Providence to be captain of a mud-dredge, for which
position, however, he had probably barely sufficient intelligence.

Feeling very despondent--for I had but nine hundred Mexican and Chilian
dollars to meet a debt of eleven hundred pounds, and had out of this to
keep myself and servant for perhaps six months until I got another start
as a trader, I went on board the _George Noble_ and bargained with her
captain for a passage to Sydney, at which port I knew I could at once
meet with an engagement.

The captain of the _George Noble_ was a very decent and good-natured
German, named Evers. He agreed to take me and my henchman to Sydney for
125 dollars--I to live aft, the boy to go for'ard with the sailors, and
lend a hand in working the ship, if called upon in an emergency. The
vessel, I found, was owned by a firm of Chinese merchants in Sydney, and
carried a Chinese supercargo, but he was the only Celestial on board,
the firm only employing him on account of their having so many Chinese
traders throughout the equatorial islands of the Pacific.

I had not been long on board the _George Noble_ when I discovered that
Evers, who was a fine sailorman and a good navigator as well, was one
of the "pig-headed" kind. His mate, second mate, and carpenter, were
Britishers, as were nearly all the crew, but they and the skipper could
not agree. There was no open rupture--but Evers had the idea that both
his officers and men disliked him because he was a "Dutchman." Perhaps
this was so, but if it was, the officers and men never showed their
dislike at being commanded by a foreigner--they knew he was a good
seaman, and gave him unvarying respect and obedience. Nevertheless,
Captain Evers never spoke a friendly word to any one of his officers,
and when he had to speak to them, he did so in such a manner of strained
politeness and severity, that it was really unpleasant to hear him.

On our way to Sydney we called at various islands of the Gilbert Group,
and finally went into Apaian Lagoon, where the barquentine had to load
one hundred tons of copra (dried coco-nut). During the time I had been
on board, Evers and myself had become very intimate, and, I am glad to
say, through me, he and his officers became quite friendly with each
other. And we all spent many happy evenings together. But I could see
that Evers was extremely jealous of his second mate's reputation as a
South Sea pilot, and he would very often purposely question him as t