be dangerous to attempt passing through. We already knew that, however beautiful a coral island looks at a distance, the landing on it is very disappointing. In order to obtain cocoanuts we pulled for the shore on the lee side, where it seemed possible to land. As we approached the beach, however, we saw a large number of natives collected, and as we drew near they began shouting, gesticulating, and brandishing their long spears and clubs, making violent motions to us to retire. We had a white flag, which we waved, hoping they would understand that it was an emblem of peace, but they took no notice of it, and still threatened to attack us should we attempt to land. We therefore kept off at a respectful distance, and directed Tom Tubb, who could generally make himself understood, to address them. He singled out the chief, and told him that we were friends of the natives, and that we came simply to traffic. The chief merely shouted and gesticulated as fiercely as before, making signs to us to be off, evidently not wishing to have any intercourse with strangers. This enraged the New Zealander, who, standing up in the bow of the canoe, became as much excited as the chief, brandishing the boat-hook as a spear, and making as if he would throw it at him. Thus they continued for some time, till I thought it prudent to desire Tom to cease, but he showed no inclination to do this, evidently taking pleasure in exciting the chief to the greatest pitch of fury. The rest of the natives becoming as enraged as their leader, presently began to assail us with pieces of coral, the only missiles they possessed. To avoid them we pulled away as rapidly as we could: indeed, as it was, several lumps of coral struck the boat. Here again was another proof that the natives had cause to dread an intercourse with white men.The wind heading us we were compelled to make a tack to the eastward, when we sighted another lagoon island, on which, near the entrance, we saw a flag waving in the air, and near it a number of natives, all more or less dressed in shirts and trousers of various colours. They had no arms in their hands; and as we approached the entrance of the lagoon in a boat they came down to welcome us in a most friendly way. We were not long in discovering the cause, a native neatly dressed in shirt, trousers, and jacket, with a hat on his head, approaching, introduced himself as a native teacher. He could speak a few words of English; and, with the aid of Tom Tubb, we managed to carry on a conversation. He had been only two years on the island. When he first landed the people were as savage as those we had last visited. The whole had now become Christians, and partly civilised. Anxious as he was to instruct them in the truths of Christianity, he was also desirous of improving their social condition. All the women were dressed in cotton gowns, the men as I have described; while their huts were of a superior construction to those on any of the neighbouring islands. The missionary assured us also that many of the people could read, and some could even write. We agreed that should we have the misfortune to be wrecked, how thankful we should be to find that we had been thrown on an island inhabited by these Christian people, instead of such savages as those we had before met with. They supplied us with as many cocoanuts as they could spare. The missionary was instructing them how to make cocoanut oil, that they might be able to purchase with it such articles as they required, I may here remark that there are now very many islands which can rarely be visited by English missionaries, where native teachers have been the means of producing similar results. The next day we fell in with another similar island, in which a native teacher had a short time before landed. He had not been there more than a month or two when a vessel was wrecked which had some time before carried off several of the natives, and, undoubtedly, the only one of her crew who reached the shore would have been put to death had it not been for his interference. He not only saved the man’s life, but endeavoured to instruct him in the truths of religion. For this, however, the fellow was far from grateful, for by his conduct he did much to impede the efforts of the teacher. The latter, when we went on shore, entreated us to take the man, who called himself Sam Pest, away with us. Harry, for the sake of the teacher, undertook to do this, if Pest was willing to go. When the question was put to him, he said that he had no objection, provided we would land him at some other island where he might do as