r'd me as though they had been seamen and I
their captain, and, indeed, by their behaviour so reassured me that my
dread of being butchered vanished, and I carried on the brig as
assured of my personal safety--providing I dealt by them honestly--as
though I had been on board the old _Swan_.

"We sighted several vessels, but, as you may suppose, we had nothing
to say to them. Off the first island we came across I hove the brig
to; the convicts got the long-boat out, and a dozen of them went
ashore to examine and report. Five returned; the remainder had chosen
to stay. We made three of the islands; the natives of two of them were
threatening, and frightened the convicts back to the brig; the third
proved uninhabited--a very gem of an island was this,--and here
fifteen convicts went ashore, and thrice the boat went between the
island and the brig with provisions and necessaries for their
maintenance.

"But it gave me a fortnight of anxious hunting to discover such
another island as the remaining convicts considered suitable. This at
last we fell in with midway betwixt the Union group and the Marquesas;
and here the rest of the felons went ashore, after almost emptying the
brig's hold of provisions and the like. They kept the long-boat, and
left me alone in the brig. Some of them shook hands with me as they
went over the side, and thanked me for having served them so honestly.

"It was in the evening when I was left alone. The sun was setting
behind the island, off which a gentle breeze was blowing. My first
business was to run the ensign aloft, jack down. I then trimmed sail
as best I could with my single pair of hands, and, putting the helm
amidships, let the brig blow away south-west, designing to make for
one of the Navigator Islands, where I might hope to fall in with
assistance, either from the shore or from a vessel. But, shortly after
midnight the brig, sailing quietly, grounded upon a coral shoal, fell
over on to her bilge, and lay quiet. I was without a boat, and could
do nothing but wait for daylight, and pray for a sight of some passing
vessel. All next day passed, and nothing showed the wide horizon
round; but about nine o'clock that night, the moon shining clearly, I
spied a sail down in the south. She drew closer, and proved a little
schooner. I hailed her with a desperate voice, and to my joy was
answered, and in less than ten minutes she sent a boat and took me
aboard."

The South Seaman's narrative en