THROUGH DEEP WATERS 245 
ered a little next day and thought all was over, but at night 
it returned with great strength, and for four days I could 
get no rest—sick all the time during the day, and on the 
verge of delirium at night. There were four of us, and 
only Mrs. Brown and the Samoan servants to attend to 
us, for we were helpless. What a mercy that Mrs. Brown 
was not taken ill! 
“In the midst of all this care, suddenly, on Sunday morn- 
ing, October 12, Wallis died. I will not attempt to describe 
our house that morning; enough to say that we felt that no 
greater calamity could befall us, and everything seemed dark. 
We buried him on Monday morning—a sad task for me, 
and a heart-rending one for the lonely mother.” 
“On February 13, Mr. Brown left Sydney in a three- 
masted schooner bound for the Solomon Islands, whence he 
hoped to get passage to New Britain. His berth was a deep 
shelf in the quarter of the ship, and in it he found that 
scores of rats and hundreds of large cockroaches had 
made their abode, but uncomfortable and unpleasant as it 
was, he was thankful to be on the way to comfort his 
stricken wife. 
“After a fair run the schooner reached the Solomons, and 
immediately Mr. Brown began a search for means to reach 
New Britain. He heard of a very small craft named the 
‘Lotus,’ which was about to sail, and at once proceeded to 
make arrangements for passage by her to his destination. 
But when Captain Ferguson learned his intention to travel 
by the ‘Lotus,’ he approached Mr. Brown with deep concern, 
and said: 
“ ‘Took here, Mr. Brown, I don’t at all like the idea of 
your going on the “Lotus.” Wait a few days till I get the 
“Avoca” discharged, and I will run you all up to New Brit- 
ain in the steamer “Ripple.” That poor wife of yours must 
be nearly mad with anxiety and trouble, and I cannot bear 
the thought of her continued sufferings. Wait a few days 
