216 “YACHTING IN MELANESIA. 
east trade-wind, and on one occasion we actually made a minus quantity 
in the 24 hours’ run, so far as actual mileage was concerned, though we 
were in a better strategic position for getting south. Coming from the 
hot tropics, we felt the cold; our blood was thin and malaria insistent; 
supplies were apt to run short and we were perchance but poor expo- 
nents of Christian or even of Spartan fortitude. Captain Bongard 
remained in charge of the ship till 1897, and then he was succeeded by 
the mate, Mr. Huggett, a very old servant of the Mission, whom Mr. 
Hammond eventually succeeded. 
The present Southern Cross arrived in 1903. Originally she had sail 
power as well as steam, but the sails were taken off and the masts 
reduced in number and size. Her tonnage is 500, her speed 12 knots, 
and she cost £21,000. Captain Sinker commanded her for nearly 
ten years and wrote a descriptive account of his first voyage to the 
islands, which is entitled, “By Reef and Shoal.” 
