 CHAPTER XV and XVI CHIPS AND BUNGS Bound into port, chips and bungs increase their devotion to the bottle, and to the unspeakable envy of the rest, these jolly companions, or the partners as the men called them, rolled about deck day after day in the merriest mood imaginable. But jolly as they were in the main, two more discrete tipplers it would be hard to find. No one ever saw them take anything except when the regular allowance was served out by the steward, and to make them quite sober and sensible you had only to ask them how they contrived to keep otherwise. Sometime after, however, their secret leaked out. The casks of Pisco were kept down the after hatchway, which for this reason was secured with bar and padlock. The cooper, nevertheless, from time to time, effected a burglarious entry. By descending into the forehold, and then at the risk of being jammed to death, crawling along over a thousand obstructions to where the casks were stowed. On the first expedition, the only one to be got at lay among others upon its bilge with the bung-hole well over. With a bit of iron hoop suitably bent, and a good deal of prying and punching, the bung was forced in. And then the cooper's neck handkerchief, attached to the end of the hoop, was drawn in and out, the absorbed liquor being deliberately squeezed into a small bucket. Bungs was a man after a barkeeper's own heart. Drinking steadily until just manageably tipsy, he contrived to continue so. Getting neither more nor less inebriated, but to use his own phrase, remaining just about right. When in this interesting state he had a free lurch in his gate, a queer way of hitching up his waistbands, looked unnecessarily steady at you when speaking, and for the rest was in very tolerable spirits. At these times, moreover, he was exceedingly patriotic, and in a most amusing way, frequently showed his patriotism whenever he happened to encounter dunk, a good-natured square-faced dain aboard. It must be known here by the by that the cooper had a true sailor admiration for Lord Nelson, but he entertained a very erroneous idea of the personal appearance of the hero, not content with depriving him of an eye and an arm. He stoutly maintained that he had also lost a leg in one of his battles. Under this impression, he sometimes hopped to dunk with one leg curiously locked behind him into his right arm, at the same time closing an eye. In this attitude he would call upon him to look up, and behold the man who gave his countrymen such a thrashing at Copenhagen. Look you, dunk, says he, staggering about, and winking hard with one eye to keep the other shut. Look you, one man, hang me, half a man, with one leg, one arm, one eye, hang me, with only a piece of a carcass, flogged your whole shabby nation. Do you deny it, you lover? The dain was a mule of a man, and understanding but little English seldom made anything of a reply. So the cooper generally dropped his leg and marched off with the air of a man who despised saying anything further. Chapter 16 We Encounter a Gale The mild blue weather we enjoyed after leaving the Marquesas gradually changed as we ran further south and approached Tahiti. In these generally tranquil seas the wind sometimes blows with great violence, though as every sailor knows a spicy gale in the tropic latitudes of the Pacific is far different from a tempest in the howling north Atlantic. We soon found ourselves battling with the waves, while the before mild trades, like a woman roused, blew fiercely but still warmly in our face. For all this the mate carried sail without stint, and as for brave little jewel she stood up to it well, and though once in a while floored in the trough of a sea sprang to her keel again and showed play. Every old timber groaned, every spar buckled, every chafed cord strained, and yet spite of all she plunged on her way like a racer. Germans see jockey that he was sometimes stood in the forechains with the spray every now and then dashing over him and shouting out, Well done, jewel, drive into it, sweetheart! Hurrah! One afternoon there was a mighty queer noise aloft, which set the men running in every direction. It was the main to gallant mast. Crash! it broke up just above the cap, and held there by the rigging dashed with every roll from side to side with all the hamper that belonged to it. The yard hung by a hare, and at every pitch, thumped against the cross-trees, while the sails streamed in ribbons and the loose ropes coiled and thrashed the air like whiplashes. Stand from under, and down came the rattling blocks like so many shot. The yard, with a snap and a plunge, went hissing into the sea, disappeared, and shot its full length out again. The crest of a great wave then broke over it, the ship rushed by, and we saw the stick no more. While this lively breeze continued, Baltimore, our old black cook, was in great tribulation. Like most south seamen, the Julia's caboose, or cookhouse, was planted on the larbored side of the folksal. Under such a press of canvas, and with the heavy sea running, the bark diving her boughs under now and then shipped green glassy waves, which, breaking over the headrails, barely deluged that part of the ship and washed clean aft. The caboose house, thought to be firmly lashed down to its place, served as a sort of breakwater to the inundation. About these times, Baltimore always wore what he called his gale suit, among other things comprising a south wester, and a huge pair of well anointed sea boots reaching almost to his knees. Thus equipped for a ducking or a drowning, as the case might be, our culinary high priest drew to the slides of his temple, and performed his sooty rites in secret. So afraid was the old man of being washed overboard, that he actually fastened one end of a small line to his waistbands, and coiling the rest about him, made use of it as occasion required. When engaged outside, he unwound the cord and secured one end to a ring bolt in the deck, so that if a chance see washed him off his feet, it could do nothing more. One evening, just as he was getting supper, the Julia reared up on her stern, like a vicious colt, and when she settled again forward, fairly dished a tremendous sea. Nothing could withstand it. One side of the rotten head bulwarks came in with a crash. It smote the caboose, tore it from its moorings, and after boxing it about, dashed it against the windlass, where it stranded. The water then poured along the deck like a flood, rolling over and over pots, pans and kettles, and even old Baltimore himself, who went breaching along like a porpoise. Striking the taff rail, the waves subsided, and washing from side to side, left the drowning cook high and dry on the after-hatch. His extinguished pipe still between his teeth and almost bitten in two. The few men on deck, having sprung into the main rigging, sailor-like, did nothing but roar at his calamity. The same night, our flying jib-boom snapped off like a pipe-stem, and our spanker-gaff came down by the run. By the following morning the wind in a great measure had gone down, the sea with it, and by noon we had repaired our damages as well as we could, and were sailing along as pleasantly as ever. But there was no help for the demolished bulwarks. We had nothing to replace them, and so, whenever it breezed again, our dauntless craft went along with her splintered prow dripping but kicking up her fleet heels just as high as before. End of CHAPTERS XV and XVI CHAPTERS XVII and XVIII of OMU This Librebox recording is in the public domain. OMU A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas by Herman Malville CHAPTER XVII The Coral Islands How far we sailed to the westward after leaving the Marquesas, or what might have been our latitude and longitude in any particular time, or how many leaks we voyaged on our passage to Tahiti, or matters about which I am sorry to say, I cannot with any accuracy enlighten the reader. German as navigator kept our reckoning, and as hinted before, kept it all to himself. At noon he brought out his quadrant, a rusty old thing, so odd-looking that it might have belonged to an astrologer. Sometimes, when rather flustered from his potations, he went staggering about deck, instrument to eye, looking all over for the sun, a phenomenon which any sober observer might have seen right overhead. How upon earth he contrived, on some occasions, to settle his latitude is more than I can tell. The longitude he must either have obtained by the rule of three, or else by special revelation. Not that the chronometer in the cabin was seldom to be relied on, or was in any ways fidgety. Quite the contrary, it stood stock still. And by that means, no doubt, the true Greenwich time, at the period of its stopping at least, was preserved to a second. The mate, however, in addition to his dead reckoning, pretended to ascertain his meridian distance from bow-bells by an occasional lunar observation. This, I believe, consists in obtaining, with the proper instruments, the angular distance between the moon and some one of the stars. The operation generally requires two observers to take sights, at one in the same time. Now, though the mate alone might have been thought well calculated for this, in as much as he generally saw things double, the doctor was usually called upon to play a sort of second quadrant to Germans first. And what with the capers of both, they used to furnish a good deal of diversion. The mate's tremulous attempts to level his instrument at the star he was after were comical enough. For my own part, when he did catch sight of it, I hardly knew how he managed to separate it from the astral host revolving in his own brain. However, by hook or by crook he piloted us along, and before many days a fellow sent a loft to darner rent in the foretop sail, threw his hat into the air and bawled out, land ho! Land it was, but in what part of the South Seas German alone knew, and some doubted whether even he did. But no sooner was the announcement made than he came running on deck, spyglass in hand, and clapping it to his eye, turned round with the air of a man receiving indubitable assurance of something he was quite certain of before. The land was precisely that for which he had been steering, and, with a wind, in less than twenty-four hours we would sight Tahiti. What he said was verified. The island turned out to be one of the Pomotu or low group sometimes called the Coral Islands, perhaps the most remarkable and interesting in the Pacific. Lying to the east of Tahiti, the nearest are within a day's sale of that place. They are very numerous, mostly small, low and level, sometimes wooded, but always covered with verdure. Many are crescent shaped, others resemble a horseshoe and figure. These last are nothing more than narrow circles of land surrounding a smooth lagoon, connected by a single opening with the sea. Some of the lagoon said to have subterranean outlets have no visible ones, the enclosing island in such cases being a complete zone of emerald. Other lagoon still are girdled by numbers of small green islets very near to each other. The origin of the entire group is generally ascribed to the coral insect. According to some naturalists, this wonderful little creature commencing its erections at the bottom of the sea after the lapse of centuries carries them up to the surface where its labors cease. Here the inequalities of the coral collect all floating bodies, forming after a time a soil in which the seeds carried thither by birds germinate and cover the hole with vegetation. Here and there, all over this archipelago, numberless naked, detached coral formations are seen just emerging as it were from the ocean. These would appear to be islands in the very process of creation. At any rate, one involuntarily concludes so on beholding them. Footnote. The above is the popular idea on the subject, but of late a theory directly the reverse has been started. Instead of regarding this phenomena last described