268 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



gleaming eyes far up in the tree-tops at night, and 

 he was sure that it would be feasible to snare a 

 young one for zoo or sideshow. His companions, 

 who had spent weary hours in making imitation 

 dragon spoor and hoisting into the trees perforated 

 cans containing lighted candles, restrained their 

 heartless glee long enough to let him place the 

 proposition seriously before Barnum and others. 

 In 1880 August Gissler was a sailor aboard a 

 ship taking Portuguese immigrants from the 

 Azores to Hawaii to work on the plantations. Just 

 after they rounded the Horn, the chief engineer 

 was disabled in a storm, and the condenser, upon 

 which the immigrants were dependent for water, 

 broke down. Gissler had had some experience in 

 steam and volunteered to try his hand on the ma- 

 chine. After two days and nights of hard work, 

 he got it into some sort of shape, so that it was not 

 necessary to put in anywhere for water. One of 

 the Portuguese offered to help him in the daily 

 task of filling the bottles, which the thirsty steerage 

 passengers brought to the door. The two men 

 amused themselves with learning each other's lan- 

 guage, and with the aid of a dictionary, were get- 

 ting on famously long before they reached their 

 destination. One day the Portuguese told a story 

 that his grandfather had left to him in manuscript, 

 concerning a treasure that was buried on a Pacific 

 island, called Las Palmas. The grandfather had 

 helped to bury it when he was one of the crew of a 

 Portuguese freebooter called Benito. Gissler 

 copied the manuscript, and kept it as a curiosity. 



