unded ahead. In the daytime, when the sun shone, those even some way
below the surface could be seen by the look-out aloft at a considerable
distance, from the darker colour of the water to that of the surrounding
ocean.

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

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

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

We were now approaching that part of the Pacific in which Tom Platt had
assured us we should find the islands round which pearl oysters
abounded; but, as he could not give us the exact longitude and latitude,
we expected to have to search some time before we found them. He
believed it, however, to be two or three days sail to the northward of
the island on which he had been cast away, and which was laid down
accurately on the chart, and for that island we accordingly steered. On
our course there we sighted a large lagoon island, and, as we approached
the north-west end, a number of canoes came off from the shore. While
at some distance the natives on board them were heard singing; as they
drew near the clamour increased. Now and then they interrupted their
singing by giving way to loud shouts of laughter and violent
gesticulations, as if they had been a party of madmen. Their canoes
were small, being only fifteen feet long, and generally containing three
persons. Each canoe was furnished with an outrigger, as also with a
projecting point, both over the bows and stern, to enable them to get on