350 MORE CRUISING AFTER PIRATES. 



weather-beaten old Master, who had been forty years 

 at sea, wanted to have her ; he was sure he could rear 

 her. Others were equally anxious to " bring her up." 

 What a pet she would make! The doctor laughed 

 at all the professions of ability which came from so 

 many rough old tars, and sent on shore by the Chinese 

 bumboat-man to see if a more effective nurse could 

 not be obtained. In a short time he returned with a 

 Chiaese woman, who, for a small sum, agreed to take care 

 of the wee thing. Every Saturday while we lay about 

 the river blockading Canton, the baby was brought on 

 board and passed about the ship, whose property it 

 was now considered. On our return to Hong-Kong, the 

 child was given over to the Sisters of Mercy there ; 

 and on the vessel leaving the station for England, a 

 subscription was got up, and a good sum raised for 

 " our " prot^g^e, who, at the same time, was christened 

 Victoria Nankin. 



Five years after this, in 1862, 1 again returned to 

 the East, and the first thing I inquired about, on reach- 

 ing Hong-Kong, was the baby, but the poor forsaken 

 little thing had gone to a better world some two years 

 before. It is possible this child was purposely put in 

 our way, and also that it was its own mother we got to 

 nurse it, and that she was delighted at her offspring 



