ate, who had accompanied Mr Meldrum in his quest. "Sure you'd hardly
know the hid ov the baste, if it was cut off, from one grown in
Connemara!"

"Not quite so strong a resemblance, perhaps," replied Mr Meldrum,
smiling. "Still, there's likeness enough to recognise its membership to
the general cabbage family; but, we have yet to try how it tastes!"

"Aye, aye, sorr," said Mr McCarthy. "The proof of the pudden's in the
aiting, sure!"

However, the Kerguelen cabbage stood this test well enough.

It was tried that very day at dinner; and, although tasting slightly
acrid and hot flavoured when raw, on being cooked in the same water in
the copper in which some salt pork had been boiled, it seemed not very
much dissimilar to the native home-grown article commonly known as
"greens."

"I guess, mister, it air downright prime, an' no mistake," said Mr
Lathrope, passing opinion on its qualities; "and more'n that, it fills a
feller up fine!"

"Begorrah, it's jist like bacon and greens!" observed Mr McCarthy.

The majority of the men, too, relished it greatly. It was a long time
since any of them had tasted fresh meat much less vegetables, by reason
of the _Nancy Bell_ not having stopped at any port on her way after
leaving England; so, thenceforth, both on account of its antiscorbutic
as well as from its "filling up" qualities, the plant invariably formed
a leading feature in the dietary scale of the castaways; Snowball never
failing to have a plentiful supply of "cabbage" to cook when meal times
came round, or else he or somebody else in fault for its absence, would
have to "tell the reason why!"

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

COLONEL CROCKETT'S RIFLE.

Captain Dinks was gradually getting better; but his recovery was so very
slow that it would be weeks before he would be able to quit his cot.
His wound had been a severe one, and had narrowly missed his heart.

Under these circumstances, therefore, Mr Meldrum still retained the
position of chief of the party--not only the first mate and Mr Adams
acquiescing in the arrangement, which the poor captain desired; but the
general bulk of the men themselves, who were prejudiced in his favour
from Ben Boltrope's frequent yarns of his ability when an officer in the
navy, requested his continuing to be their leader by acclamation, when
he expressed a wish of surrendering the command as soon as they had
landed safely from the wreck and things had been made comfortable for
the