Sketches Afloat with the Whalers 269 



it was that old man. 'Boys,' says he, 'that ain't 

 no native; it's a woman and a white woman at 

 that; and how on earth she got here beats me 

 entirely.' 



"Well, she soon come around to herself, and 

 if ever you see a critter delighted for to see any- 

 body that there critter was delighted for to see 

 us. And the first words she said when she come 

 to was: 'It ain't no dream; you are real. Thank 

 God, I am saved !' 



'"Well, as to that, marm,' says our old man, 

 'of course we'll do anythin' for you that's in 

 our power; but whether you be saved or not, 

 there's different opinions about, but there ain't 

 no doubt of the fact that we are lost." 



The lone woman was the wife of the captain 

 of a whale ship that had been lost with all hands 

 except her on the reef. She had been washed 

 ashore and then had managed to save enough 

 from the wreck to make herself comfortable so 

 far as living was concerned, and there she had 

 remained for five years. 



"Well, it was a good job for us, anyway. When 

 we got to her hut she says to our old man, 'Now 



