ing the primaeval forest for the grape and fig crop. But as there
were about two thousand and ninety trees to the hectare, and every tree
was joined to its neighbours by vines as thick as a ship's main-mast,
the work proceeded but slowly. Considerable time was lost, also, by each
man dropping his axe twice in ten seconds to kill the mosquitoes which
stung him severely. After a few days of this the founders of New France
decided to return to Europe, and, duly arming themselves, went on board
and interviewed the captain. The captain, MacLachlan, was a Scotchman
by birth, but a naturalised Frenchman. He was also a humorist in a grim
sort of way. On the voyage out he and M. de Villacroix, who was the
temporary Governor, found that the eighty gentlemen colony founders were
a pretty rough lot, who wanted to take charge of the ship. MacLachlan,
who was a man of energy, brought them to reason by tricing seven of them
up to the rigging by their thumbs, and promised to 'deal severely' with
them next time. So when they boarded the _Chandernagore_ and informed
him that he must take them back to France, he answered by hunting them
ashore again, landing six months' provisions, and sailing for Sydney,
according to instructions from the Marquis. On arriving at Sydney
he chartered a schooner, loaded her with provisions and agricultural
machinery, and despatched her to Liki Liki Bay. Rough and cruel as
he may appear, MacLachlan was the right sort of man to master
insubordination and mutiny. I knew the man well, and know that he knew
the ruffianly element he had to deal with in the first lot of colonists,
and dealt with it in a proper and summary manner. Had there been half a
dozen more such men as himself and Villacroix to back him up, the tragic
ending of the ill-fated expedition would have been averted.

But meantime the second contingent was preparing to leave, and the
steamer _Genii_ was bought by the Marquis to load another cargo of
deluded emigrants at Marseilles and Barcelona. Like Villacroix and
MacLachlan, her captain (Rabardy) was a man in whom he reposed implicit
trust; and, indeed, Du Breil seems to have been at least fortunate in
the choice of his sea-leaders to conduct his deplorable colonists to
their Paradise. Under other and less determined men the loss of life
would have been terrible. MacLachlan's letters from Sydney had warned
him of one source of danger--mutiny--and Du Breil decided to send
out with the second conting