as indicating anything like an active creative power now in operation, it has maintained that, together with the entire group, they are merely the remains of a continent long ago worn away and broken up by the action of the sea. And footnote. As far as I know, there are but few breadfruit trees in any part of the Pomotu group. In many places the coconut even does not grow, though in others it largely flourishes. Consequently, some of the islands are altogether uninhabited. Others support but a single family, and in no place is the population very large. In some respects, the natives resemble the Tahitians. Their language, too, is very similar. The people of the southeasterly clusters, concerning whom, however, but little is known, have a bad name as cannibals. And for that reason, their hospitality is seldom taxed by the mariner. Within a few years past, missionaries from the society group have settled among the Leeward Islands where the natives have treated them kindly. Indeed, nominally, many of these people are now Christians. And through the political influence of their instructors, no doubt, a short time since came under the allegiance of Pomeray, the Queen of Tahiti, with which island they always carried on considerable intercourse. The Coral Islands are principally visited by the pearl-shell fishermen, who arrive in small schooners, carrying not more than five or six men. For a long while, the business was engrossed by Merenhout, the French council at Tahiti, but a Dutchman by birth, who, in one year, is said to have sent to France $50,000 worth of shells. The oysters are found in the lagoons and about the reefs. And, for half a dozen nails a day, or a compensation still less, the natives are hired to dive after them. A great deal of coconut oil is also obtained in various places. Some of the uninhabited islands are covered with dense groves, and the un-gathered nuts which have fallen year after year lie upon the ground in incredible quantities. Two or three men provided with the necessary apparatus for trying out the oil will, in the course of a week or two, obtain enough to load one of the large sea canoes. Coconut oil is now manufactured in different parts of the South Seas and forms no small part of the traffic carried on with trading vessels. A considerable quantity is annually exported from the Society Islands to Sydney. It is used in lamps and for machinery being much cheaper than the sperm, and, for both purposes, better than the right whale oil. They bottle it up in large bamboos six or eight feet long, and these form part of the circulating medium of Tahiti. To return to the ship, the wind dying away evening came on before we drew near the island, but we had it in view during the whole afternoon. It was small and round presenting one enameled level free from trees and did not seem four feet above the water. Beyond it was another and larger island about which a tropical sunset was throwing its glories, flushing all that part of the heavens and making its flame like a vast dyed orial illuminated. The trade scarce filled our swooning sails. The air was languid with the aroma of a thousand strange flowering shrubs. Upon inhaling it, one of the sick who had recently shown symptoms of scurvy cried out in pain and was carried below. This is no unusual effect in such cases. On we glided within less than a cable's length of the shore which was margined with foam that sparkled all round. Within nestled the still blue lagoon. No living thing was seen, and, for ought we knew, we might have been the first mortals who had ever beheld the spot. The thought was quickening to the fancy, nor could I help dreaming of the endless grottoes and galleries far below the reach of the mariner's lead. And what strange shapes were lurking there? Think of those arch creatures, the mermaids chasing each other in and out of the coral cells and catching their long hair in the coral twigs. CHAPTER 18 TEHEDY At early dawn of the following morning we saw the peaks of Tehedi. In clear weather they may be seen at the distance of ninety miles. Hivarhu shouted Waiman too, overjoyed, and running out upon the bowsprit when the land was first faintly described in the distance. But when the clouds floated away and showed the three peaks standing like obelisks against the sky and the bold shore undulating along the horizon, the tears gushed from his eyes. Poor fellow, it was not Hivarhu. Green Hivarhu was many a long league off. Tehedi is by far the most famous island in the South Seas. Indeed, a variety of causes has made it almost classic. Its natural features alone distinguish it from the surrounding groups. Two round and lofty promontories, whose mountains rise nine thousand feet above the level of the ocean, are connected by a low, narrow isthmus, the whole being some one hundred miles in circuit. From the great central peaks of the larger peninsula, or Ohena, Aorai, and Pirohiti, the land radiates on all sides to the sea in sloping green ridges. Between these are broad and shadowy valleys, in aspect each a tempi, watered with fine streams and thickly wooded. Unlike many of the other islands, there extends nearly all round to Hivarhu, a belt of low alluvial soil, teeming with the richest vegetation. Here, chiefly, the natives dwell. Seen from the sea, the prospect is magnificent. It is one mass of shaded tints of green, from beach to mountain top, endlessly diversified with valleys, ridges, glens, and cascades. Over the ridges, here and there, the loftier peaks fling their shadows and far down the valleys. At the head of these, the waterfalls flash out into the sunlight as if pouring through vertical bowers of verdure. Such enchantment, too, breathes over the whole that it seems a fairy world, all fresh and blooming from the hand of the creator. Upon a near approach, the picture loses not its attractions. It is no exaggeration to say that to a European of any sensibility, who for the first time wanders back into these valleys, away from the haunts of the natives, the ineffable repose and beauty of the landscape is such that every object strikes him like something seen in a dream, and for a time he almost refuses to believe that scenes like these should have a common place existence. No wonder that the French bestowed upon the island the appellation of the new Sitheria. Often, says de Bourguin v., I thought I was walking in the garden of Eden. Nor when first discovered did the inhabitants of this charming country at all diminish the wonder and admiration of the voyager. Their physical beauty and amiable dispositions harmonized completely with the softness of their climb. In truth, everything about them was calculated to awaken the liveliest interest. Glance at their civil and religious institutions, to their king divine rights were paid, while for poetry their mythology rivaled that of ancient Greece. Of Tahiti, earlier and more full accounts were given than of any other island in Polynesia, and this is the reason why it still retained so strong a hold on the sympathies of all readers of South Sea voyages. The journals of its first visitors, containing as they did such romantic descriptions of a country and people before unheard of, produced a marked sensation throughout Europe, and when the first Tahitians were carried thither, Omaean London and Autourou in Paris were caressed by nobles, scholars, and ladies. In addition to all this, several eventful occurrences, more or less connected with Tahiti, have tended to increase its celebrity. Over two centuries ago, Kyros, the Spaniard, is supposed to have touched at the island, and at intervals Wallis, Byron, Cook, De Bougainby, Vancouver, La Peruse, and other illustrious navigators refitted their vessels in its harbors. Here the famous transit of Venus was observed in 1769. Here the memorable mutiny of the bounty afterward had its origin. It was to the pagans of Tahiti that the first regularly constituted Protestant missionaries were sent, and from their shores also have sailed successive missions to the neighbouring islands. These, with other events which might be mentioned, have united in keeping up the first interest which the place awakened, and the recent proceedings of the French have more than ever called forth the sympathies of the public. End of chapters 17 and 18, recording by Tricia G. Chapters 19 and 20 of Omu. This slipper box recording is in the public domain. Omu, a narrative of adventures in the South Seas, by Herman Melville. Chapter 19 A Surprise, More About Bembo The sight of the island was right welcome. Going into harbour after a cruise is always joyous enough, and the sailor is apt to indulge in all sorts of pleasant anticipations. But to us the occasion was heightened by many things peculiar to our situation. Since steering for the land, our prospects had been much talked over. By many it was supposed that should the captain leave the ship, the crew were no longer bound by her articles. This was the opinion of our folksal coax, though probably it would not have been sanctioned by the marine courts of law. At any rate, such was the state of both vessel and crew that whatever might be the event, a long stay and many holy days in Tahiti, were confidently predicted. Everybody was in high spirits. The sick, who had been improving day by day since the change in our destination, were on deck and leaning over the bulwarks. Some all animation, and others silently admiring an object unrivaled for its stately beauty, Tahiti from the sea. The quarter deck, however, furnished a marked contrast to what was going on at the other end of the ship. The Maori was there as usual scowling by himself, and German walked to and fro in deep thought, every now and then looking to windward or darting into the cabin and quickly returning. With all our light sails wooingly spread, we held on our way until, with the doctor's glass, Papiti, the village metropolis of Tahiti, came into view. Several ships were described lying in the harbor and among them one which loomed up black and large, her two rows of teeth proclaiming a frigate. This was the Rhine Blanche, last from the Marquesas and carrying at the fore the flag of rear Admiral Dupetit Thouard. Hardly had we made her out when the booming of her guns came over the water. She was firing a salute which afterwards turned out to be in honor of a treaty, or rather, as far as the natives were concerned, a forced session of Tahiti to the French that morning concluded. The cannonading had hardly died away when German's voice was heard giving an order so unexpected that everyone started. Stand by to haul back the main yard. What's that mean? shouted the men. Are we not going into port? Tumble after here and no words cried the mate, and in a moment the main yard swung round when with her jib-boom pointing out to sea the Julia lay as quiet as a dock. We all looked blank. What was to come next? Presently the steward made his appearance carrying a mattress which he spread out in the stern sheets of the captain's boat. Two or three chests and other things belonging to his master were similarly disposed of. This was enough. A slight hint suffices for a sailor. Still adhering to his resolution to keep the ship at sea in spite of everything, the captain doubtless intended to set himself ashore, leaving the vessel under the mate to resume her voyage at once. But after a certain period agreed upon to touch at the island and take him off, all this of course could easily be done without approaching any nearer the land with the Julia than we now were. Invalid whaling captains often adopt a plan like this, but in the present instance it was wholly unwarranted, and everything considered at war with the commonest principles of prudence and humanity. And although on Guy's part this resolution showed more hardyhood than he had ever been given credit for, it at the same time argued in unaccountable simplicity in supposing that such a crew would, in any way, submit to the