ged native mat which was
spread over the bottom boards for'ard. They had evidently spent the
night on shore, for some of them, who were wearing cloth caps, had made
themselves peaked sunshades of plaited green coco-nut leaves, which were
tied round their heads, native-fashion. Lying amidships was a good-sized
water-breaker; and one of the gang, a little, hooknosed ruffian, with a
villainous face and wearing a filthy print shirt with the tails outside
his pants, kept tapping it with a piece of wood to show us by the hollow
sound that it was empty.

'Pass it up on deck, you monkey-faced swine,' said Alan. 'Why didn't you
fill it when you were ashore?'

'We no finda water,' said the leader; 'we looka two, tree day--no
finda, and too many -------- nigger on shore shoota us all the time
witha-bow-anda-arra.'

'Well, you've got some guns there, I see. Couldn't you keep the niggers
off while a couple of you filled the breaker?' I asked. 'And there's
plenty of water on Pentecost, I believe.'

He shrugged his shoulders. 'Of what-a good the gun? We no have the
cartridge. Perhaps you give some--feefty, twenty, ten, eh?'

Alan, who was a bit of a humorist, answered that we would give him as
many cartridges as he wanted, if he gave us all the rifles he had in the
boat in exchange.

A scowl--which he tried to twist into a smile--flitted across his face,
and he turned his head away.

Giving the crowd in the boat a long line, we veered them astern, and
as the breeze was now freshening, the cutter slipping through the
water pretty fast, and we felt safe, Hannah, Alan and myself turned our
undivided attention to our visitor. He was a tall, squarely-built fellow
of about fifty years of age, with a thick stubble of iron-grey beard
covering his cheeks and chin, and his forehead and neck were burnt to
the colour of dark leather by the rays of a tropic sun. He was dressed
in a pea-jacket and dungaree pants, but had no boots.

'Sit down,' I said, c and tell us what we can do for you. But take a
glass of grog first.'

He drank the liquor eagerly, first bowing to Mrs Hannah and then to us
all in turn, and at the same time taking a sweeping glance along the
deck at our crew, who were grouped for'ard. As he raised his hand to his
mouth I saw that the back of it was much tattooed.

'Where did you lose your ship?' I asked.

'Astrolaba Reefa,' he answered quickly, 'three hundreda mila to
south-a-ward.'

'What was her name?'

'The _A