Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/25

 IN

CHAPTER I.

AND, HO!" from the mast-head.

"Where away" from the bridge.

"Dead ahead, sir!" was the reply; but it was almost drowned by the buzz of excitement which the announcement produced. The passengers, who had been strolling about the decks or listlessly lounging in their chairs, rushed hastily forward, in their eagerness to catch a glimpse of the land which had been reported "dead ahead."

This happened on board the steamship Alameda, early one pleasant afternoon as she was nearing the Sandwich Islands on a