outrage. It was soon made plain that we were right in our suspicions, and the men became furious. The Cooper and Carpenter volunteered to head a mutiny forthwith, and while German was below, four or five rushed aft to fasten down the cabin scuttle. Others, throwing down the main braces, called out to the rest to lend a hand and fill away for the land. All this was done in an instant, and things were looking critical when Dr. Longost and myself prevailed upon them to wait a while and do nothing hastily. There was plenty of time, and the ship was completely in our power. While the preparations were still going on in the cabin, we mustered the men together and went into counsel upon the folksle. It was with much difficulty that we could bring these rash spirits to a calm consideration of the case, but the doctor's influence at last began to tell, and with a few exceptions, they agreed to be guided by him, assured that, if they did so, the ship would eventually be brought to her anchors without anyone getting into trouble. Still they told us, up and down, that if peaceable means failed, they would seize little Jewel and carry her into Pappity if they all swung for it, but for the present the captain should have his own way. By this time everything was ready, the boat was lowered and brought to the gangway, and the captain was helped on deck by the mate and steward. It was the first time we had seen him in more than two weeks, and he was greatly altered. As if anxious to elude every eye, a broad brimped pita hat was pulled down over his brow, so that his face was only visible when the brim flapped aside. By a sling rigged from the main yard, the cook and Bembo now assisted in lowering him into the boat. As he went moaning over the side, he must have heard the whispered maledictions of his crew. While the steward was busy adjusting matters in the boat, the mate, after a private interview with the Maori, turned round abruptly and told us that he was going ashore with the captain to return as soon as possible. In his absence, Bembo, as next in rank, would command. There being nothing to do but keep the ship at a safe distance from the land. He then sprang into the boat, and with only the cook and steward as oarsmen steered for the shore. Guys thus leaving the ship in the men's hands, contrary to the mate's advice, was another evidence of his simplicity. For at this particular juncture, had neither the doctor nor myself been aboard, there is no telling what they might have done. For the nonce Bembo was captain, and so far as mere seamanship was concerned, he was as competent to command as any one. In truth, a better seamen never swore. This accomplishment by the by, together with a surprising familiarity with most nautical names and phrases comprised about all the English he knew. Being a harpooner and as such having access to the cabin, this man, though not yet civilized, was, according to sea usages, which no no exceptions, held superior to the sailors, and therefore nothing was set against his being left in charge of the ship, nor did it occasion any surprise. Some additional account must be given of Bembo. In the first place, he was far from being liked. A dark, moody savage, everybody but the mate more or less distrusted or feared him. Nor were these feelings unreciprocated. Unless duty called, he seldom went among the crew. Hard stories, too, were told about him, something in particular concerning an hereditary propensity to kill men and eat them. True, he came from a race of cannibals, but that was all that was known to a certainty. Whatever unpleasant ideas were connected with the Maori, his personal appearance no way lessened them. Unlike most of his countrymen, he was, if anything, below the ordinary height. But then he was all compact, and under his sport, tattooed skin, the muscles worked like steel rods. Hair, crisp and coal black, curled over shaggy brows, and ambushed small intense eyes always on the glare. In short, he was none of your effeminate barbarians. Previous to this, he had been two or three voyages in Sydney whalemen. Always, however, as in the present instance, shipping at the Bay of Islands and receiving his discharge there on the homeward bound passage. In this way, his countrymen frequently entered on board the colonial whaling vessels. There was a man among us who had sailed with the Maori on his first voyage, and he told me that he had not changed a particle since then. Some queer things this fellow told me. The following is one of his stories. I give it for what it is worth, premisesing, however, that from what I know of Bembo and the foolhardy daredevil feats sometimes performed in the sperm whale fishery, I believe it is substantial truth. As may be believed, Bembo was a wild one after a fish. Indeed, all New Zealanders engaged in this business are. It seems to harmonize sweetly with their bloodthirsty propensities. At sea, the best English they speak is the self-seaman's slogan in lowering away, a dead whale or a stoveboat. Game to the marrow, these fellows are generally selected for harpooners, a post in which a nervous, timid man would be rather out of his element. In darting, the harpooner, of course, stands erect in the head of the boat, one knee braced against a support. But Bembo disdained this, and was always pulled up to his fish, balancing himself right on the gun whale. But to my story, one morning at daybreak they brought him up to a large lone whale. He darted his harpoon and missed, and the fish sounded. After a while, the monster rose again about a mile off, and they made after him. But he was frightened or gallead as they call it. And noon came, and the boat was still chasing him. In whaling, as long as the fish is in sight, and no matter what may have been previously undergone, there is no giving up, except when night comes. And nowadays, when whales are so hard to be caught, frequently not even then. At last Bembo's whale was alongside for the second time. He darted both harpoons, but as sometimes happens to the best men, by some unaccountable chance, once more missed. Though it is well known that such failures will happen at times, they nevertheless occasion the bitterest disappointment to a boat's crew, generally expressed in curses both loud and deep. And no wonder, let any man pull with might and main for hours and hours together under a burning sun, and if it do not make him a little peevish, he is no sailor. The taunts of the seamen may have maddened the Maori. However it was, no sooner was he brought up again, than harpoon in hand, he bounded upon the whale's back, and for one dizzy second was seen there. Then next all was foam in fury, and both were out of sight. The men sheared off, flinging overboard the line as fast as they could. While ahead, nothing was seen but a red whirlpool of blood and brine. Presently a dark object swam out. The line began to straighten, then smoked round the lager head, and, quick as thought, the boat sped like an arrow through the water. They were fast, and the whale was running. Where was the Maori? His brown hand was on the boat's gun-whale, and he was hauled aboard in the very midst of the mad bubbles that burst under the boughs. Such a man or devil, if you will, was Bembo. CHAPTER XX. THE ROUND ROBBIN, VISITORS FROM SHORE After the captain left, the land breeze died away, and as as usual about these islands, towards noon it fell a dead calm. There was nothing to do but haul up the courses, run down the jib, and lie and roll up the swells. The repose of the elements seemed to communicate itself to the men, and for a time there was a lull. Early in the afternoon the mate, having left the captain at Papati, returned to the ship. According to the steward, they were to go ashore again right after dinner, with the remainder of guise effects. On gaining the deck, German purposely avoided us, and went below without saying a word. Meanwhile, Longost and I labored hard to diffuse the right spirit among the crew, impressing upon them that a little patience and management would, in the end, accomplish all that their violence could, and that too without making a serious matter of it. For my own part I felt that I was under a foreign flag, that an English council was close at hand, and that sailors seldom obtained justice. It was best to be prudent. Still, so much did I sympathize with the men, so far at least as their real grievances were concerned, and so convinced was I of the cruelty and injustice of what Captain Guy seemed bent upon, that, if need were, I stood ready to raise a hand. In spite of all we could do, some of them again became most refractory, breathing nothing but downright mutiny. When we went below to dinner, these fellows stirred up such a prodigious tumult that the old hull fairly echoed. Many and fierce, too, were the speeches delivered, and uproarious the comments of the sailors. Among others, Long Jim, or, as the Doctor afterwards called him, Lacedemonian Jim, rose in his place and addressed the folksal parliament in the following strain. Look ye, Britons, if after what's happened this hearcraft goes to see with us, we are no men, and that's the way to say it. Speak the word, my livelies, and I'll pilot her in. I've been to Tahiti before, and I can do it. Whereupon he sat down amidst a universal pounding of chest lids and cymbaling of tin pans. The few invalids, who as yet had not been actively engaged with the rest, now taking part in the applause, creaking their bunkboards and swinging their hammocks. Pryes were also heard of, hand spikes and a shindie. Out, stun sails! Hurrah! Several now ran on deck, and for the moment I thought it was all over with us, but we finally succeeded in restoring some degree of quiet. At last, by way of diverting their thoughts, I proposed that a round robin should be prepared and sent ashore to the consul by Baltimore the Cook. The idea took mightily, and I was told to set about it at once. On returning to the doctor for the requisite materials, he told me he had none. There was not a flyleaf even in any of his books. So, after great search, a damp, musty volume entitled A History of the Most Atrocious and Bloody Piracies was produced, and its two remaining blank leaves being torn out were, by help of a little pitch, lengthened into one sheet. For ink some of the soot over the lamp was then mixed with water by a fellow of a literary turn, and an immense quill plucked from a distended albatross's wing, which nailed against the bowsprit bits, had long formed an ornament of the folksal supplied a pen. Making use of the stationary thus provided, I indicted upon a chest lid a concise statement of our grievances, concluding with the earnest hope that the council would at once come off and see how matters stood for himself. Right beneath the note was described the circle about which the names were to be written, the great object of a round robin being to arrange the signatures in such a way that, although they are all found in a ring, no man can be picked out as the leader of it. Few among them had any regular names, many answering to some familiar title expressive of a personal trait, or, often or still, to the name of the place from which they hailed, and in one or two cases were known by a handy syllable or two significant of nothing in particular but the men who bore them. Some, to be sure, had, for the sake of formality, shipped under a feigned cognamen, or a purser's name. These, however, were almost forgotten by themselves, and so to give the document an air of genuineness it was decided that every man's name should be put down as it went among the crew. The annexed, therefore, as nearly as I can recall it, is something like a correct representation of the signatures. It is due to the doctor to say that the circumscribed device was his. Folded and sealed with a drop of tar, the round robin was directed to the English consul to Hedi, and, handed to the cook, was by him delivered into that gentleman's hands