■March 2, iqxO. 
LAND AND WATER 
GHAYA. 
A Romance of the South Seas. 
By H. de Vere Stacpoole. 
■ Synopsis : Macquart, an adventurer who has spent 
most Of his lite at sea, finds himself in Sydney on his beam ends. 
He has a wonderful story of gold hidden up a river in New 
Guinea and a chance acanaintance, Tillman, a sporting man 
about town, fond of yachting and racing, offers to introduce him 
to a wealthy woolbroker , Curlewis, with a view to financing the 
scheme. Macquart also snakes the acquaintance of Houghton, 
a ivell-educated Englishman out of a job, -who has done a good 
deal of yachting in his time. Curlewis turns down the scheme, 
though Macquart tells his story in a most convincing manner. 
His silent partner Screed believes in it, and unbeknown to 
Curle-ivis, folloivs the three men, asks them to his home, and 
agrees to find the ship and the money, on seeing that Macquart' s 
hidden treasme map agrees with an Admiralty chart. The 
ship is the yawl " Barracuda." Screed, on the morrow, takes 
(he three men over the " Barracuda," with which they are de- 
lighted. Coming away Macquart is overtaken by an old friend, 
one Captain Hull, who hails him as B — y Joe, and accuses 
him of many mean crimes. Macquart gives Captain Htdl 
the slip, but unbeknown to him Hull gets in touch with Screed, 
arid enlightens him on the real character of Macquart. Just as 
the " Barracuda " is about to sail Screed takes Htdl on board 
and unexpectedly introduces him to Macquart as a men}ber of 
the crew. Before the ship is a day out Captain Htdl makes it 
plain to Macquart he is on the look-out for his " monkey tricks." 
CHAPTER IX. 
A V'isioN OF THE Deep. 
THEY passed the latitude of Point Danger with 
the land a hundred and thirty miles to port, 
drawing closer ashore till they reached 25 degs. 
with Great Sandy Island showing away across 
the blue and sparkling sea. 
Never were adventurers more blessed by weather ; days 
of azure and nights of stars brought them steadily north 
with a warm, favourable wind that made life a delight. The 
sails needed scarcely any handling, watches were kept anyhow 
and Macquart, who had promised great things in the way 
■of assistance in working and navigating the boat, " let go 
all holts," to use the expression of Hull, and- retired into 
himself, snoozing most of the day in his bunk below. 
Hull, on the contrary, having promised nothing and com- 
ing on board in fact as a supercargo, did much. He took 
his trick at the wheel, helped in the navigation and slowly and 
surely from the very first day, rose in ascendancy. 
He was an older man than any on board, except Macquart; 
he was a very big man physically and it would seem that he 
possessed some pinch of that iron stuff of the soul that makes 
for ascendancy. However that might be, the fact remains 
that by the time they had reached the Point Danger latitude 
the crew of the Barracuda had shaken themselves down just 
as a chemical mixture precipitates itself. Tillman, who had 
started as captain had, without recognising the fact, all but 
given up his position to Hull. Jacky, the black fellow, owing 
to his practical knowledge of the sea, immense activity and 
quickness in the uptake, had come out of the galley, so to 
speak, and risen to a sphere of usefulness even above Hough- 
ton's. Macquart, who ought to have been leader of the 
whole party, if not captain, had sunk to the bottom, and it 
was the plain truth that here, faced with the actualities of the 
expedition, he appeared to have no more sway upon the 
fortunes of the business than any cockroach crawling in the 
cabin. 
I say " appeared," for Macquart was one of those men of 
whom it is impossible to speak definitely, one of those men 
who are never ro potent or so dangerous as when they appear 
idle or innocuous. 
Things were like this when an event occurred thUt brought 
Hull even more to the forefront and consolidated his position. 
They had passed the latitude of the Cumberland Islands, the 
tail of the Great Barrier Reef lay by computation fifty miles 
to port and ahead all that tangle of' reefs and cays stretchmg 
from the Madelaine Cays to Flinders Reef. The wind that 
had been holding fair and steady suddenly dropped and they 
awoke one morning to find themselves drifting in a glacial 
calm. 