he pleased. Harry would make no promise as to where he would land him, notwithstanding which the man came willingly on board; and we bade farewell to the missionary and his flock. Sam Pest had been knocking about the Pacific for the last twenty years he told me, sometimes on board whalers, at others serving in smaller craft, frequently living on shore among the heathen natives. He was, I found, a regular beachcomber—a name generally given to the vagabond white men who are scattered about in numbers among the islands of the Pacific, to the great detriment of the natives, as by the bad example they set them they interfere much with the proceedings of the missionaries. Pest was not so bad, perhaps, as many; he had frank manners, was certainly no hypocrite, for he was not at all ashamed of the life he had led. He had served on board vessels engaged in carrying off natives to work in the mines of Peru, and he gave me many accounts of the atrocious ways in which they had been kidnapped. Sometimes the poor islanders were enticed on board under the pretence of trading, others were carried off by force. On several occasions when canoes had come alongside, the men were dragged out of them, and the canoes sunk. In some instances whole islands had been depopulated, when, from the smallness of their number, the inhabitants were unable to defend themselves against the attacks of the kidnappers.I believe there is some soft part of the human heart, if it can be got at. By the way I talked to Sam Pest, and by occasionally giving him some tobacco, he seemed to take a liking to me. When I pointed out to him the evil of his ways, he acknowledged that he wished he were a better man, and if I would help him, he would try to him over a new leaf. I cannot say that I thought this very likely, from the way I heard him talking to the men.We had now commenced our search for the Pearl Islands, as Tom Platt asserted we must be close to them. He said that he was certain he should know them again if he could once get sight of them. Now we stood to the northward, now tacked in one direction, now in another, now ran before the wind, carefully marking down our track on the chart, so that we might know what ground we had gone over.“This reminds me of the long time the missionary Williams was searching for the island of Barotonga before he discovered it,” observed Charles Tilston. “He, however, went not to seek wealth for himself, but to carry a pearl of great price to the benighted inhabitants. How I should like to have a vessel and to cruise over the ocean with the same object in view, dropping missionaries here and there as it was found possible to land them.”“Such is being done now,” I observed. “I heard a good deal about it at Brisbane, and how the Bishop of New Zealand in his little schooner makes long voyages for that purpose. There are also two or three other vessels employed by different societies with the same object in view.”“I must make inquiries about them,” answered Charles Tilston, and he seemed lost in thought.As we had been four days cruising about without coming in sight of the wished-for islands, at last Harry began to fear that old Tom had made some unaccountable mistake. He again and again cross-questioned him on the subject. The mate was, however, positive that he was right, and that we should see the islands if we looked long enough for them.“They may be rather more to the eastward or northward than I fancied, but hereabouts I have no doubt we shall find them,” he said in a positive tone.We accordingly extended our search, keeping always a sharp look-out from the mast-head. Old Tom frequently went up himself, spy-glass in hand, to sweep the horizon. At length, about noon on the sixth day, while he was aloft he raised a cheerful shout—“Land, land! Away to the eastward; it is the island we are looking for!” As we had a fresh southerly breeze, the schooner was at once headed up in the direction he indicated. In a short time we could make out the land from the deck, which greatly resembled the other islands we had passed, looking like a fleet of vessels at anchor close together. As we stood on we could distinguish several smaller islands lying off the large one, which was the most thickly covered with trees. On getting still nearer we perceived a channel of clear water, along which we hoped to proceed to an anchorage off the larger island of which Tom had told us, and as he had marked it well on his former visit he undertook to pilot the schooner to it. Of course we took the usual precautions of heaving the lead and having a man at the mast-head, and