Adventures of the Explorers 129 



In 1819, while the ship Syren was near the 

 Pellew Islands her boats were lowered for whales. 

 The natives, seeing that she was left with but 

 three or four men on board, came off, swarmed 

 over the rail, and drove the ship keepers into the 

 rigging. A recall signal brought the mate's boat 

 alongside, where the mate was able to see the 

 savages dancing in glee over the prize they had 

 captured. Happily for the crew a quantity of 

 tacks had been stowed aloft, and remembering 

 them the mate shouted: 



" Break out them carpet tacks and sow 'em over 

 the deck." 



It was soon done, and the savages, who were 

 wholly unacquainted with such things, were soon 

 dancing to a new tune. With every step they 

 accumulated more tacks in the soles of their feet, 

 and they soon plunged, howling, over the rail and 

 swam ashore. 



A dismal tale was that of the Ceno of Nantucket, 

 commanded by Captain Samuel Riddle. In 

 April, 1825, tn i s sn ip struck on a reef near Turtle 

 Island, one of the Fijis. The crew were received 

 on shore with kindly demonstrations, but a few 



