ing aboard was to look at the name for
themselves. No doubt they knew the reputation of every pearler. Jensen
did on one occasion exercise his authority to the extent of transferring
some of his own Malay divers to another ship when we were out at sea.

At last everything was ready, and when we sailed for the pearling
grounds, our crew numbered forty-four all told, not including a fine dog
that belonged to the captain. This dog, which played so important--nay,
so vitally important--a part in my strange afterlife, was given to Jensen
at Batavia by a Captain Cadell, a well-known Australian seaman, who had
gained some notoriety by navigating the Murray River for the first time.
Cadell, who was a great friend of Jensen, was himself a pearler. But he
met with a sad end. He was in a pearling expedition in the neighbourhood
of Thursday Island, and among his crew were some of the very Australian
Blacks who in after years proved so friendly to me. Cadell treated these
men very badly, keeping them at work long after the time for their return
home had expired, and one day they mutinied and murdered him whilst he
was asleep. The black fellow who called himself "Captain Jack Davies,"
of whom I shall have more to say hereafter, was amongst the crew at the
time. I obtained this information in Sydney from Captain Tucker, a well-
known Torres Straits pearler. Bruno, Jensen's dog, was something of a
greyhound in build, only that his hind-quarters were heavier.

As you may suppose, my knowledge of seamanship was very limited indeed,
but Jensen interested himself in me, so that I soon began to pick up a
good deal of useful knowledge. He taught me how to take the sun, I using
his old instruments; but I could never grasp the taking of the lunars. On
our voyage out I had no duties to perform on board, but I found much to
interest myself in the beautiful tropical islands among which we threaded
our way; and I took quite a childish delight in everything I saw. It was
really a grand time for me. I constantly wrote home to my mother, the
last letter I forwarded to her being from Koopang. Occasionally we
landed on one of the islands to buy fresh provisions, in the shape of
fowls, pigs, fruit, &c. We then set sail for the coast of New Guinea.
The voyage thence was accomplished without the slightest hitch, the
divers spending most of their time in singing and playing like little
children,--all in the best of good spirits. Their favour