the whole of the crew, who were delighted to find that he had escaped
and to have him back among them again; while Harry, as the white boy was
at once called, was received with much curiosity, every one being eager
to know who he was and how he had fallen into the hands of the savages.
As may be supposed, he had not been many minutes on board before he was
rigged out in a shirt and trousers and jacket, with a handkerchief round
his neck, and a broad-brimmed hat on his head. He made no objection to
putting on the dress, which really became him; and Dick Tillard, who
acted as his valet, observed that it was surely not the first time he
had been so rigged out.

Next day, the commander went on shore with a strongly-armed party,
taking Tamaku with him, that he might try and obtain further information
from the natives. The latter showed no signs of fear, being apparently
accustomed to the sight of white men. They inquired what had become of
the boys, and demanded to have them back. Tamaku replied that one of
them belonged to the ship, and that the other desired to remain on
board, so that they could not be given up; but the English commander
would make a present to them if they would inform him honestly how they
came to have the white boy among them. After this, by Tamaku's account,
they had a long palaver, when the old chief, stepping forward, said that
he was ready to declare the truth: that some seven years before, as he
and his people were on board a large canoe on their way to this island,
they had fallen in with an English boat containing several men and a
little boy; but the men had all died; and the little boy had been taken
care of, and had lived with them ever since.

Tamaku had his suspicions that the men had been put to death; however,
it was not worth while pressing the matter home on the chief, as, of
course, he would have denied it.

The commander having finished his survey of the island, and obtained all
the information respecting the boy which he could collect, we again made
sail and stood to the westward.

CHAPTER THREE.

HARRY A MEMBER OF OUR MESS--HE RAPIDLY IMPROVES--ANCHOR OFF A VOLCANIC
ISLAND--OUR BOAT-CRUISE ROUND THE ISLAND--CHASE A WHALER--A HURRICANE--
RUN BEFORE IT--DRIVEN ON AN ISLAND--BOAT DAMAGED--FIND COCOA-NUTS--
SEARCH FOR FOOD--THE BIRD ISLAND--WE FORM A CAMP, AND GO TO SLEEP.

I must not stop to describe our run to the westward, the islands we
sighted, the narrow escapes we