282 TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT» 



amid the fast-flowing tears of the great crowd. With 

 multitudinous cries of " Ofa, al-ofa, papalang " ringing 

 in our ears (" Good-bye ; good-bye, white man "), we 

 rounded the point, and, with increasing pace, bore away 

 through the outlying islands for the open sea. There was 

 a strong trade blowing, making the old barky caper like 

 a dancing-master, which long unfamiliar motion almost 

 disagreed with some of us, after our long quiet. Under 

 its hastening influence we made such good time that 

 before dinner Vau Vau had faded into nothingness, 

 mingling like the clouds with the soft haze on the 

 horizon, from henceforth only a memory. 



We were not a very cheerful crowd that night, most 

 of us being busy with his own reflections. I must 

 confess that I felt far greater sorrow at leaving Vau Vau 

 than ever I did at leaving England; because by the 

 time I was able to secure a berth, I have usually drank 

 pretty deep of the bitter cup of the " outward bounder, " 

 than whom there is no more forlorn, miserable creature 

 on earth. No one but the much abused boarding-master 

 will have anything to do with him, and that worthy 

 is generally careful to let him know that he is but a 

 hanger-on, a dependant on sufferance for a meal, and 

 that his presence on shore is an outrage. As for the 

 sailors' homes, I have hardly patience to speak of them. 

 I know the sailor is usually a big baby that wants pro- 

 tecting against himself, and that once within the four 

 walls of the institution he is safe ; but right there com- 

 mendation must end. Why are good folks ashore syste- 

 matically misled into the belief that the sailor is an object 

 of charity, and that it is necessary to subscribe contin- 

 ually and liberally to provide him with food and shelter 

 when ashore ? Most of the contributors would be sur- 

 prised to know that the cost of board and lodging at the 