as soon as the mate went ashore. On the return of the boat, sometime after dark, we learned a good deal from old Baltimore, who, having been allowed to run about as much as he pleased, had spent his time gossiping. Owing to the proceedings of the French, everything into Hedi was in an uproar. Prichard, the missionary consul, was absent in England, but his place was temporarily filled by one Wilson, an educated white man, born on the island, and the son of an old missionary of that name still living. With natives and foreigners alike, Wilson the younger was exceedingly unpopular, being held an unprincipled and dissipated man, a character verified by his subsequent conduct. Prichard's selecting a man like this to attend to the duties of his office had occasioned general dissatisfaction ashore. Though never in Europe or America, the acting consul had been several voyages to Sydney in a schooner belonging to the mission, and therefore our surprise was lessened when Baltimore told us that he and Captain Guy were as sociable as could be, old acquaintances in fact, and that the latter had taken up his quarters at Wilson's house. For us, this boated ill. The mate was now assailed by a hundred questions as to what was going to be done with us. His only reply was that in the morning the consul should pay us a visit and settle everything. After holding our ground off the harbor during the night, in the morning a shoreboat, manned by natives, was seen coming off. In it were Wilson and another white man, who proved to be a Dr. Johnson, an Englishman, and a resident physician of Papiti. Stopping our headway as they approached, German advanced to the gangway to receive them. No sooner did the consul touch the deck than he gave us a specimen of what he was. Mr. German, he cried loftily and not dating to notice the respectful salutation of the person addressed. Mr. German, tax ship and standoff from the land. Upon this the men looked hard at him, anxious to see what sort of a looking cove he was. Upon inspection he turned out to be an exceedingly minute cove with a viciously pubbed nose and a decidedly thin pair of legs. There was nothing else noticeable about him. German, with ill-assumed suavity, at once obeyed the order, and the ship's head soon pointed out to sea. Now contempt is as frequently produced at first sight as love, and thus was it with respect to Wilson. No one could look at him without conceiving a strong dislike or a cordial desire to entertain such a feeling the first favorable opportunity. There was such an intolerable air of conceit about this man that it was almost as much as one could do to refrain from running up and affronting him. So the counselor is calm, exclaimed Navy Bob, who like all the rest invariably styled him thus much to mine and the doctor's diversion. I said another, and for no good I'll be bound. Such were some of the observations made as Wilson and the mate went below conversing. But no one exceeded the cooper in the violence with which he invaded against the ship and everything connected with her. Swearing like a trooper, he called the main mast to witness that if he, Bungs, ever again went out of sight of land in the Julia, he prayed heaven that a fate might be his altogether too remarkable to be here related. Much had he to say also concerning the vileness of what we had to eat, not fit for a dog, besides enlarging upon the impudence of entrusting the vessel longer to a man of the mate's intemperate habits. With so many sick too, what could we expect to do in the fishery? It was no use talking. Come what come might, the ship must let go her anchor. Now as Bungs, besides being an able seamen, a cod in the folksel, and about the oldest man in it, was more over, thus deeply imbued with feelings, so warmly responded to by the rest, he was all at once selected to officiate as spokesmen, so soon as the consul should see fit to address us. The selection was made contrary to mine and the doctor's advice. However, all assured us that they would keep quiet and hear everything Wilson had to say before doing anything decisive. We were not kept long in suspense. For very soon he was seen standing in the cabin gangway with the tarnished tin case containing the ship's papers, and German at once sung out for the ship's company to muster on the quarter deck. End of chapters 19 and 20, recording by Tricia G. Chapters 21 and 22 of Olmoo. This LibriBox recording is in the public domain. Olmoo, a narrative of adventures in the South Seas by Herman Malville. Chapter 21 Proceedings of the Consul The order was instantly obeyed and the sailors ranged themselves facing the consul. They were a wild company, men of many climes, not at all precise in their toilet arrangements, but picturesque in their very tatters. My friend the long doctor was there too, and with a view perhaps of enlisting the sympathies of the consul for a gentleman in distress had taken more than ordinary pains with his appearance. But among the sailors he looked like a land crane blown off to sea and consorting with petrol's. The forlorn rope yarn, however, was by far the most remarkable figure. Landlubber that he was, his outfit of sea clothing had long since been confiscated, and he was now feigned to go about in whatever he could pick up. His upper garment, an unsailor-like article of dress which he persisted in wearing, though torn from his back twenty times in the day, was an old claw-hammer jacket or swallow-tail coat formerly belonging to Captain Guy, and which had formed one of his perquisites when steward. By the sight of Wilson was the mate, bare-headed, his gray locks lying in rings upon his bronzed brow, and his keen eye scanning the crowd as if he knew their every thought. His frock hung loosely, exposing his round throat, mossy chest, and short and nervous arm embossed with pugilistic bruises, and quaint with many a device in India ink. In the midst of a portentous silence the consul unrolled his papers, evidently intending to produce any fact by the exceeding bigness of his looks. Mr. German call off their names, and he handed him a list of the ship's company. All answered but the deserters and the two mariners at the bottom of the sea. It was now supposed that the round robin would be produced and something said about it, but not so. Among the consul's papers that unique document was thought to be perceived, but if there it was too much despised to be made a subject of comment. Some present buried justly regarding it as an uncommon literary production had been anticipating all sorts of miracles therefrom, and were therefore much touched at this neglect. Well, men, began Wilson again after a short pause. Although you all look hearty enough, I'm told there are some sick among you. Now then, Mr. German, call off the names on that sick list of yours, and let them go over to the other side of the deck. I should like to see who they are. So then, said he, after we had all passed over, you are the sick fellows, are you? Very good. I shall have you seen too. You will go down into the cabin one by one to Dr. Johnson, who will report your respective cases to me. Such as he pronounces in a dying state, I shall have sent to shore. The rest will be provided with everything needful and remain aboard. At this announcement we gazed strangely at each other, anxious to see who it was that looked like dying, and pretty nearly deciding to stay aboard and get well, rather than go ashore and be buried. There were some, nevertheless, who saw very plainly what Wilson was at, and they acted accordingly. For my own part I resolved to assume as dying an expression as possible, hoping that on the strength of it I might be sent to shore, and so get rid of the ship without any further trouble. With this intention I determined to take no part in anything that might happen until my case was decided upon. As for the doctor, he had all along pretended to be more or less unwell, and by a significant look now given me, it was plain that he was becoming decidedly worse. The invalids disposed of for the present, and one of them having gone below to be examined, the consul turned round to the rest, and addressed them as follows. Men, I'm going to ask you two or three questions, let one of you answer yes or no, and the rest keep silent. Now then, have you anything to say against your mate, Mr. German? And he looked sharply among the sailors, and at last right into the eye of the Cooper, whom everybody was eyeing. Well, sir, faltered Bungs, we can't say anything against Mr. German's seamanship, but... I want no buts, cried the consul, breaking in. Answer me yes or no. Have you anything to say against Mr. German? I was going on to say, sir, Mr. German's a very good man, but then... Here the mate looked marling spikes at Bungs, and Bungs, after stammering out something, looked straight down to a seam on the deck, and stopped short. A rather assuming fellow here, too, for the Cooper had sported many feathers in his cap. He was now showing the white one. So much, then, for that part of the business, exclaimed Wilson smartly, you have nothing to say against him, I see. Upon this, several seemed to be on the point of saying a good deal, but, disconcerted by the Cooper's conduct, checked themselves, and the consul proceeded. Have you enough to eat, aboard? Answer me, you man who spoke before. Well, I don't know as to that, said the Cooper, looking excessively uneasy, and trying to edge back, but pushed forward again. Some of that salt-horse ain't as sweet as it might be. That's not what I asked you, shouted the consul, growing brave quite fast. Answer my questions as I put them, or I'll find a way to make you. This was going a little too far. The ferment into which the Cooper's paltrunery had thrown the sailors now brooked no restraint, and one of them, a young American who went by the name of Salem, Footnote, so called from the place he hailed from, a well-known seaport on the coast of Massachusetts, and Footnote, dashed out from among the rest, and fetching the Cooper a blow that sent him humming over toward the consul, flourished a naked sheath-knife in the air, and burst forth with, I'm the little fellow that can answer your questions, just put them to me once, counselor. But the counselor had no more questions to ask just then, for at the alarming apparition of Salem's knife and the extraordinary effect produced upon bungs, he had popped his head down the companion way, and was holding it there. Upon the mates assuring him, however, that it was all over, he looked up quite flustered, if not frightened, but evidently determined to put as fierce a face on the matter as practicable. Speaking sharply, he warned all present to look out, and then repeated the question whether there was enough to eat aboard. Everyone now turned spokesman, and he was assailed by a perfect hurricane of gales in which the oaths fell like hailstones. How's this? What do you mean? he cried upon the first lull. Who told you all to speak at once? Here, you men with the knife, you'll be putting someone's eyes out yet. Do you hear, sir? You seem to have a good deal to say. Who are you, pray? Where did you ship? I'm nothing more nor a bloody beachcomber. Footnote. This is a term much in vogue among sailors in the Pacific. It is applied to certain roving characters who, without attaching themselves permanently to any vessel, ship now and then for a short cruise in a whaler. But upon the condition only of being honorably discharged, the very next time the anchor takes hold of the bottom, no matter where. They are mostly a reckless rollicking set wedded to the Pacific and never dreaming of ever doubling Cape Hornigan on a homeward bound passage, hence their reputation is a bad one. And footnote. Retorted Salem, stepping forward piratically and eyeing him, and if you want to know, I shipped at the islands about four months ago. Only four months ago? And here you have more to say than men who have been aboard the whole