A NEW CREW. 



requested permission to accompany the others A 

 gruff " "No " was the answer ; follow ed after a mo- 

 ment's consideration on his part, by a more civil 

 refusal, in which he stated to me the reason fcr 

 which he desired to discharge the others. At the 

 same time, he declared himself satisfied with the 

 conduct of all but " Scotch Jack," and ventured 

 upon the opinion, that but for him we would all 

 have enjoyed the outward passage much more 

 than we did. 



It was not without some sinking of the heart 

 that I saw my shipmates take a joyful leave of 

 the Annie. They had no pay to take, and had 

 but seven shillings (not quite two dollars), among 

 the four. Nevertheless they were as jovial as 

 though their pockets were lined with rupees. 



" Give my regards to the consignee and his 

 family, in Port Louis, Captain McDonald," were 

 Jack's last words, as the surf-boat shoved off. 



The returning boat brought on board four green- 

 looking Scotch boys, ranging from fourteen to 

 twenty years of age. They looked at me with 

 evident suspicion, and sat apart in the forecastle 

 at supper, devouring their tea and biscuit without 

 any attempt at establishing a friendship. For 

 this I cared but little, as their acquaintance was 

 little desirable. But their language was a sore 

 thing to ears like mine, unaccustomed to hear the 

 King's English treated disrespectfully. For a 

 while I listened, in the vain hope of understand- 

 ing somewhat of the jargon which they called 