one at each yardarm, while Tom himself stood forward, his hand shading his eyes. The dangers were fewer than we expected, and with infinite satisfaction we at length brought up in a secure harbour.As we approached it a number of canoes similar to those I have before described, each carrying three men, came off to us. The natives appeared inclined to be friendly, for some were singing a song of welcome, and others waving green branches.Summoning Tom Tubb and Jacky Pott to act as interpreters, we let the natives understand that we could only admit a dozen on board at a time, and that they must come unarmed. To this they made no objection, but seemed at once perfectly at their ease. From the curiosity they exhibited, they were evidently not accustomed to the sight of vessels in their harbour. They told the New Zealander that they had seen on some time before, which confirmed the account the mate had given of his visit. When told that we came to buy pearls, they appeared in no way surprised, and at once agreed to supply us with as many as we wished for, as also with mother-of-pearl shells; the latter, though bulky, were well worth carrying, as there was at the time much demand for them in the market. My brother at once arranged the price we were to pay, with which the natives seemed perfectly satisfied: they also promised to bring us off a supply of cocoanuts.As soon as these arrangements were made, they paddled off to spread the good news among their fellow-islanders, and to collect the pearls already won from the bottom of the sea, of which they gave us to understand they had a good store. Before evening the first party returned, bringing a larger number of pearls than we expected. Few of them, however, were particularly fine, but on an average they were of good value, which encouraged us to hope that we should be well paid for our voyage. Notwithstanding the friendly behaviour of the natives, Harry considered it prudent to keep a vigilant watch during the hours of darkness. He told the natives that he should not expect to see them till the next morning.The night passed away without any cause for alarm. At daylight the next morning every canoe in the island appeared to be afloat; some brought off pearls, as well as mother-of-pearl shells and cocoanuts, and others were seen paddling out to the water between the reefs where the oyster-beds existed. We carried on a brisk trade for a couple of hours or more. The natives selected the knives and hatchets and other articles they required, and handed over the pearls in exchange. As one party had disposed of their pearls, they were told they must get into their canoes and leave the side of the vessel, while others took their places. Thus there was no confusion, and all went on amicably. The trading over for the morning, as soon as we had breakfasted, Charles Tilston and I, with Dick and two men, pulled off to watch the natives diving for the oyster-shells. About thirty canoes were floating over different spots, each having one diver on board. He had a large net basket fastened round his waist, and, as far as we could see, he was furnished with no other means for obtaining oysters. Standing up in his canoe he drew a deep breath, then, holding his nostrils with one hand, down he dived, and remained below the water for a couple of minutes. On his return his bag was seen to be full of oysters. He had, it appeared, wrenched them off by main force with his hands. The water was so clear that he could see the oysters without difficulty, as he could also the approach of a shark or any other dangerous fish. He remained diving at intervals till his canoe was filled, when she returned to the shore with her freight. I found that the divers select that period of the day for carrying on their operations when the direct rays of the sun illumine the depths of the ocean. On making inquiries through Tom Tubb I found that, notwithstanding the number of sharks which infest those seas, very few of the natives lose their lives from them, as they are always on the watch for the creatures, and know how to elude them with wonderful skill and courage. Every day brought us a fresh supply of pearls, and when we found that it began to fall off we produced some fresh articles to tempt them: gaily-coloured handkerchiefs and cloth, nails, scissors, hammers, gimlets, and similar things. All this time we had not gone on shore. The people were gentle and well behaved on board, but they were heathens and savages, so that it was impossible to tell how they might conduct themselves should they find that we were in their power.

