through the New
Hebrides and Banks Islands; but from Ureparapara onward I was in
strange waters. The Southern Cross was a steamer of about five
hundred tons, built especially for this service, that is, to convey
the missionaries and natives from the headquarters on Norfolk Island
to the different islands. Life on board was far from luxurious; but
there was good company and an interesting library. I had the pleasure
of making some interesting acquaintances, and the missionaries gave me
much valuable information about the natives and their customs. When
the tone of the conversation in the evening threatened to become
too serious, our jovial Captain S. speedily improved matters by
his grotesquely comical sallies. A strenuous life was that of the
missionary who was responsible for the organization of the voyage;
he had to visit the native communities, and went ashore at every
anchorage, sometimes through an ugly surf or dangerous shoals,
generally with overcrowded whale-boats; and this went on for three
months. I had nothing to do, and amused myself by comparing the
boys from the various islands, who were quite different in looks,
speech and character. There were the short, thick-set, plebeian
natives from the New Hebrides, the well-built men from the Solomons,
with their long faces and open, energetic expression, the languid,
sleepy boys from the Torres Islands and the savage Santa Cruzians.

The trip of the Southern Cross was important as an experiment, being
the first with an exclusively native crew. Hitherto the Melanesians had
been considered incapable of any work calling for energy, initiative
and conscientiousness. Captain C. was convinced that this was unjust,
and started on this voyage without any whites except the officers;
the result was most satisfactory. The natives, when carefully and
patiently trained, work quite as well as low-class whites, and have
proved themselves capable of more than plantation work.

It was a bright morning when we entered the lovely Graciosa Bay on
Nitendi. The island had a much more tropical aspect than those of
the New Hebrides, and the vegetation seemed more varied and gayer in
colour. Natives in canoes approached from every side, and all along the
beach lay populous villages, a sight such as the now deserted shores of
the New Hebrides must have afforded in days gone by. Hardly had we cast
anchor when the ship was surrounded by innumerable canoes. The men in
them were all naked,