298 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



swerved swiftly downwards. The retreat was a second too 

 late, for Tom had seized the harpoon lying athwart the 

 boat, and though the fish appeared through a fathom and 

 a half of water, a vague, fleeting, contorted shadow, he 

 reached it. The barbed point passed through it, carrying a 

 foot or two of the line, and a 3<D-pounder was added to 

 our catch at one stroke and without a tremor of excitement 

 on Tom's part. 



He sailed his punt 12 feet long and 4 feet wide 

 6 miles, loaded with eight adults, eight piccaninnies, five 

 dogs, a cat, blankets for the crowd, and all the frowsy 

 miscellanea of a black's camp. It was not a boatload that 

 landed on the beach : it was a procession. But Tom 

 would go to sea on a chip. His skill as a sailor of small 

 boats is largely a manifestation of characteristic caution, 

 his precept being " Subpose big seas come one, one all 

 right. Subpose come two, two look out ! " 



"LITTLE JINNY" 

 In Life and in Death 



She was called "Little Jinny" to distinguish her from 

 another of the blacks about the place a great, good- 

 natured, giggling creature who laughs perpetually and 

 grows ever fatter. There was nothing in common between 

 the two. Indeed they frequently had differences, for 

 "Jinny" proper is industrious, obliging, cheerful, and full of 

 fun, while she, " Little Jinny," was silent, sulky, and ever 

 averse from toil. 



Tom, her man, alternately petted and beat her. She, 

 no doubt, deserved both, for she was proud and haughty 

 for a black gin, and as venomous at times as a scorpion. 

 His hand is heavy, and when he lifted it in anger poor 

 " Little Jinny " suffered but suffered in silence. Her chas- 

 tisements were not frequent, but they seemed to increase 

 her loyalty towards her lord and master. 



From a European standpoint, " Little Jinny " had little of 