voyage. And the consul made a dash at looking furious, but failed. Let me hear no more from you, sir. Where's that respectable gray-headed man, the Cooper? He's the one to answer my questions. There's no respectable gray-headed man aboard, returned Salem. We're all a parcel of mutineers and pirates. All this time the mate was holding his piece, and Wilson, now completely abashed, and at a loss what to do, took him by the arm and walked across the deck. Returning to the cabin scuttle after a close conversation, he abruptly addressed the sailors without taking any further notice of what had just happened. For reasons you all know, men, this ship has been placed in my hands. As Captain Guy will remain ashore for the present, your mate, Mr. German, will command until his recovery. According to my judgment there is no reason why the voyage should not be at once resumed, especially as I shall see that you have two more harpooners and enough good men to man three boats. As for the sick, neither you nor I have anything to do with them. They will be attended to by Dr. Johnson, but I've explained that matter before. As soon as things can be arranged in a day or two at farthest, you will go to sea for a three-months cruise, touching here at the end of it for your captain. Let me hear a good report of you now when you come back. At present you will continue lying off and on the harbor. I will send you fresh provisions as soon as I can get them. There I've nothing more to say. Go forward to your stations. And without another word he wheeled round to descend into the cabin. But hardly had he concluded before the incensed men were dancing about him on every side and calling upon him to lend an ear. Each one for himself denied the legality of what he proposed to do, insisted upon the necessity for taking the ship in, and finally gave him to understand, roughly and roundly, that to go to sea in her they would not. In the midst of this mutinous uproar the alarmed console stood fast by the scuttle. His tactics had been decided upon beforehand. Indeed they must have been concerted ashore between him and the captain. For all he said, as he now hurried below, was, Go forward, men, I'm through with you. You should have mentioned these matters before. My arrangements are concluded. Go forward, I say, I've nothing more to say to you. And drawing over the slide of the scuttle he disappeared. Upon the very point of following him down, the attention of the exasperated seamen was called off to a party who had just then taken the recreant bungs in hand. Amid a shower of kicks and cuffs, the traitor was born along to the folksle, where, I forbear to relate what followed. Chapter 22 The Consul's Departure During the scenes just described, Dr. Johnson was engaged in examining the sick. Of whom, as it turned out, all but two were to remain in the ship. He had evidently received his cube from Wilson. One of the last called below into the cabin, just as the quarter-deck gathering dispersed, I came on deck quite incensed. My lameness, which, to tell the truth, was now much better, was put down as in a great measure affected. And my name was on the list of those who would be fit for any duty in a day or two. This was enough. As for Dr. Longost, the shore physician, instead of extending to him any professional sympathy, had treated him very cavalierly. To a certain extent, therefore, we were now both bent on making common cause with the sailors. I must explain myself here. All we wanted was to have the ship snugly anchored in Pappatee Bay. Entertaining no doubt that, could this be done, it would in some way or other peaceably lead to our emancipation. Without a downright mutiny, there was but one way to accomplish this, to induce the men to refuse all further duty, unless it were to work the vessel in. The only difficulty lay in restraining them within proper bounds. Nor was it without certain misgivings, that I found myself so situated, that I must necessarily link myself, however guardedly, with such a desperate company. And in an enterprise too, of which it was hard to conjecture what might be the result. But anything like neutrality was out of the question, and unconditional submission was equally so. On going forward, we found them ten times more tumultuous than ever. After again restoring some degree of tranquility, we once more urged our plan of quietly refusing duty, and awaiting the result. At first few would hear of it, but in the end a good number were convinced by our representations. Others held out. Nor were those who thought with us in all things to be controlled. Upon Wilson's coming on deck to enter his boat, he was beset on all sides, and for a moment I thought the ship would be seized before his very eyes. Nothing more to say to you men, my arrangements are made. Go forward where you belong. I'll take no insolence. And in a tremor, Wilson hurried over the side in the midst of a volley of execrations. Shortly after his departure, the mate ordered the cook and steward into his boat, and saying that he was going to see how the captain did, left us as before under the charge of Bembo. At this time we were lying be calmed pretty close in with the land, having gone about again, our main top sail flapping against the mast with every roll. The departure of the consul and German was followed by a scene absolutely indescribable. The sailors ran about deck like madmen, Bembo all the while, leaning against the taff rail by himself, smoking his heathenish stone pipe, and never interfering. The cooper, who that morning had got himself into a fluid of an exceedingly high temperature, now did his best to regain the favor of the crew. Without distinction of party, he called upon all hands to step up and partake of the contents of his bucket. But it was quite plain that, before offering to intoxicate others, he had taken the wise precaution of getting well tipsy himself. He was now once more happy in the affection of his shipmates, who, one and all, pronounced him sound to the kelson. The pisco soon told, and, with great difficulty, we restrained a party in the very act of breaking into the after-hold in pursuit of more. All manner of pranks were now played. Mast head there, what do ye see? Bald beauty, hailing the main truck through an enormous copper tunnel. Stand by the stays, roared Flashjack, hauling off with the cook's axe at the fastenings of the main stay. Looky out for squalls, shrieked the Portuguese Antone, darting a hand-spike through the cabin skylight. And, he round cheerily men, sung out Navy Bob, dancing a hornpipe on the folk soul. End of chapters 21 and 22, recording by Tricia G. Chapters 23 and 24 of Oumu. This Librebox recording is in the public domain. Oumu, a narrative of adventures in the South Seas, by Herman Melville. Chapter 23. The Second Night Off Pappity Towards sunset, the mate came off singing merrily in the stern of his boat, and in attempting to climb up the side, succeeded in going plump into the water. He was rescued by the steward, and carried across the deck with many moving expressions of love for his bearer. Tumbled into the quarter-boat, he soon fell asleep, and waking about midnight, somewhat sobered, went forward among the men. Here, to prepare for what follows, we must leave him for a moment. It was now plain enough that German was by no means unwilling to take the Julia to sea. Indeed, there was nothing he so much desired. Though what his reasons were, seeing our situation, we could only conjecture. Nevertheless, so it was, and having counted much upon his rough popularity with the men to reconcile them to a short cruise under him, he had consequently been disappointed in their behavior. Still, thinking that they would take a different view of the matter when they came to know what fine times he had in store for them, he resolved upon trying a little persuasion. So on going forward, he put his head down the folksal scuttle, and hailed us all quite cordially, inviting us down into the cabin, where, he said, he had something to make merry with all. Nothing loath we went, and throwing ourselves along the transom waited for the steward to serve us. As the can circulated, German, leaning on the table, and occupying the captain's armchair secured to the deck, opened his mind as bluntly and freely as ever. He was by no means yet sober. He told us we were acting very foolishly, that if we only stuck to the ship, he would lead us all a jovial life of it, enumerating the casks still waiting untapped in the Julia's wooden cellar. It was even hinted vaguely that such a thing might happen as our not coming back for the captain, whom he spoke of but lightly, asserting what he had often said before, that he was no sailor. Moreover, and perhaps with special reference to Dr. Long Ghost and myself, he assured us generally, that if there were any among us studiously inclined, he would take great pleasure in teaching such the whole art and mystery of navigation, including the gratuitous use of his quadrant. I should have mentioned that, previous to this, he had taken the doctor aside, and said something about reinstating him in the cabin with augmented dignity, besides throwing out a hint, that I myself was in some way or other to be promoted. But it was all to no purpose, bent the men were upon going ashore, and there was no moving them. At last he flew into a rage, much increased by the frequency of his potations, and with many implications concluded by driving everybody out of the cabin. We tumbled up the gangway in high good humor. Upon deck everything looked so quiet that some of the most pugnacious spirits actually lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance before morning. It was not five minutes, however, ere these fellows were gratified. Sydney Ben, said to be a runaway ticket of Leave Man, footnote, some of the most promising convicts in New South Wales were hired out to the citizens as servants, thus being in some degree permitted to go at large, government, however, still claiming them as wards. They are provided with tickets, which they are obliged to show to anyone who pleases to suspect they are being abroad without warrant, hence the above appellation. This was the doctor's explanation of the term, and footnote, and for reasons of his own, one of the few who still remained on duty had, for the sake of the fun, gone down with the rest into the cabin, where Bembo, who meanwhile was left in charge of the deck, had frequently called out for him. At first Ben pretended not to hear, but on being sung out for again and again, bluntly refused, at the same time casting some illiberal reflections on the Maori's maternal origin, which the latter had been long enough among sailors to understand as in the highest degree offensive. So just after the men came up from below, Bembo singled him out, and gave him such a cursing in his broken lingo that it was enough to frighten one. The convict was the worse for liquor. Indeed the Maori had been tippling also, and before we knew it, a blow was struck by Ben, and the two men came together like magnets. The ticket of Leave-Man was a practiced bruiser, but the savage knew nothing of the art pugilistic, and so they were even. It was clear hugging and wrenching till both came to the deck. Here they rolled over and over in the middle of a ring which seemed to form of itself. At last the white man's head fell back and his face grew purple. Bembo's teeth were at his throat. Rushing in all round, they held the savage off, but not until repeatedly struck on the head would he let go. His rage was now absolutely demoniac. He lay glaring and writhing on the deck without attempting to rise. Cowed as they supposed he was from his attitude, the men rejoiced at seeing him thus humbled, left him, after raiding him in sailor style for a cannibal and a coward. Ben was attended to and led below. Soon after this the rest also, with but few exceptions, retired into the folk soul, and having been up