eflich, dropped anchor in the harbour of Apia.
They were not especially attracted to this place at first, the scenery
being of a softer and less striking character than that of Tahiti, but
as time passed the charm of the place grew upon them more and more,
and finally they decided to make it their permanent headquarters
between cruises. To this end they bought four hundred acres in the
"bush," as the great tropical forests are called, and after making
arrangements for the erection of a temporary cabin during their
absence, they sailed on the steamer _Lubeck_ for Sydney, with the
intention of going on from there for a visit to England.

It was during this stay in Sydney that Mr. Stevenson wrote his famous
defense of Father Damien. When he realized that its publication might
result in a suit for libel and the loss of all he had in the world, he
thought it only right to ask for a vote of the family, for without
their concurrence he would not take such a step. The vote was
unanimously in favour of the publication. When the pamphlets were
ready, his wife, with her son and daughter, set to work addressing
them and sending them far and wide. It was certain that he would not
appeal in vain in such a matter to his wife, for in their sympathies
with the unfortunate and unjustly used they were as one.

Their hopes of going to England, based on the long respite of eighteen
months during which Mr. Stevenson had been free from his old trouble,
were dashed to the ground by a severe cold caught in Sydney and a
return of the hemorrhages. His only chance seemed to lie on the
sea--in fact, the doctor said nothing would save him but the South
Seas--but when his wife went to the water-front to secure passage she
found that, owing to a sailors' strike, only one ship, the _Janet
Nichol_, an iron-screw steamer of about six hundred tons, was going
out. She went to the owners and asked to be taken, but they refused,
on the ground that they didn't want women on board. Nevertheless she
went right on, with pitiful persistence, with her preparations, and
finally had the sick man carried down to the landing-place and rowed
out to the ship. She had won out, but they received her very
reluctantly. And such a ship! It must have looked fine, however, to
Mrs. Stevenson, after the _Equator_, for she writes: "Think of two
bathrooms and only one other passenger besides ourselves, a nice long
wide deck to walk on, steam to run away from squalls with, and no