152 ISLES OF SUMMER. 



stud. A substantial palm leaf hat of good quality rests jauntily 

 a little on one side of his head, the body of which is encircled 

 and almost covered with a wide, black ribbon, upon which is 

 stamped in golden capitals, the word " TRiDE2q"T," the name of 

 his yacht. He has on a pair of neat, dark colored, woolen panta- 

 loons, turned up a trifle at the bottom, which, by their length, 

 are suggestive of the probable fact tliiit they once belonged to a 

 man Avho boasted a longer and probably whiter pair of legs. 



He addresses his remarks more particularly to several gentle- 

 men who arrived in the last steamer, with a dignity and gravity 

 calculated to inspire respect and confidence. He insists that 



'' If de gentlemen choose ter go, dare aint no difficulty 'bout 

 der fish — I ken promise yer dat. We'll just anchor der boat at 

 soundings, with her tail to der ocean, when we get whei'e der fish 

 ar. The moment I gets over whar dey ar, you haint got to feel 

 for 'em, but jess pull 'em in. If der sharks don't bother yer, 

 there's no mistake about it. We ken wait till Thursday, 'cause 

 der wind is sou-east now; it will be south to-morrow, and Thurs- 

 day she'll fetch 'round all right. I want to wait till Thursday, 

 'cause I know for sure Thursday." 



'* Is there no danger of accident, Sampson?" 



" Deres no trouble if der boatman don't lose his head. Sam- 

 son has got along so far and never lost his head, thank God. I 

 never had any accident; God has spar'd me thus far; hope I 

 shall alers get along and not lose my head." 



" Sampson, now tell us truly, have you ever studied circum- 

 navigation?" 



" I karnt say honest, I knows dat. I don't claim I ever larned 

 circumnavigation; but I do know for sure that I ken sail der 

 Trident any whar in dese yer waters when any one can, and I 

 don't kar who he is." 



** But how about the sharks, Sampson?" 



