t comparatively little
difficulty in travelling to the British settlements in the south."

My mother was perfectly ready to agree to my father's proposal; indeed,
she saw the wisdom of remaining where we were until we had become
acquainted with the country, and she dreaded the long overland journey
almost as much as she did a voyage in the boats. All the party,
however, I found, were not of this opinion, though they did not at first
express themselves openly on the subject. The seamen, as is too often
the case when a vessel has been wrecked, now that they had got on shore
did not consider themselves any longer under naval discipline; and
though they were not actually disrespectful to my father, they took but
little pains to carry out his orders. He, having been brought up on
board a man-of-war, was not accustomed to the ways of merchant-seamen,
and considered that they were as much bound to obey him now as before.
The mates, it was evident from their manner, sided with the men, so that
Mudge was the only officer on whom my father could depend for support.
They two on all occasions consulted together. The first point they had
to decide was the position of the proposed settlement, supposing that
the men would willingly assist in forming it. When my father spoke to
the mates on the subject, however, they at once declared that they had
no intention of remaining where they were.

"You see, Captain Rayner, you have your wife and family with you; but
with us it is very different," observed the first mate. "We want to get
back to our families and to civilised life, and see no reason why we
should remain here when we have got a stout boat in which we can easily
make the passage to Sydney. If you'll give us the boat, we've made up
our minds to go in her as soon as we've stretched our legs on shore a
little."

My father replied that he would consider the matter; on which the mate
muttered something which did not reach our ears.

I was shortly afterwards talking over the matter with Mudge. "It can't
be helped, though, I fear," he observed. "If we can't persuade them to
stay, they must go; for we certainly have no power to compel them to do
what they don't wish, and we must therefore depend upon ourselves. I am
very certain that Tommy Peck and Harry will remain faithful; and so, I
hope, will the boatswain and Paddy Doyle, who seems much attached to
us."

"I can answer for Ned Burton," I said; "and, I think, two or thr