old the captain
that I had fallen overboard from another ship, and had been swimming
for many hours. Only the captain could speak a little English--all the
others were Italians. It was an Italian ship.

"I was a long time on that ship. We went first to Rio, then down to the
cold seas of the south, and then to Callao. But the captain never gave
me any money, so I ran away. Why should a man work for naught? By and by
an American whaleship came to Callao, and I went on board. I was put in
the captain's boat. We sailed about a long time, but saw no whales, so
when the ship came to Juan Fernandez I and a white sailor named Bob ran
away, and hid in the woods till the ship was gone. Then we came out
and went to the Governor, who set us to work to cut timber for the
whaleships. Hast been to this island?"

"No," I replied; "'tis a fair land, I have heard."

"Aye, a fair, fair land, with green woods and sweet waters; and the note
of the blue pigeon soundeth from dawn till dark, and the wild goats leap
from crag to crag."

"Didst stay there long, Pakia?"

He rubbed his scanty white beard meditatively. "A year--two years--I
cannot tell. Time goes on and on, and the young do not count the
days. But there came a ship which wanted men, and I sailed away to Niu
Silani.{*} That, too, is a fair land, and the men of the country have
brown skins like us, and I soon learnt their tongue, which is akin to
ours. I was a long time in that ship, for we kept about the coast, and
the Maoris filled her with logs of _kauri_ wood, to take to Sydney. It
was a good ship, for although we were paid no money every man had as
much rum as he could drink and as much tobacco as he could smoke, and a
young Maori girl for wife, who lived on board. Once the Maoris tried
to take the ship as she lay at anchor, but we shot ten or more. Then we
went to Sydney, where I was put in prison for many weeks."

* New Zealand

"Why was that?"

"I do not know. It was, I think, because of something the captain had
done when he was in Sydney before; he had taken away two men and a
woman who were prisoners of the Governor had seen them on board at Juan
Fernandez; they went ashore there to live. But the Governor of Sydney
was good to me. I was brought before him; he asked me many questions
about these islands, and gave me some silver money. Then the next day I
was put on board a ship, which took me to Tahiti. But see, dear friend,
I cannot talk more to-night, thoug