We had now a continuance of fine weather, and day after day sailed over the calm ocean, the surface just rippled by a gentle breeze, generally so much in our favour that we were able to rig out our big square sail, and to carry a topmast studding-sail. Though it was near the line the heat was not very oppressive, unless when the wind fell altogether, and then it was hot. Though I speak of the ocean being calm, there was always a perceptible swell, more perceptible when we were on the weather-side of a coral reef, against which the swell, finding an impediment to its progress, could be seen dashing with tremendous force, rising high in the air in masses of foam. We had before received a warning to keep at a respectful distance from such reefs whenever we could; but sometimes, unable to help ourselves, we were compelled to pass unpleasantly near. Night and day we kept a vigilant look-out. Sometimes, indeed, at night Harry thought it prudent to heave to, rather than attempt running on when the chart showed us that coral banks abounded ahead. In the daytime, when the sun shone, those even some way below the surface could be seen by the look-out aloft at a considerable distance, from the darker colour of the water to that of the surrounding ocean.

Though it was very delightful to have the society of Mary and Fanny, yet at other times, when danger threatened, their presence greatly increased Harry’s anxieties, and I suspect that he often on these occasions wished that he had left them on shore. Mary, however, always expressed her satisfaction at being with him.

“Just think how I should have felt all the time that you were away,” she said one day. “I should have been picturing you attacked by savages, or tossed about by storms, or thrown upon a coral reef, or undergoing all sorts of other misfortunes, till I got you safe back again; and I am very sure that you would not have taken as much care of yourself as you now do for my sake. So, whenever you go to sea, remember that I intend to accompany you.”

We found Charles Tilston a very great addition to our society. He was well-informed, and full of life and spirits, right-minded, and earnest. He was very grateful also to Harry and me for the way we had treated Dick. He was so pleased at the account we gave of Queensland, that he proposed remaining and settling there with Dick as his companion.

We were now approaching that part of the Pacific in which Tom Platt had assured us we should find the islands round which pearl oysters abounded; but, as he could not give us the exact longitude and latitude, we expected to have to search some time before we found them. He believed it, however, to be two or three days sail to the northward of the island on which he had been cast away, and which was laid down accurately on the chart, and for that island we accordingly steered. On our course there we sighted a large lagoon island, and, as we approached the north-west end, a number of canoes came off from the shore. While at some distance the natives on board them were heard singing; as they drew near the clamour increased. Now and then they interrupted their singing by giving way to loud shouts of laughter and violent gesticulations, as if they had been a party of madmen. Their canoes were small, being only fifteen feet long, and generally containing three persons. Each canoe was furnished with an outrigger, as also with a projecting point, both over the bows and stern, to enable them to get on board out of the water. They were formed of strips of cocoanut-wood neatly sewn together. When they got within a short distance of the schooner they ceased paddling, and no signs we could make would induce them to come alongside. To calm their fears, we offered them various articles. On this one canoe paddled briskly up, near enough to have the things thrown into her; then away she went, and another approached. After this, apparently to show their gratitude, they began a monotonous song. This made us all laugh, when they stopped and grinned in return; but although they seemed inclined to be friendly, they would not trust themselves near us. Harry, however, thought that they might possibly not object to our landing on their island. A boat was accordingly lowered, and Charles Tilston, Dick, and I, with Tom Tubb, Jacky Pott, and Lizard, went in her. We carried several articles for barter, hoping, as we observed a large grove of trees on the shore, to obtain some cocoanuts. The moment the natives saw the boat, however, they paddled away and returned to the shore. As we approached the beach they assembled, shaking their spears, dancing, shouting, and making signs to us to keep off. When we retired a short distance they calmed down, but when we again approached they resumed their former behaviour, thus giving us to understand that, though they wished to be friendly, they did not desire a closer acquaintanceship. When we once more retired, they followed us in their canoes, but without exhibiting any hostility. We found that Tom Tubb, the New Zealander, could make himself clearly understood, and we desired him to say that we wanted some cocoanuts; but they replied that they had only a sufficient number for themselves, and could not part with them. On our holding up various articles they cautiously approached, and presented us with some curious fish-hooks, matting, adzes made from the shell of the Tridachna and ground very sharp, as also with numerous pearl shells. We came to the conclusion that they had some good reason to mistrust white men; indeed, we afterwards discovered that such was the case. The articles they valued most were buttons, pieces of iron, bottles, and cloth. We tried to obtain some of their spears and clubs, but with these they would not part. As we rowed away we saw them waving green boughs, a universal sign of good-will among the Pacific islanders. Their clothing consisted of the maro, a cloth worn round the waist; the chiefs having also a mantle of matting over their shoulders, while some wore feathers in their hair. None of the females appeared; no doubt they had all been hidden as they saw us approaching. Their huts were constructed of long poles, bent so as to form a succession of arches, the ends of the poles being stuck in the ground, and the whole covered over with pandanus or palm leaves. They were evidently a very primitive race of people, and Charlie observed that if one missionary could gain their confidence he would be able to make much progress among them. Their island consisted of a coral reef of irregular shape, with a lagoon in the centre, in which were numerous knolls of various sizes rising four or five feet above the surface. The island itself, indeed, looked like a collection of islets, though in reality united by the reef, which was just a wash at half-tide, so that the inhabitants could have free communication with each other.

