PORT PEGASUS. 367 



last the wind hauled into a favourable quarter, and they 

 were compelled to leave us, the back of our work was 

 broken, only the tedious task of boiling being left to 

 finish. 



Never, I am sure, did two ships' companies part with 

 more hearty good-will than ours. As the ungainly old 

 tub surged slowly out of the little harbour, her worn-out 

 and generally used-up appearance would have given a 

 Board of Trade inspector the nightmare ; the piratical 

 looks of her crowd were enough to frighten a shipload of 

 passengers into fits ; but to us who had seen their per- 

 formances in all weathers, and under all circumstances, 

 accidental externals had no weight in biassing our high 

 opinion of them all. Good-bye, old ship ; farewell, jolly 

 captain and sturdy crew ; you will never be forgotten 

 any more by us while life lasts, and in far other and 

 more conventional scenes we shall regretfully remember 

 the free-and-easy time we shared with you. So she 

 slipped away round the point and out of our lives for 

 ever. 



By dint of steady hard work we managed to get the 

 last of our greasy work done in four days more, then 

 faced with a will the job of stowing afresh the upper tiers 

 of casks, in view of our long journey home. The oil 

 bought by the skipper on private venture was left on 

 ileck, secured to the lash-rail, for discharging at the Bluff, 

 while our stock of water casks were carefully overhauled 

 and recoopered prior to being stowed in their places 

 below. Of course, we had plenty of room in the hold, 

 since no ship would carry herself full of casks of oil ; but 

 I doubt whether, if we had borne a "Plimsoll's mark," 

 it would not have been totally submerged, so deep did 

 we lie. Wooding and watering came next— a different 

 affair to our casual exercises in those directions before. 



