: The Cruise of the Dainty; Or Rovings in the Pacific by Kingston William Henry Giles - Seafaring life Juvenile fiction; Sailors Juvenile fiction; Schooners Juvenile fiction; Islands of the Pacific Juvenile fiction; Missions Islands of the Pacific Juvenile f

@FreeBooksTue 06 Jun, 2023

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Another book of great adventure, this time in the Pacific, where, at the time, many of the Islanders were, with good reason, ill-disposed towards Europeans, having been tricked so often in various unpleasant ways, even to the point where they would be invited on board to do some bartering, only to be battened below hatches, and then sailed off to Peru to be used as slaves. Our adventurers encounter hostility in places, but on the whole their worst enemies are the weather, and also ill-intentioned crews of vessels such as those described above.

A short book, but a good read or listen, and you'll enjoy it.

THE CRUISE OF THE DAINTY, ROVINGS IN THE PACIFIC, BY WILLIAM H G KINGSTON.

As we walked with our faces forward I was amused by watching old Tom, who, marline-spike in hand, was stropping a block, now inspecting the work of one man, now that of another, and then giving his attention to a lad, seated on the spars stowed under the long-boat, engaged in splicing an eye to the end of a rope.

"Is this all right, Mr Platt?" asked the lad, handing the rope to the mate, who, squirting a mouthful of tobacco juice over the bulwarks, turned it round and round to examine it critically.

"Ay, t'will do, Dick--wants scraping a bit; let's see how you'll serve it," answered old Tom, giving back the rope.

After taking a few more turns my brother stopped. "Do you think, Platt, that, we shall be long delayed by this provoking calm?" he asked.

"Can't say, Cap'en. Known such to last for the better part of a week in these latitudes," answered the mate, coming a few steps aft. "Maybe, though, we'll get a breeze to-morrow, maybe not."

"We are not likely to get it yet, at all events, from the look of the sky," said Harry. "We'll rig the awning and persuade Mary and Fanny to come on deck. They'll be better here than in the close cabin." Just as he spoke Nat Amiel, his young brother-in-law, appeared at the companion-hatch.

"Wanted to see if you were asleep, as we have been below all the morning," he exclaimed. "Well, I declare, it is hot, though it's baking enough in the cabin to satisfy a salamander."

"We'll soon have some more shade, and then ask the ladies to come on deck and enjoy it," I answered. "In the meantime hand up a couple of the folding-chairs, and I'll place some gratings for them to put their feet on."

Nat dived into the cabin, and the mate calling the men aft we quickly had an awning rigged to cover the after-part of the deck. Harry then went below to bring up his wife and her sister. They were by this time pretty well accustomed to a sea life, as three weeks had passed since we left Brisbane in Queensland. My brother Harry, who had been a lieutenant in the navy, had about four years before come out to settle in the colony, being engaged at the time to Miss Mary Amiel, the eldest daughter of an English clergyman. Agricultural pursuits had not been much to his taste, and he had therefore settled himself in Brisbane for the purpose of carrying on a mercantile business. He had made a very fair commencement, and had returned about a year before the time I am speaking of to marry his intended. On his arrival he found that Mr Amiel had died, and that his family, consisting of another daughter and a son, were left in very poor circumstances. Prompted by his generous feelings, he at once invited Fanny and Nat to return with him and his bride to the colony. This they gladly agreed to do, and the whole party forthwith took a passage on board an emigrant ship, which after a prosperous voyage reached the colony.

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