great number of
vessels all over the South Seas. The majority of these were engaged
in the whale fishery, and, as a rule, were highly successful; others,
principally smaller craft, made long but very remunerative cruises among
the islands of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, trading for coconut
oil, sandal-wood, and pearl shell. A year or two before, an adventurous
trading captain had made a discovery that a vast group of islands named
by Cook the Dangerous Archipelago, and lying to the eastward of Tahiti,
was rich in pearl shell. The inhabitants were a race of brave and
determined savages, extremely suspicious of, and averse to, the presence
of strangers; but yet, once this feeling was overcome by just treatment,
they were safe enough to venture among, provided a good look-out was
kept, and the vessel well armed to resist an attempt at cutting-off.

The news of the wealth that lay hidden in the unknown lagoons of the
Dangerous Archipelago (now called the Paumotu Group) was soon spread
from one end of the Pacific to the other, and before two years had
passed no less than seven vessels had appeared among the islands, and
secured very valuable cargoes for a very trifling outlay. Among those
who were tempted to hazard their lives in making a fortune quickly was
Herbert Shelley, the master and owner of the _Queen Charlotte_.

*****

Leaving Sydney on May 14, with a crew of nine men all told, the
brigantine arrived, thirty-one days later, at Matavai Bay in Tahiti.
Here she remained some days, while the master negotiated with the chiefs
of the district for the services of some of their men as divers. Six
were secured at Tahiti; and then, after wooding and watering, and taking
on board a number of hogs, fowls, and turtle, presented to Captain
Shelley and his officers by the chief Pomare, the vessel stood away
north-west to the island of Raiatea, with a similar purpose in view.
Here the master succeeded in obtaining three fine, stalwart men, who
were noted not only for their skill in diving but for their courage and
fidelity as well.

Among those natives secured at Tahiti was a chief named Upaparu, a
relative of Pomare, and hereditary ruler of the district of Taiarapu.
He was a man of herculean proportions, and during the stay of Captain
Bligh, of the _Bounty_, at Tahiti, was a constant visitor to the white
men, with whom he delighted to engage in friendly wrestling matches
and other feats of strength and endurance. Fl