4 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



all, so that mayhap the illusions of others may be put to 

 the test ? 



Not that it is good or becoming that many should 

 attempt the part of the Beachcomber. All cannot play 

 it who would. Few can be indifferent to that which men 

 commonly prize. All are not free to test touchy problems 

 with the acid of experience. Besides, there are not enough 

 thoughtful islands to go round. Only for the few are there 

 ideal or even convenient scenes for those who, while per- 

 ceiving some of the charms of solitude, are at the same 

 time compelled by circumstances ever and anon to ad- 

 minister to their favourite theories resounding smacks, 

 making them jump to the practical necessities of the case. 



Here then I come to a point at which frankness is 

 necessary. In these pages there will be an endeavour to 

 refrain from egotism, and yet how may one who lives a 

 lonesome life on an island and who presumes to write its 

 history evade that duty ? My chief desire is to set down in 

 plain language the sobrieties of everyday occurrences — the 

 unpretentious homilies of an unpretentious man — one whose 

 mental bent enabled him to take but a superficial view of 

 most of the large, heavy and important aspects of life, but 

 who has found light in things and subjects homely, slight 

 and casual ; who perhaps has queer views on the pursuit of 

 happiness, and who above all has an inordinate passion for 

 freedom and fresh air. 



Moreover, these chronicles really have to do with the 

 lives of two people — not youthful enthusiasts, but beings who 

 had arrived at an age when many of the minor romances 

 are of the past. Whosoever looks for the relation of sen- 

 sational adventures, exciting situations, or even humorous 

 predicaments, will assuredly be disappointed. Possibly 

 there may be something to interest those who wish to learn 

 a few of the details of the foundation of a home in tropical 

 Australia ; and to understand the conditions of life here, 

 not as they affect the man of independence who seeks to 

 enlarge his fortune, nor the settler who in the sweat of his 

 face has to eat bread, but as they affect one to whom has 



