The Cruise of the Dainty | Page 4

though my mother had paid a premium to the owners
and I was on the quarterdeck, but I saw while I remained on board that
there was no use complaining, so I took things as they were, and by
keeping my eyes open and my wits awake became in a short time a fair

seaman."
Poor Dick said that he would try to follow my advice, but he,
notwithstanding, would answer when spoken to, and consequently I
was unable to save him from ill-treatment, as he had brought it down
upon himself.
During a heavy gale we encountered, when near the latitude of the
Cape, one of the so-called midshipmen fell overboard and was drowned.
The captain knowing that I could take an observation, and hearing that I
was able to keep accounts and would be useful to him, invited me to
take the poor fellow's berth. This, though it gave me a good deal of
work, I was very glad to do, and I thus saw much less than before of
Dick. As I was well treated I soon regained my old affection for a sea
life, and had half determined to return home in the ship should my
brother not especially press me to remain. When, however, we arrived
at Brisbane, and Harry told me of his contemplated trip, and that he
should be very glad of my assistance, I kept to my former intention of
remaining with him. I therefore wished Captain Archer and his ship,
the Eclipse, good-bye, and took up my quarters with Harry and his
family. I liked Mary and her sister, whom I had not before seen, very
much, and I was glad that Harry had not taken them into the bush, for
they did not appear at all suited to the rough style of life they would
have had to lead there, for they were both very pretty and elegant, and
had never been accustomed to hard work, though they now did their
best to make themselves useful in the house, and were never idle. Their
brother, Nat, was a capital little fellow--as merry as a cricket and never
out of temper, even when his face and hands were bitten all over by
mosquitoes, or when the pugnacious insects were buzzing round us in
thousands, and that is a trial to the sweetest of tempers. We used to
have music and reading in the evenings, and very pleasant evenings
they were--indeed, we lived much as we should have done in the old
country. Altogether, I congratulated myself that I had decided on
stopping out.
My brother was, however, somewhat anxious about the state of
business. "You see, Ned, there is not, I fear, much to be done at

present," he said. "I have, therefore, thought of making the trip I spoke
to you about. A number of vessels sail from Sydney and other places to
collect cargoes of palm-oil and sandal-wood, and some few go in
search of pearls. They do not all trade honestly with the natives, and
several have suffered in consequence, their crews having been attacked
and murdered; but I hope, by trading honestly and by being always on
my guard against surprise, to make a profitable venture. I have an
especial reason for wishing to sail at once, as the day before your
arrival I received information from an old shipmate of mine, Tom Platt,
of the existence of a small group of islands, among which pearls of
large size are obtained by the natives in unusual abundance. Tom, who
has been out in these seas for some years on board whalers and other
craft, sailed a few months ago in a small schooner, the Zebra, from
Sydney. Both master and crew were rough, lawless fellows, and Tom
told me that he often wished himself clear of them, but they touched at
no place where he could venture to land till they reached the islands I
speak of. Here the master, for his own purposes, at first behaved better
to the natives than he was accustomed to do, as he wanted to obtain
some pigs, cocoanuts, and other provisions. They consequently,
without hesitation, came on board in considerable numbers. Many of
them were observed to wear necklaces of white beads, which the
captain supposed to be made of glass, and to have been obtained from
some previous trader. On examining, however, one of the strings of
beads, what was his surprise to find that they were pearls! Being a
cunning fellow, he kept his discovery to himself till he had obtained all
he could induce the natives to part with, when, though he fancied that
he had made his fortune, he formed the design of kidnapping as many
people as his schooner would hold, as an effectual way of preventing