Becker."
"Two of my sons have gone on before us; they were to embark in the
canoe for Shark's Island, and wait for us there. I must have courage,
and you also, Willis."
This exordium did not tend to alter the Pilot's impression. They
walked on for some time in silence towards the coast.
"Do you know the latitude and longitude of this coast, Willis?"
"Good!" thought the Pilot, "he has changed the subject."
"Yes; we are in the South Sea, and no great distance from the line."
"What continent is nearest us?"
"We cannot be very far off the south coast of New Holland, or, as it
is named in some charts, Australia. You know that the _Nelson_ hailed
from Botany Bay, or Sydney, as the convict colony which the English
Government has just founded there is called."
"How far do you suppose we are from Sydney?"
"Well, I should say, with a fair wind and a smart craft, Sydney is not
above two months' sail, if so much."
"Is the coast inhabited?"
"Yes."
"What character do the inhabitants bear?"
"According to the Dutch sailors, who have been on the coast, they are
the most plundering and lubberly set of rascals to be met with
anywhere."
"They are not acquainted with the use of fire-arms, are they?"
"No not of fire-arms; but they have a machine of their own that they
call a waddy, or something of that sort, which they throw like a
harpoon; but the thing takes a twist in the air, and strikes behind
them.
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