FRIDAY ISLAND 169 



humor serving to amuse those who could not swallow 

 his materialistic ideas. 



Our steamer anchored every evening, as the coast is 

 very dangerous. Several shipwrecked sailors came on 

 board from their vessel, which they had abandoned on 

 a coral reef. 



We arrived, one afternoon, at Somerset, a pearl- 

 shelling station ; and here the passage between two 

 islands was so narrow that one could toss a stone to 

 the shore on each side. 



Somerset was once the principal pearl-shell station 

 on the coast, but most of the traders had moved to 

 Thursday Island, where we arrived shortly after pass- 

 ing Somerset. We went on shore as soon as possible, 

 and took a walk about the island (which was hilly and 

 very stony) to pick out a good camping-ground, and 

 at last found one to our liking under some trees near 

 the shore. Then we went to the store, and had just 

 given the order for our groceries, when a gentleman 

 stepped up, and asked us if we were not Mr. Denton's 

 sons. 



It proved to be Captain Clark, the owner of a pearl- 

 shell station on Friday Island, and he invited us to- 

 accompany him home. Putting our things on board 

 his sail-boat, in half an hour we were at his house, 

 which was perched upon the sand-hills near the sea. 



On going out over the island, the first things to attract 

 our attention were the monstrous hills of the white 