nearly all the previous night, they quickly dropped about the chests and rolled into the hammocks. In an hour's time not a sound could be heard in that part of the ship. Before Bembo was dragged away, the mate had in vain endeavored to separate the combatants, repeatedly striking the Maori, but the seamen interposing at last kept him off. And intoxicated as he was, when they dispersed, he knew enough to charge the steward, a steady seamen, be it remembered, with the present safety of the ship, and then went below, where he fell directly into another drunken sleep. Having remained upon deck with the doctor some time after the rest had gone below, I was just on the point of following him down when I saw the Maori rise, draw a bucket of water, and holding it high above his head, pour its contents right over him. This he repeated several times. There was nothing very peculiar in the act, but something else about him struck me. However, I thought no more of it, but descended the scuttle. After a restless nap, I found the atmosphere of the folk soul so close, from nearly all the men being down at the same time, that I hunted up an old pea jacket and went on deck, intending to sleep it out there till morning. Here I found the cook and steward, Waimantu, Ropiarne, and the Dane, who, being all quiet manageable fellows, and holding a loop from the rest since the captain's departure, had been ordered by the mate not to go below until sunrise. They were lying under the lee of the bulwarks, two or three fast asleep, and the others smoking their pipes and conversing. To my surprise, Bembo was at the helm, but there being so few to stand there now, they told me he had offered to take his turn with the rest, at the same time heading the watch, and to this, of course, they made no objection. It was a fine bright night, all moon and stars, and white crests of waves. The breeze was light but freshening, and close halls, poor little jewel, as if nothing had happened, was heading in for the land, which rose high and hazy in the distance. After the day's uproar, the tranquility of the scene was soothing, and I leaned over the side to enjoy it. More than ever did I now lament my situation, but it was useless to repine, and I could not up braid myself, so at last, becoming drowsy, I made a bed with my jacket under the windlass, and tried to forget myself. How long I lay there I cannot tell, but as I rose, the first object that met my eye was Bembo at the helm, his dark figure slowly rising and falling with the ship's motion against the spangled heavens behind. He seemed all impatient and expectation, standing at arm's length from the spokes, with one foot advanced, and his bare head thrust forward. Where I was, the watch were out of sight, and no one else was stirring. The deserted decks and broad white sails were gleaming in the moonlight. Presently a swelling dashing sound came upon my ear, and I had a sort of vague consciousness that I had been hearing it before. The next instant, I was broad awake and on my feet, right ahead, and so near that my heart stood still, was a long line of breakers, heaving and frothing. It was the coral reef girdling the island. Behind it, and almost casting their shadows upon the deck, were the sleeping mountains, about whose hazy peaks the gray dawn was just breaking. The breeze had freshened, and with a steady gliding motion we were running straight for the reef. All was taken in at a glance. The fell purpose of Bembo was obvious, and with a frenzied shout to wake the watch, I rushed aft. They sprang to their feet bewildered, and after a short but desperate scuffle, we tore him from the helm. In wrestling with him, the wheel, left for a moment unguarded, flew to leeward, thus fortunately bringing the ship's head to the wind, and so retarding her progress. Previous to this she had been kept three or four points free, so as to close with the breakers. Her headway now shortened, I studied the helm, keeping the sails just lifting, while we glided obliquely toward the land. To have run off before the wind, an easy thing, would have been almost instant destruction, owing to a curve of the reef in that direction. At this time the dain in the steward were still struggling with the furious Maori, and the others were running about, irresolute and shouting. But darting forward the instant I had the helm, the old cook thundered on the folksal with a hand-spike. Breakers! Breakers! Close aboard! Bout ship! Bout ship! Up came the sailors, staring about them in stupid horror. Hall back the headyards! Let go of the leaf forbrace! Ready about! About! We're now shouted on all sides, while, distracted by a thousand orders, they ran hither and thither, fairly panic-stricken. It seemed all over with us, and I was just upon the point of throwing the ship full into the wind, a step which, saving us for the instant, would have sealed our fate in the end, when a sharp cry shot by my ear like the flight of an arrow. It was Salem, already forward hard down. Round and round went the spokes, the Julia with her short keel spinning to windward like a top. Soon the jib sheets lashed the stays, and the men more self-possessed flew to the braces. Main sail hall was now heard, and the fresh breeze streamed foreign after the deck, and directly the after-yards were whirled round. In half a minute more we were sailing away from the land on the other tack, with every sail distended. Turning on our heel within a little more than a biscuit's toss of the reef, no earthly power could have saved us, were it not that, up to the very brink of the coral rampart, there are no soundings. The purpose of Bembo had been made known to the men generally by the watch, and now that our salvation was certain, by an instinctive impulse they raised a cry, and rushed toward him. Just before liberated by Dunk and the Steward, he was standing doggedly by the mizzen mast, and as the infuriated sailors came on, his bloodshot eye rolled, and his sheath-knife glittered over his head. Down with him, strike him down, hang him at the main yard, such were the shouts now raised. But he stood unmoved, and for a single instant, they absolutely faltered. Cowards! cried Salem, and he flung himself upon him. The steel descended like a ray of light, but did no harm, for the sailor's heart was beating against the Maori's before he was aware. They both fell to the deck when the knife was instantly seized, and Bembo secured. Ford, ford with him, was again the cry. Give him a sea-toss, overboard with him, and he was dragged along the deck, struggling and fighting with tooth and nail. All this uproar immediately over the mate's head at last roused him from his drunken nap, and he came staggering on deck. What's this? he shouted, running right in among them. It's the Maori's, sir. They are going to murder him, sir. Here sobbed poor rope-yarn, crawling close up to him. Avast! Avast! roared German, making a spring toward Bembo, and dashing two or three of the sailor's aside. At this moment the wretch was partly flung over the bulwarks, which shook with his frantic struggles. In vain the doctor and others tried to save him. The men listened to nothing. Murder and mutiny by the salt sea shouted the mate, and dashing his arms right and left, he planted his iron hand upon the Maori's shoulder. There are two of us now, and as you serve him, you serve me. He cried, turning fiercely round. Over with them together, then, exclaimed the carpenter, springing forward, but the rest fell back before the courageous front of German, and, with the speed of thought, Bembo unharmed stood upon deck. Avast! with ye, cried his deliverer, and he pushed him right among the men, taking care to follow him up close. Giving the sailors no time to recover, he pushed the Maori before him, till they came to the cabin scuttle, when he drew the slide over him and stood still. Throughout, Bembo never spoke one word. Now forward where ye belong, cried the mate, addressing the sea men, who, by this time, rallying again, had no idea of losing their victim. The Maori, the Maori, they shouted. Here the doctor, in answer to the mate's repeated questions, stepped forward and related what Bembo had been doing, a matter which the mate but dimly understood from the violent threatenings he had been hearing. For a moment he seemed to waver, but at last, turning the key in the padlock of the slide, he breathed through his set teeth. Ye can't have him. I'll hand him over to the consul. So forward with ye, I say, when there's any drowning to be done, I'll pass the word. So away with ye, ye bloodthirsty pirates. It was to no purpose that they begged or threatened. German, although by no means sober, stood his ground manfully, and before long they dispersed, soon to forget everything that had happened. Though we had no opportunity to hear him confess it, Bembo's intention to destroy us was beyond all question. His only motive could have been a desire to revenge the contumely heaped upon him the night previous, operating upon a heart irreclaimably savage, and at no time fraternally disposed toward the crew. During the whole of this scene, the doctor did his best to save him. But while knowing that all I could do would have been equally useless, I maintained my place at the wheel. Indeed, no one but German could have prevented this murder. End of chapters 23 and 24, recording by Tricia G. Chapters 25 and 26 of Omu. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Omu, a narrative of adventures in the South Seas, by Herman Melville. Chapter 25 German Encounters an Old Shipmate During the morning of the day which dawned upon the events just recounted, we remained a little till leeward of the harbour, waiting the appearance of the consul, who had promised the mate to come off in a shoreboat for the purpose of seeing him. By this time the men had forced his secret from the cooper. And the consequence was that they kept him continually coming and going from the after hold. The mate must have known this, but he said nothing, not withstanding all the dancing and singing, and occasional fighting which announced the flow of the peace go. The peaceable influence which the doctor and myself had here to fore been exerting was now very nearly at an end. Confident from the aspect of matters that the ship after all would be obliged to go in, and learning more over that the mate had said so, the sailors for the present seemed in no hurry about it, especially as the bucket of bungs gave such generous cheer. As for Bembo, we were told that, after putting him in double irons, the mate had locked him up in the captain's stateroom, taking the additional precaution of keeping the cabin scuttle secured. From this time forward we never saw the Māori again, a circumstance which will explain itself as the narrative proceeds. Noon came and no consul, and as the afternoon advanced without any word even from the shore, the mate was justly incensed, more especially as he had taken great pains to keep perfectly sober against Wilson's arrival. Two or three hours before sundown a small schooner came out of the harbour, and headed over for the adjoining island of Aimeo or Moria in plain sight about fifteen miles distant. The wind failing, the current swept her down under our boughs, where we had a fair glimpse of the natives on her decks. There were a score of them, perhaps, lounging upon spread bats and smoking their pipes. On floating so near and hearing the modeling cries of our crew and beholding their antics, they must have taken us for a pirate. At any rate they got out their sweeps and pulled away as fast as they could. The sight of our two six pounders, which by way of a joke were now run out of the side ports, giving a fresh impetus to their efforts. But they had not gone far when a white man, with a red sash about his waist, made his appearance on deck, the natives immediately desisting. Hailing us loudly, he said he was coming aboard, and after some confusion on the