We hoped to be more successful in obtaining cocoanuts and other vegetable productions at the next island at which we might touch. We made it the following day, but here also we were disappointed. It was a perfect lagoon island, consisting of a circle of land of a light clay colour, the lagoon of a beautiful blue tint. The highest ground was not more than twelve feet above the level of the sea, and we calculated that it was about six hundred feet wide to its lagoon. The shrubs were not numerous, seldom more than twelve to fifteen feet high. Amid them rose conspicuously cocoanut-palms, and pandanus. There was but one narrow entrance into the lagoon; but, from the surf breaking on either side of it, Harry considered that it would be dangerous to attempt passing through. We already knew that, however beautiful a coral island looks at a distance, the landing on it is very disappointing. In order to obtain cocoanuts we pulled for the shore on the lee side, where it seemed possible to land. As we approached the beach, however, we saw a large number of natives collected, and as we drew near they began shouting, gesticulating, and brandishing their long spears and clubs, making violent motions to us to retire. We had a white flag, which we waved, hoping they would understand that it was an emblem of peace, but they took no notice of it, and still threatened to attack us should we attempt to land. We therefore kept off at a respectful distance, and directed Tom Tubb, who could generally make himself understood, to address them. He singled out the chief, and told him that we were friends of the natives, and that we came simply to traffic. The chief merely shouted and gesticulated as fiercely as before, making signs to us to be off, evidently not wishing to have any intercourse with strangers. This enraged the New Zealander, who, standing up in the bow of the canoe, became as much excited as the chief, brandishing the boat-hook as a spear, and making as if he would throw it at him. Thus they continued for some time, till I thought it prudent to desire Tom to cease, but he showed no inclination to do this, evidently taking pleasure in exciting the chief to the greatest pitch of fury. The rest of the natives becoming as enraged as their leader, presently began to assail us with pieces of coral, the only missiles they possessed. To avoid them we pulled away as rapidly as we could: indeed, as it was, several lumps of coral struck the boat. Here again was another proof that the natives had cause to dread an intercourse with white men.

