e times at the
office of my late owners, to inquire how the matter of the salvage was
progressing, and had been informed on the last occasion that there was
every prospect of a speedy settlement. This had been a week previous to
the obtaining of my certificate. That last week had been a busy as well
as a somewhat anxious one for me; but I was now free; my troubles, so
far as the examination was concerned, were over; and on the eventful
afternoon, when I received the intimation that I had "passed with flying
colours," I mentally resolved to pay another visit of inquiry after the
salvage the first thing the next morning.

When the next morning came, however, my plans for the day suddenly
underwent an alteration; for as I sat in my frowsy lodgings at a rather
later breakfast than usual, devouring my doubtful eggs, munching my
tough toast, and sipping my cold coffee, with an advertisement page of
the _Shipping Gazette_ propped up before me on the table, the following
advertisement caught my eye.

"For Sale, at Breaking-up Price.--The exceptionally fast and handsome
clipper barque _Esmeralda_, 326 tons B.M., A1 at Lloyd's. Substantially
built of oak throughout; coppered, and copper-fastened. Only 8 years
old, and as sound as on the day that she left the stocks. Very light
draught (11 feet, fully loaded), having been designed and built
especially for the Natal trade. Can be moved without ballast. Has
accommodation for twelve saloon and eight steerage passengers.
Unusually full inventory, including three suits of sails (one suit never
yet bent), 6 boats, fully equipped; very powerful ground-tackle;
hawsers, warps; spare topmasts and other spars, booms, etcetera,
etcetera, complete. Ready for sea at once. Extraordinary bargain;
owners adopting steam. For further particulars apply to, etcetera,
etcetera."

Now, this was exactly the kind of craft I had had in my mind, from the
moment when I first thought of purchasing--that is, if the _Esmeralda_
only happened to bear a reasonable resemblance to her description.
This, unfortunately, did not always happen--at all events, in the case
of vessels for sale; my own experience, hitherto, had been that it was
the exception, rather than the rule, for I had found that if indeed the
advertisement did not contain some gross mis-statement, it was almost
always so cunningly worded as to convey an impression totally at
variance with the reality. In this case, however, I was somewh