Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 85.djvu/214

210 Fortunately, Mr. Charles Hedley, of Sydney, the distinguished student of coral reefs, had in a measure prepared us for disappointment and had kindly told us of the clear blue ocean water and rich coral reefs surrounding the Murray Islands 120 miles from Thursday Island, within 5 miles of the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef and 75 miles south of the coast of New Guinea.

To the Murray Islands therefore we saw we must go with all speed, a feat, however, somewhat easier to plan that to accomplish, for in the intervening region were hundreds of uncharted coral reefs, and of all the fleet of schooners at anchor in Thursday Island harbor but one would venture to undertake the hazard of the voyage.

No sooner did the owner of this daring craft agree to take us, however, than he and his vessel disappeared in the night, leaving us stranded upon Thursday Island.

In response to kind letters of introduction from the British Ambassador Lord Bryce, the officers of the Australian government were most cordial in their efforts in our behalf, and never did we appreciate their generous aid more deeply than in the present emergency, for at the request of the Honorable W. M. Lee-Bryce, Esq., resident of Thursday Island, Messrs. Arthur and Hockings permitted the use of their power, schooner Kestrel to transport Messrs. Clark, Grosse, Harvey, Potts and Tennent to Darnley Island only 25 miles from the Murray Islands.

In the meantime, Mr. Mills and the director of the expedition set out to sea in a small launch to search for the truant schooner which we finally found snugly anchored in the lee of the peak of a beautiful palm-clad island within 25 miles of Endeavor Strait.

The "recapture" of the schooner was speedily effected and soon we were scudding over the waters toward the elusive Murray Islands. Our crew were black, very black, and each man's nose was pierced so as to confer as romanesque an outline as it is possible to attain with an originally negroid nasal organ. Moreover, the captain's ears were slashed and torn in a manner to delight the heart of a rat-catching terrier. His weather-beaten face bore many a scar, and one eye seemed to have seen better days, but more perfect discipline one never saw maintained upon a schooner than that enforced by our erstwhile head-hunting commander. They sprang to obey his almost whispered orders with an alacrity that would have done credit to the crew of a man-of-war.

Without chart or compass we sailed over a sea marked "dangerous" on the maps we might have had but chose to dispense with.

Each day we threaded our way among the intricate passages between jagged coral reefs, keeping in the deep blue between the patches of emerald-green edged with foaming breakers; and always the steady southeast trade wind urged us onward. At night, we lay at anchor close