Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/170

146 and learned from the natives the story of the wreck of the Boussole and Astrolabe."

"What was it?"



"The ships went ashore in a severe gale. On one of them everyone of the crew was drowned in the surf or killed by the natives. On the other, supposed to be the one commanded by La Pérouse in person, friendly terms were established with the people, and the crew were unharmed. They built a small vessel from the wreck of the larger one, and a part of them sailed away. They were never heard of afterwards; those who remained on the island died one after another, and it is supposed that the last survivor perished only a few months before the sword-hilt was found at Tucopia."

"And what became of Captain Dillon?"

"The French Government kept its promise. It created him a chevalier of the Legion of Honor, gave him a life pension of four thousand francs, and appointed him consul to Tahiti, where he remained until the establishment of the protectorate over the Society Islands. Then he returned to England, and lived on his pension until his death in 1846."