82 A YEAR WITH A WHALER 



The leaves fell apart at the seventh chapter of 

 Matthew and I read aloud the section beginning: 



" Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with 

 what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; 

 and with what measure ye mete, it shall be meas- 

 ured to you again." 



At the close of the reading the captain called 

 for The Sweet Bye and Bye " and the crew 

 sang the verses of the old hymn solemnly. When 

 the full-toned music ceased, two sailors tilted the 

 gang-plank upwards and the remains of the 

 Night King slid off and plunged into the ocean. 



As the body slipped toward the water, a Ka- 

 naka sailor caught up a bucket of slop which he 

 had set aside for the purpose, and dashed its 

 filth over the corpse from head to foot. Wide- 

 eyed with astonishment, I looked to see instant 

 punishment visited upon this South Sea heatben 

 who so flagrantly violated the sanctities of the 

 dead. But not a hand was raised, not a word of 

 disapproval was uttered. The Kanaka had but 

 followed a whaler's ancient custom. The part- 

 ing insult to the dead was meant to discourage 

 the ghost from ever coming back to haunt the 

 brig. 



