ll----"

"Sh!" said the Greek warningly as Barry's head appeared above the rail,
and both he and the second mate turned away and busied themselves with
their duties.

Telling the steward to see that the hands had dinner a little earlier
than usual, Rawlings called Barry, the second mate, and the boatswain
below to discuss their future operations. In the hold were two large
boats which had been bought in Sydney, with pumping gear and diving
suits, and it was decided to at once hoist the former out, though as
the water appeared to be so shallow it was not thought likely that the
latter would be used, the natives asserting that they could get more
shell by diving in their own fashion. Barry, from his previous
experience of pearl-shelling in the Paumotus, was to have practically
the entire control of the natives and charge of the boats, and the
choice of a permanent anchorage was also to be left to him, and also
the selection of a site for the shore station, where houses were to be
built by the native crew, so that they might live on shore when bad
weather prevented them from diving. A quarter of a mile from where the
brig lay anchored was a sandbank covered with a low, dense scrub about
three feet high. The beach was the haunt and laying-place of huge
green turtle, and the scrub the nesting-ground of countless myriads of
sea birds. The spot at once suggested itself to Barry as being a
suitable place for "rotting out," _i.e._, allowing the pearl oysters to
be exposed to the sun till they opened and could be cleaned. Here
Rawlings, Barradas, or the Greek could receive the shell from the
boats, spread it out to "rot," search for the pearls within, and then
send it off to the ship to be further cleansed, weighed, and packed in
boxes, timber for making which had been brought from Sydney for the
purpose.

But Barry, being of the opinion that a better anchorage could be found
off the largest island on the western side, which was also well
timbered, and would be best suitable for a shore station, suggested
that he should make an examination of the place.

"It is twenty miles away, and will take you two days," said Rawlings;
"why cannot we stay where we are? Besides that, the big island is
inhabited, so Gurden said, and the natives are a lot of savages. Why
can't we make our station here on the south-east islet?"

"For several reasons, sir," replied Barry. "In the first place we
shall have to study our native divers.