ific fishes at night-time and sleeps most of the day; its
principal food being flying-fish and _atulti_ or young bonito, which,
always swimming on the surface, fall an easy prey to the keen-eyed,
sharp, blue-beaked bird.

"Ay, Roka," said the trader, "we be near the land, for the _kanapu_
never wandereth far from the shore."

Low as he spoke, Tessa heard him, for she slumbered but lightly. She
rose and sat up, deftly winding her loosened hair about her head.

"Is it land, Harvey?"

"Land is near, Tessa. We can hear the _kanapu_ calling to each other."

"I am so glad, Harvey; for it would be terribly hard upon the men if we
missed Pikirami and had to make for New Britain."

"Ay, it would indeed. So far we have been very lucky, however, yet, even
if we had missed it, we should have no cause to fear. We have a fine
boat, provisions and water, a good crew, and one of the best sailor men
that ever trod a deck in command," and he pointed to the sleeping second
mate.

Then as they sat together, listening to the cries of the sea-birds, and
waiting for the dawn, Harvey re-told to Tessa, for Roka's benefit, the
story of that dreadful boat voyage sixteen years before, in which his
father and five others had perished from hunger and thirst.

"I was but fourteen years of age then, and people wondered how a boy
like me survived when strong men had died. They did not know that every
one of those thirteen men, unasked by my father, had put aside some
portion of their miserable allowance for me, and I, God forgive me for
doing so, took it. One man, a big Norwegian, was so fearful of going mad
with the agonies of thirst, that he knelt down and offered up a prayer,
then he shook hands with us all--my father was already dead--and jumped
overboard. We were all too weak to try and save him. And less than an
hour afterwards God's rain came, as my father had said it would come
just before he died."

Atkins, with a last mighty snore, awoke, sat up, and filled his pipe
again.

"What, awake, miss!" he said with rough good-humour to Tessa. "How goes
it, Mr. Carr?"

"Bully, old man. We're near the land; we can hear some _kanapu_ about
us, so we can't be more than five or six miles away."

"The land is there," said Roka to Harvey, pointing to a dark shadow
abeam of the boat, "and we could see it but for the rain-clouds which
hide it from us."

Harvey grasped the steer oar, the crew were aroused, and in another few
minutes the boat w