schooner's decks, a small canoe was launched overboard, and in a minute or two he was with us. He turned out to be an old shipmate of Germans, one viner long supposed dead, but now resident on the island. The meeting of these men under the circumstances is one of a thousand occurrences appearing exaggerated in fiction, but nevertheless frequently realized in real lives of adventure. Some fifteen years previous they had sailed together as officers of the barked Jane of London, a South seaman. Somewhere near the new Hebrides, they struck one night upon an unknown reef, and in a few hours the Jane went to pieces. The boats however were saved, some provisions also, a quadrant and a few other articles, but several of the men were lost before they got clear of the wreck. The three boats commanded respectively by the captain, German and the third mate, then set sail for a small English settlement at the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. Of course they kept together as much as possible. After being at sea about a week, a lascar in the captain's boat went crazy, and it being dangerous to keep him, they tried to throw him overboard. In the confusion that ensued, the boat capsized from the sail's jibbing, and a considerable sea running at the time, and the other boats being separated more than usual, only one man was picked up. The very next night it blew a heavy gale, and the remaining boats taking in all sail made bundles of their oars, flung them overboard, and rode to them with plenty of line. When morning broke, German and his men were alone upon the ocean, the third mate's boat in all probability having gone down. After great hardships the survivors caught sight of a brig which took them on board, and eventually landed them in Sydney. Ever since then our mate had sailed from that port, never once hearing of his lost shipmates, whom by this time of course he had long given up. Judge then his feelings when Weiner, the lost third mate, the instant he touched the deck, rushed up and wrung him by the hand. During the gale his line had parted, so that the boat drifting fast to Leeward was out of sight by morning. Reduced after this to great extremities, the boat touched for fruit at an island of which they knew nothing. The natives at first received them kindly, but one of the men getting into a quarrel on account of a woman, and the rest taking his part, they were all massacred but Weiner, who at the time was in an adjoining village. After staying on the island more than two years, he finally escaped in the boat of an American whaler which landed him at Valparaiso. From this period he had continued to follow the seas as a man before the mast, until about eighteen months previous when he went ashore at Tahiti, where he now owned the schooner we saw in which he traded among the neighboring islands. The breeze springing up again just after nightfall, Weiner left us, promising his old shipmate to see him again three days hence in Papati harbor. Chapter 26 We enter the harbor, Jim the pilot Exhausted by the day's wassail, most of the men went below at an early hour, leaving the deck to the steward and two of the men remaining on duty. The mate, with Baltimore and the Dane, engaging to relieve them at midnight. At that hour the ship, now standing offshore under short sail, was to be tacked. It was not long after midnight when we were awakened in the folksail by the lion roar of German's voice, ordering a pull at the jib halyards. And soon afterwards a hand spike struck the scuttle, and all hands were called to take the ship into port. This was wholly unexpected, but we learned directly that the mate, no longer relying upon the consul, and renouncing all thought of inducing the men to change their minds, had suddenly made up his own. He was going to beat up to the entrance of the harbor, so as to show a signal for a pilot before a sunrise. Notwithstanding this, the sailors absolutely refused to assist in working the ship under any circumstances whatever, to all mine and the doctors in treaties lending a deaf ear. Sink or strike, they swore they would have nothing more to do with her. This perverseness was to be attributed, in a great measure, to the effects of their late debauch. With a strong breeze all sail set, and the ship in the hands of four or five men, exhausted by two nights watching, our situation was bad enough, especially as the mate seemed more reckless than ever, and we were now to tack ship several times closer under the land. Well knowing that if anything untoward happened to the vessel before morning, it would be imputed to the conduct of the crew, and so lead to serious results, should they ever be brought to trial, I called together those on deck to witness my declaration, that now that the Julia was destined for the harbor, the only object for which I at least had been struggling, I was willing to do what I could toward carrying her in safely. In this step I was followed by the doctor. The hours passed anxiously until morning, when, being well to windward of the mouth of the harbor, we bore up for it with the Union Jack at the fore. No sign, however, of boat or pilot was seen, and after running close in several times, the ensign was set at the Misen Peak Union down in distress, but it was of no avail. Attributing to Wilson this unaccountable remissness on the part of those ashore, German, quite enraged, now determined to stand boldly in upon his own responsibility, trusting solely to what he remembered of the harbor on a visit there many years previous. This resolution was characteristic. Even with a competent pilot, the Pappatee Bay is considered a ticklish one to enter. Formed by a bold sweep of the shore, it is protected seaward by the coral reef, upon which the rollers break with great violence. After stretching across the bay, the barrier extends on toward Point Venus, footnote, the most northerly point of the island, and so called from Cook's observatory being placed there during his first visit, and footnote, in the district of Matavi, eight or nine miles distant. Here there is an opening by which ships enter and glide down the smooth deep canal between the reef and the shore to the harbor. But by seamen generally, the leeward entrance is preferred, as the wind is extremely variable inside the reef. This latter entrance is a break in the barrier directly facing the bay and village of Pappatee. It is very narrow, and from the baffling winds, currents, and sunken rocks, ships now and then grate their keels against the coral. But the mate was not to be daunted, so stationing what men he had at the braces, he sprang upon the bulwarks, and, bidding everybody keep wide awake, ordered the helm up. In a few moments we were running in. Being toward noon, the wind was fast leaving us, and by the time the breakers were roaring on either hand, little more than steerageway was left. But on we glided, smoothly and deftly, avoiding the green, darkling objects here and there strewn in our path, German occasionally looking down in the water, and then about him with the utmost calmness, and not a word spoken. Just fanned along thus, it was not many minutes ere we were past all danger, and floated into the placid basin within. This was the cleverest specimen of his seamanship that he ever gave us. As we held on toward the frigate and shipping, a canoe coming out from among them approached. In it were a boy and an old man, both islanders, the former nearly naked, and the latter dressed in an old naval frock coat. Both were paddling with might and mane. The old man once in a while tearing his paddle out of the water, and after wrapping his companion over the head, both fell too with fresh vigor. As they came within hail, the old fellow springing to his feet and flourishing his paddle cut some of the queerest of capers, all the while jabbering something which at first we could not understand. Presently we made out the following. Ah, you penny, ah, you come. What for you come? You be fine for come, no pilot. I say you hear? I say you eat a my-tie, no good. You hear? You no pilot? Yes, you do me. You no pilot tall. I do you, you hear? This tirade which showed plainly that, whatever the profane old rascal was at, he was in right good earnest, produced peals of laughter from the ship, upon which he seemed to get beside himself, and the boy who, with suspended paddle, was staring about him, received a sound box over the head, which sent him to work in a twinkling, and brought the canoe quite near. The orator now opening afresh, it turned out that his vehement rhetoric was all addressed to the mate, still standing conspicuously on the bulwarks. But German was in no humor for nonsense, so with a sailor's blessing he ordered him off. The old fellow then flew into a regular frenzy, cursing and swearing worse than any civilized being I ever heard. You sabime, he shouted. Footnote, a corruption of the French word savoy, much in use among sailors of all nations, and hence made familiar to many of the natives of Polynesia, and footnote, he shouted. You know me, ah? Well, me Jim, me Pilate, been Pilate now long time. I cried German, quite surprised, as indeed we all were. You are the Pilate, then, you old pagan. Why didn't you come off before this? Ah, me sabi, me no, you piratey, pirate. See you long time, but know me come. I sabi, you, you Itamaiti Nui, superlatively bad. Paddle away with ye, roared German in a rage, be off, or I'll dart a harpoon at ye. But instead of obeying the order, Jim, seizing his paddle, darted the canoe right up to the gangway, and in two bounds stood on deck, pulling a greasy silk handkerchief still lower over his brow, and improving the sit of his frock coat with a vigorous jerk, he then strode up to the mate, and in a more flowery style than ever, gave him to understand that the redoubtable Jim himself was before him, that the ship was his until the anchor was down, that he should like to hear what anyone had to say to it. As there now seemed little doubt that he was all he claimed to be, the Julia was at last surrendered. Our gentlemen now proceeded to bring us to an anchor, jumping up between the night heads and bawling out, luff, luff, keepy off, keepy off, and insisting upon each time being respectfully responded to by the man at the helm. At this time our steerageway was almost gone, and yet in giving his orders the passionate old man made as much fuss as a white squall aboard the flying Dutchman. Jim turned out to be the regular pilot of the harbor, a post be it known of no small profit, and in his eyes at least invested with immense importance. Footnote, for a few years past more than one hundred and fifty sail have annually touched at Tahiti. They are principally whale men whose cruising grounds lie in the vicinity. The harbor dues going to the queen are so high that they have often been protested against. Jim, I believe, gets five silver dollars for every ship brought in, and footnote. Our unceremonious entrance, therefore, was regarded as highly insulting, intending to depreciate both the dignity and lucrativeness of his office. The old man is something of a wizard. Having an understanding with the elements, certain phenomena of theirs are exhibited for his particular benefit. Unusually clear weather with a fine steady breeze is a certain sign that a merchant man is at hand. Whale spouts seen from the harbor are tokens of a whaling vessel's approach, and thunder and lightning happening so seldom as they do are proof positive that a man of war is drawing near. In short, Jim the pilot is quite a character in his way, and no one visits Tahiti without hearing some curious story about him. End of chapters 25 and 26 Recording by Trisha G. Chapters 27 and 28 of Omu. This Librebox recording is in the public domain. Omu, a narrative of adventures in the South Seas, by Herman Melville. Chapter 27 A Glance at Papati. We are sent aboard the frigate. The village of Papati struck us all very pleasantly, lying