Tillman came on deck at six lr>^ his pyjamas and with a 
tOTv-el over his arm ; he found that ^-cky had left the wheel 
and was busy in tlie gallev. The Barracuda with her beam to 
the swell was rolling slightly to the tune of creaking cordage 
and swinging boom,' the air was still and breathless, and the 
great sun was blazing upon a world of water and sky infinite 
and wonderful in its depths and shades of azure. 
The sea like a great veil of sapphire-tinted satin, heaved 
in wide meadows of swell, there was not a ruffle on its surface 
and all to the east it blazed back the light of the sun like a 
mirror. 
" My word ! " said Tillman. He stood for a moment 
whistling and skimming the horizon with his eyes, when he 
undressed and began to tub. Jacky leaving the galley for 
the purpose of throwing buckets of water over him. 
As he dried, Houghton came on deck followed by Hull. 
" It's a dead flat cam," said Hull, standing with his 
hands clasping the bulwark rails and his gaze fixed across the 
sea, " and I'd sooner see a gale o' wind — I would so — I'd 
sooner see a gale o' wind." 
" What are you croaking about ? " said Tillman. 
Hull ruffled at this and for the first time on the voyage, 
showed irritation. 
" You're a damn longshoreman." said he. " If you ain't 
alive to the meanin' of a ca'm in these waters with the drift 
we've got, you'll maybe liven up when we're aground on 
some b y reef. She's been drifting half the night and 
this thing may last for days. We're a long sight too close to 
that there Barrier to please yours trooly — that's my meanin'." 
Tillman, seeing the other's frame of mind, went below to 
dress whilst Hull, cutting a chew of tobacco, stood with 
his back to the bulwark rail, watching and criticising Hough- 
ton, who was now being swilled by Jacky. 
" I never can understand what you chaps find in that 
sort of thing," said the Captain who was ungiven to super- 
fluous washing. " If a chap was to swill water on me like 
that I'd kick him blind instead of payin' him tebbacca to do 
it same as you pay Jacky. It ain't nach'ral." 
" It bucks one up," said Houghton. 
The Captain, having no answer to this, walked aft. Then 
seeing Jacky coming from the galley with a steaming coffee-pot 
in his hand, he went below, Houghton followed him, and 
breakfast was served. Canned kippered herrings, fried bacon, 
and tomatoes formed the meal. Jacky had baked some rolls 
the night before and there was ship's bread — which nobody 
touched. 
Hull's bad temper vanished before the food. His appetite 
was enormous, and he was proud of it ; Macquart, never a 
great eater, had come from his bunk unshaved and disre- 
putable-looking and was seated before a cup of coffee. Till- 
man and Houghton, fresh from their tub and fiUed with the 
good spirits of youth were talking and laughing and Jacky, 
having served the food, had skipped on deck again on Hull's 
order to keep a look-out for anything he might see. 
The Barracuda, rolling gently to the swell, kept up a con- 
tuiuous whine, cordage, blocks, spars and timbers all lending 
voice. 
" She don't like hanging idle," said Tillman, " but 
there's no use in her grumbling. The glass is steady for one 
thing." 
" Ay, it's steady enough," said Hull. " I'd sooner see 
it dropping a bit, ca'ms like this get on my spine, for why 
I don't know. It's maybe becos I was laid up in one once 
in the old Monterey, a three master, she were, forty days out 
of London bound for Durban. Head winds right to Bathurst 
and a dead flat ca'm on the line. There we lay and rotted 
two weeks, short o' water, and seventeen dozen sharks pokin' 
their noses round her starn !" 
At half-past eleven that day — three bells — Tillman, 
who was rigging up an awning with the help of a spare sail, 
had his attention drawn to Hull who was standing shading his 
eyes with his hand and staring over the sea to port. 
Tillman left his work and looked. A quarter of a mile, 
(jr less, away a strange oily patch was visible on the surface 
of the water and even as he gazed, suddenly, a little burst of 
foam broke the sea surface. 
He had no time to speak before Hull was on him. 
" We're driftin' on to shoals," cried Hull. " Get the 
boat out for towin, it's our only chance." He rushed to 
the cabin hatchway and called to the fellows below, then, 
turning, and helped by Jacky and Tillman, he began lowering 
the boat ; when she was water-borne and floating alongside 
he looked round. 
" Where's Mac ? " he cried. 
" He hasn't come up yet," repUed Houghton. 
Hull turned, went to the cabin companion-way and dived 
below, a sound of shouting and struggling was heard and next 
