oins upwards to his throat."

Long, long years have passed since that day, but I shall always remember
how Yorke turned to me with a smile when at something George had sung,
the rest of our crew burst into approving laughter.

"What is he saying about me?--of course I can recognise that 'Ioka'
means 'Yorke,'" he said.

"It's extremely personal, but highly complimentary to you. Now, wait a
bit, till they come to the chorus, and I'll try and translate it. There,
he's starting:"

"Miti Ioka, malie toa, toa malohi
Kapeni Iota, arii vaka!
Tule Ioka, fana tonu!
Mate puaka uri, kai tino.
Maumau lava, nofo noa!
Maumau lava, nofo noa t
Halo! Tama, Halo Foe!!!
"E aue l le tiga ina
Ma kalaga, ma kalaga
O fafine lalolagi
E kau iloay i nofa noa
Kapeni Ioka
Halo! Tama, Halo Foe!!!"

"which goes," I said, "as far as I can understand, something like
this--'Mr. Yorke, warrior brave and fighter strong, Captain Yorke,
the sailor captain, leader Yorke who fired so truly, slew the black,
man-eating pigs of savages! Oh, the pity he is single, oh, the pity he
is single! _Pull, men, pull!_ The next verse says that did the world of
women know that such a fine man as yourself was a bachelor, they would
consume themselves with grief."

"I wonder why they should take it for granted that I am a single man,"
he laughed, as he began to fill his pipe; then he added quietly--"I may
be a widower for all I know. I was married in Copenhagen thirty years
ago, and have never seen my wife since, and trust I never may." Then in
a moment he changed the subject, and I took good care not to mention the
matter again.

An hour after leaving the brigantine, we found a passage--narrow but
safe--leading into the lagoon, which was a mile or mile and a half in
width, and but for the one opening in the reef, completely land locked
by four small islands, all low and densely wooded with banyan and other
trees, and connected with each other at low tide. Here and there, at
intervals, were groves of coco-palms, and a few _vi_ trees--the wild
mango of the Western Pacific, growing close down to the beach, which on
the inner side of the lagoon was of bright yellow sand, and presented a
very pleasing appearance.

Chapter IV

A very brief trial of the lagoon, at various depths, soon convinced us
that it contained no pearl-shell, both George and the Rotumah man coming
up e