The wind heading us we were compelled to make a tack to the eastward, when we sighted another lagoon island, on which, near the entrance, we saw a flag waving in the air, and near it a number of natives, all more or less dressed in shirts and trousers of various colours. They had no arms in their hands; and as we approached the entrance of the lagoon in a boat they came down to welcome us in a most friendly way. We were not long in discovering the cause, a native neatly dressed in shirt, trousers, and jacket, with a hat on his head, approaching, introduced himself as a native teacher. He could speak a few words of English; and, with the aid of Tom Tubb, we managed to carry on a conversation. He had been only two years on the island. When he first landed the people were as savage as those we had last visited. The whole had now become Christians, and partly civilised. Anxious as he was to instruct them in the truths of Christianity, he was also desirous of improving their social condition. All the women were dressed in cotton gowns, the men as I have described; while their huts were of a superior construction to those on any of the neighbouring islands. The missionary assured us also that many of the people could read, and some could even write. We agreed that should we have the misfortune to be wrecked, how thankful we should be to find that we had been thrown on an island inhabited by these Christian people, instead of such savages as those we had before met with. They supplied us with as many cocoanuts as they could spare. The missionary was instructing them how to make cocoanut oil, that they might be able to purchase with it such articles as they required, I may here remark that there are now very many islands which can rarely be visited by English missionaries, where native teachers have been the means of producing similar results. The next day we fell in with another similar island, in which a native teacher had a short time before landed. He had not been there more than a month or two when a vessel was wrecked which had some time before carried off several of the natives, and, undoubtedly, the only one of her crew who reached the shore would have been put to death had it not been for his interference. He not only saved the man’s life, but endeavoured to instruct him in the truths of religion. For this, however, the fellow was far from grateful, for by his conduct he did much to impede the efforts of the teacher. The latter, when we went on shore, entreated us to take the man, who called himself Sam Pest, away with us. Harry, for the sake of the teacher, undertook to do this, if Pest was willing to go. When the question was put to him, he said that he had no objection, provided we would land him at some other island where he might do as he pleased. Harry would make no promise as to where he would land him, notwithstanding which the man came willingly on board; and we bade farewell to the missionary and his flock. Sam Pest had been knocking about the Pacific for the last twenty years he told me, sometimes on board whalers, at others serving in smaller craft, frequently living on shore among the heathen natives. He was, I found, a regular beachcomber—a name generally given to the vagabond white men who are scattered about in numbers among the islands of the Pacific, to the great detriment of the natives, as by the bad example they set them they interfere much with the proceedings of the missionaries. Pest was not so bad, perhaps, as many; he had frank manners, was certainly no hypocrite, for he was not at all ashamed of the life he had led. He had served on board vessels engaged in carrying off natives to work in the mines of Peru, and he gave me many accounts of the atrocious ways in which they had been kidnapped. Sometimes the poor islanders were enticed on board under the pretence of trading, others were carried off by force. On several occasions when canoes had come alongside, the men were dragged out of them, and the canoes sunk. In some instances whole islands had been depopulated, when, from the smallness of their number, the inhabitants were unable to defend themselves against the attacks of the kidnappers.

I believe there is some soft part of the human heart, if it can be got at. By the way I talked to Sam Pest, and by occasionally giving him some tobacco, he seemed to take a liking to me. When I pointed out to him the evil of his ways, he acknowledged that he wished he were a better man, and if I would help him, he would try to him over a new leaf. I cannot say that I thought this very likely, from the way I heard him talking to the men.

We had now commenced our search for the Pearl Islands, as Tom Platt asserted we must be close to them. He said that he was certain he should know them again if he could once get sight of them. Now we stood to the northward, now tacked in one direction, now in another, now ran before the wind, carefully marking down our track on the chart, so that we might know what ground we had gone over.

“This reminds me of the long time the missionary Williams was searching for the island of Barotonga before he discovered it,” observed Charles Tilston. “He, however, went not to seek wealth for himself, but to carry a pearl of great price to the benighted inhabitants. How I should like to have a vessel and to cruise over the ocean with the same object in view, dropping missionaries here and there as it was found possible to land them.”

“Such is being done now,” I observed. “I heard a good deal about it at Brisbane, and how the Bishop of New Zealand in his little schooner makes long voyages for that purpose. There are also two or three other vessels employed by different societies with the same object in view.”

“I must make inquiries about them,” answered Charles Tilston, and he seemed lost in thought.

As we had been four days cruising about without coming in sight of the wished-for islands, at last Harry began to fear that old Tom had made some unaccountable mistake. He again and again cross-questioned him on the subject. The mate was, however, positive that he was right, and that we should see the islands if we looked long enough for them.

“They may be rather more to the eastward or northward than I fancied, but hereabouts I have no doubt we shall find them,” he said in a positive tone.

We accordingly extended our search, keeping always a sharp look-out from the mast-head. Old Tom frequently went up himself, spy-glass in hand, to sweep the horizon. At length, about noon on the sixth day, while he was aloft he raised a cheerful shout—

“Land, land! Away to the eastward; it is the island we are looking for!” As we had a fresh southerly breeze, the schooner was at once headed up in the direction he indicated. In a short time we could make out the land from the deck, which greatly resembled the other islands we had passed, looking like a fleet of vessels at anchor close together. As we stood on we could distinguish several smaller islands lying off the large one, which was the most thickly covered with trees. On getting still nearer we perceived a channel of clear water, along which we hoped to proceed to an anchorage off the larger island of which Tom had told us, and as he had marked it well on his former visit he undertook to pilot the schooner to it. Of course we took the usual precautions of heaving the lead and having a man at the mast-head, and one at each yardarm, while Tom himself stood forward, his hand shading his eyes. The dangers were fewer than we expected, and with infinite satisfaction we at length brought up in a secure harbour.

