s, where ships waited to convey them to the new paradise;
in all, nearly half a million pounds was subscribed. Then away
went emissaries to the southern parts of Italy, where the ignorant
agricultural labourers bit freely and were caught wholesale. In their
case, however, the prospectus varied from that issued in France, which
was specially designed to ensnare small capitalists, tradespeople
and farmers, as well as the poorer peasants. The various religious
fraternities in France, which hoped to benefit financially by
their advocacy, boomed the scheme, and sermons were preached on the
philanthropy of M. le Marquis, who, like Law and Blount, was nothing if
not magnificent. By the time the _Chandernagore_, the first ship, had
sailed from Flushing, elaborate plans were issued of the new city, with
its parks and public buildings, and noble wharves and boulevards aglow
with life and excitement; while the religious wants of the settlers had
not been neglected, for cathedrals and churches figured conspicuously.
Also, it was indicated by a carefully-prepared descriptive pamphlet,
that gold and diamonds and such other things only wanted looking for
in the surrounding islands, where they could be obtained in quantities
sufficient to satisfy the most avaricious.

The _Chandernagore_ carried only eighty colonists, all males, and,
flying the Liberian flag, after a long passage she reached the Lachlan
Islands, in the South Pacific, where sixteen of them elected to stay,
charmed by the beauty of the place and the unconventional manners of
the native women. Of these sixteen, five died from fever, and of the
remainder two were killed and eaten by natives of other islands, and
the rest were rescued by Australian and German trading vessels. The
_Chandernagore_ proceeded on her voyage, and Port Breton was reached
at last. It is on the south end of the great island of New Ireland, and
with, perhaps, the exception of the Falkland Islands, or the Crozets,
or London in the month of November, the most sodden, dank, squashy and
appalling place on the globe. The day after the ship anchored it began
to rain, and, as it showed no signs of clearing up at the end of three
weeks, the captain was besought to look out for another site for the
city where it was not quite so wet. He took them to a better place,
named Liki Liki Bay, near Cape St George, and, after a preliminary orgie
on board, the enthusiastic colonists set to work house-building and
clear