in a semi-circle round the bay, the tasteful mansions of the chiefs and foreign residents impart an air of tropical elegance, heightened by the palm trees waving here and there, and the deep green groves of the breadfruit in the background. The squalid huts of the common people are out of sight, and there is nothing to mar the prospect. All round the water extends a wide, smooth beach of mixed pebbles and fragments of coral. This forms the thoroughfare of the village. The handsomest houses all facing it, the fluctuations of the tides being so inconsiderable. Footnote. The Newtonian theory concerning the tides does not hold good at Tahiti, where, throughout the year, the waters uniformly commence ebbing at noon in midnight, and flow about sunset and daybreak. Hence, the term Tuerar Poe is used alike to express high water in midnight, and footnote, that they cause no inconvenience. The Pritchard residence, a fine-large building, occupies a site on one side of the bay. A green lawn slopes off to the sea, and in front waves the English flag. Across the water, the tricolor also, and the stars and stripes, distinguish the residences of the other consuls. What greatly added to the picturesqueness of the bay at this time was the condemned hull of a large ship, which at the farther end of the harbour, lay bilged upon the beach, its stern settled low in the water, and the other end high and dry. From where we lay, the trees behind seemed to lock their leafy boughs over its bough sprit, which from its position looked nearly upright. She was an American whaler of very old craft. Having sprung a leak at sea, she had made all sail for the island to heave down for repairs. Found utterly unseaworthy, however, her oil was taken out and sent home in another vessel. The hull was then stripped and sold for a trifle. Before leaving Tahiti, I had the curiosity to go over this poor old ship, thus stranded on a strange shore. What were my emotions when I saw upon her stern the name of a small town on the river Hudson? She was from the noble stream on whose banks I was born, in whose waters I had a hundred times bathed. In an instant, palm trees and elms, canoes and skiffs, church spires and bamboos, all mingled in one vision of the present and the past. But we must not leave, little Jewel. At last the wishes of many were gratified, and like an Aeronauts grapnel, her rusty little anchor was caught in the coral groves at the bottom of Papati Bay. This must have been more than forty days after leaving the Marquesas. The sails were yet unfurled when a boat came alongside with our esteemed friend Wilson the Consul. How's this, how's this, Mr. German? He began, looking very savage as he touched the deck. What brings you in without orders? You did not come off to us as you promised, sir, and there was no hanging on longer with nobody to work the ship, was the blunt reply. So the infernal scoundrels held out, did they? Very good, I'll make them sweat for it. And he eyed the scowling men with unwanted intrepidity. The truth was, he felt safer now than when outside the reef. Muster the mutineers on the quarter-deck, he continued, drive them after, sick and well, I have a word to say to them. Now men, said he, you think it's all well with you, I suppose. You wished the ship in, and here she is. Captain Giza shore, and you think you must go too. But we'll see about that, I'll miserably disappoint you. These last were his very words. Mr. German, call off the names of those who did not refuse duty, and let them go over to the starboard side. This done, a list was made out of the mutineers as he was pleased to call the rest. Among these, the doctor and myself were included, though the former stepped forward and boldly pleaded the office held by him when the vessel left Sydney. The mate also, who had always been friendly, stated the service rendered by myself two nights previous, as well as my conduct when he announced his intention to enter the harbor. For myself, I stoutly maintained that according to the tenor of the agreement made with Captain Guy, my time aboard the ship had expired, the cruise being virtually at an end, however it had been brought about, and I claimed my discharge. But Wilson would hear nothing. Marking something in my manner, nevertheless, he asked my name and country, and then observed with a sneer. Ah, you are the lad I see that wrote the round robin. I'll take good care of you, my fine fellow. Step back, sir. As for poor Longost, he denounced him as a Sydney flash gorger, though what under heaven he meant by that euphonious title is more than I can tell. Upon this, the doctor gave him such a piece of his mind that the consul furiously commanded him to hold his peace, or he would instantly have him seized into the rigging and flogged. There was no help for either of us. We were judged by the company we kept. All were now sent forward, not a word being said as to what he intended doing with us. After a talk with the mate, the consul withdrew, going aboard the French frigate, which lay within a cable's length. We now suspected his object, and, since matters had come to this pass, were rejoiced at it. In a day or two, the Frenchman was to sail for Valparaiso, the usual place of rendezvous for the English squadron in the Pacific. And doubtless, Wilson meant to put us on board and send us thither to be delivered up. Should our conjecture prove correct, all we had to expect, according to our most experienced shipmates, was the fag end of a cruise in one of Her Majesty's ships, and a discharge before long at Portsmouth. We now proceeded to put on all the clothes we could, frock over frock and trousers over trousers, so as to be in readiness for removal at a moment's warning. Armed ships allow nothing superfluous to litter up the deck, and therefore, should we go aboard the frigate, our chests and their contents would have to be left behind. In an hour's time, the first cutter of the Rhine Blanche came alongside, manned by eighteen or twenty sailors armed with cutlasses and boarding pistols. The officers, of course, wearing their sidearms, and the consul in an official cocked hat, borrowed for the occasion. The boat was painted a pirate black, its crew were a dark, grim-looking set, and the officers uncommonly fierce-looking little Frenchmen. On the whole, they were calculated to intimidate the consul's object doubtless in bringing them. Summoned after again, everyone's name was called separately, and being solemnly reminded that it was his last chance to escape punishment, was asked if he still refused duty. The response was instantaneous. I, sir, I do. In some cases, followed up by divers explanatory observations, cut short by Wilson's ordering the delinquent into the cutter. As a general thing, the order was promptly obeyed, some taking a sequence of hops, skips, and jumps by way of showing not only their unimpaired activity of body, but their alacrity in complying with all reasonable requests. Having avowed their resolution not to pull another rope of the Julius, even if at once restored to perfect health, all the invalids, with the exception of the two to be set ashore, accompanied us into the cutter. They were in high spirits, so much so that something was insinuated about their not having been quite as ill as pretended. The Cooper's name was the last called. We did not hear what he answered, but he stayed behind. Nothing was done about the Maori. Shoving clear from the ship, three loud cheers were raised, flash Jack and others receiving a sharp reprimand for it from the consul. Good-bye, little jewel, cried Navy Bob as we swept under the bows. Don't fall overboard, ropey, said another to the poor land-lover, who, with Waiman too, the Dane and others left behind, was looking over at us from the folks all. Give her three more, cried Salem, springing to his feet and whirling his hat round. You, Sacredam Raskel, shouted the lieutenant of the party, bringing the flat of his saber across his shoulders. You now keep me still. The doctor and myself, more discreet, sat quietly in the bow of the cutter, and for my own part, though I did not repent what I had done, my reflections were far from being enviable. Chapter 28. Reception from the Frenchman In a few moments we were paraded in the frigate's gangway, the first lieutenant, an elderly yellow-faced officer, in an ill-cut coat and tarnished gold lace, coming up and frowning upon us. This gentleman's head was a mere bald spot, his legs, sticks. In short, his whole physical vigor seemed exhausted in the production of one enormous moustache. Old Gamboge, as he was forthwith christened, now received a paper from the consul, and, opening it, proceeded to compare the goods delivered with the invoice. After being thoroughly counted, a meek little midshipman was called, and we were soon after given in custody to half a dozen sailor soldiers, fellows with tarpolines and muskets. Proceeded by a pompous functionary, whom we took for one of the ship's corporals from his retan and the gold lace on his sleeve, we were now escorted down the ladders to the berth-deck. Here we were politely handcuffed all round, the man with the bamboo evincing the utmost solicitude in giving us a good fit from a large basket of the articles of assorted sizes. Taken by surprise at such an uncivil reception, a few of the party demurred, but all coin-ness was at last overcome, and finally our feet were inserted into heavy anklets of iron, running along a great bar bolted down to the deck. After this, we considered ourselves permanently established in our new quarters. The dews take their old iron, exclaimed the doctor, if I'd known this I'd stayed behind. Ha ha! cried Flashjack. You're in for it, Dr. Long Ghost. My hands and feet are anyway, was the reply. They placed a sentry over us, a great lubber of a fellow, who marched up and down with a dilapidated old cutlass of most extraordinary dimensions. From its length we had some idea that it was expressly intended to keep a crowd in order, reaching over the heads of half a dozen say, so as to get a cut at somebody behind. Mercy, ejaculated the doctor with a shudder. What a sensation it must be to be killed by such a tool. We fasted till night, when one of the boys came along with a couple of kids containing a thin, saffron-colored fluid with oily particles floating on top. The young wag told us this was soup. It turned out to be nothing more than an oleaginous warm water. Such as it was, nevertheless, we were feigned to make a meal of it, our sentry being attentive enough to undo our bracelets. The kids passed from mouth to mouth and were soon emptied. The next morning, when the sentry's back was turned, someone, whom we took for an English sailor, tossed over a few oranges, the rinds of which we afterward used for cups. On the second day nothing happened worthy of record. On the third, we were amused by the following scene. A man, whom we supposed a boson's mate, from the silver whistle hanging from his neck, came below, driving before him a couple of blubbering boys and followed by a whole troop of youngsters in tears. The parrot seemed were sent down to be punished by command of an officer. The rest had accompanied them out of sympathy. The boson's mate went to work without delay, seizing the poor little culprits by their loose frocks and using a retan without mercy. The other boys wept, clasped their hands and fell on their knees. But in vain, the boson's mate only hid out at them, once in a while making them yell ten times louder than ever. In the midst of the tumult, down comes a midshipman, who, with a great air, orders the man on deck and running in among the boys, sets them to scampering in all directions. The whole of this proceeding was regarded with infinite scorn by Navy Bob, who, years before, had been captain of the foretop on board a line of battleship. In his estimation it was a rubberly piece of business throughout. They did things differently in the English Navy.