As we approached it a number of canoes similar to those I have before described, each carrying three men, came off to us. The natives appeared inclined to be friendly, for some were singing a song of welcome, and others waving green branches.

Summoning Tom Tubb and Jacky Pott to act as interpreters, we let the natives understand that we could only admit a dozen on board at a time, and that they must come unarmed. To this they made no objection, but seemed at once perfectly at their ease. From the curiosity they exhibited, they were evidently not accustomed to the sight of vessels in their harbour. They told the New Zealander that they had seen on some time before, which confirmed the account the mate had given of his visit. When told that we came to buy pearls, they appeared in no way surprised, and at once agreed to supply us with as many as we wished for, as also with mother-of-pearl shells; the latter, though bulky, were well worth carrying, as there was at the time much demand for them in the market. My brother at once arranged the price we were to pay, with which the natives seemed perfectly satisfied: they also promised to bring us off a supply of cocoanuts.

As soon as these arrangements were made, they paddled off to spread the good news among their fellow-islanders, and to collect the pearls already won from the bottom of the sea, of which they gave us to understand they had a good store. Before evening the first party returned, bringing a larger number of pearls than we expected. Few of them, however, were particularly fine, but on an average they were of good value, which encouraged us to hope that we should be well paid for our voyage. Notwithstanding the friendly behaviour of the natives, Harry considered it prudent to keep a vigilant watch during the hours of darkness. He told the natives that he should not expect to see them till the next morning.

The night passed away without any cause for alarm. At daylight the next morning every canoe in the island appeared to be afloat; some brought off pearls, as well as mother-of-pearl shells and cocoanuts, and others were seen paddling out to the water between the reefs where the oyster-beds existed. We carried on a brisk trade for a couple of hours or more. The natives selected the knives and hatchets and other articles they required, and handed over the pearls in exchange. As one party had disposed of their pearls, they were told they must get into their canoes and leave the side of the vessel, while others took their places. Thus there was no confusion, and all went on amicably. The trading over for the morning, as soon as we had breakfasted, Charles Tilston and I, with Dick and two men, pulled off to watch the natives diving for the oyster-shells. About thirty canoes were floating over different spots, each having one diver on board. He had a large net basket fastened round his waist, and, as far as we could see, he was furnished with no other means for obtaining oysters. Standing up in his canoe he drew a deep breath, then, holding his nostrils with one hand, down he dived, and remained below the water for a couple of minutes. On his return his bag was seen to be full of oysters. He had, it appeared, wrenched them off by main force with his hands. The water was so clear that he could see the oysters without difficulty, as he could also the approach of a shark or any other dangerous fish. He remained diving at intervals till his canoe was filled, when she returned to the shore with her freight. I found that the divers select that period of the day for carrying on their operations when the direct rays of the sun illumine the depths of the ocean. On making inquiries through Tom Tubb I found that, notwithstanding the number of sharks which infest those seas, very few of the natives lose their lives from them, as they are always on the watch for the creatures, and know how to elude them with wonderful skill and courage. Every day brought us a fresh supply of pearls, and when we found that it began to fall off we produced some fresh articles to tempt them: gaily-coloured handkerchiefs and cloth, nails, scissors, hammers, gimlets, and similar things. All this time we had not gone on shore. The people were gentle and well behaved on board, but they were heathens and savages, so that it was impossible to tell how they might conduct themselves should they find that we were in their power.

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