[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
AMBRYM 19 3
acquaintance with it. The feeling of insecurity was in-
creased by the knowledge that the boat was old and in
poor repair, and might Spring a leak at any moment.
Meanwhile the skipper had turned her round and
was making headway against the waves, but still her
bow would not lift, and the captain wept still more.
His womanish behaviour disgusted me. At last a quiet
passenger, an experienced sailor, gave some advice,
which the skipper followed, and which helped matters
a little, so that he regained his self-control to the
extent of calling a general council; he announced
that he dared not continue the voyage, and asked
our consent to return to Noumea. We all agreed,
and about midnight we approached the reef. Now
there are lights in the passage, but they are so poor
as to be invisible until the traveller is already in
the passage, so that they are of little use. We were
trying to find the entrance, when the experienced
seaman I mentioned before, who was keeping a
lookout, called out that we were close to the breakers
and surrounded by the reef. The only thing we
could do was to turn seaward again and heat about
till daylight. After some hours the Wind fell and
the worst was over; still, the night was unpleasant
enough, and frequent squalls kept us awake. We
were all glad when the day broke and we Were
able to enter the passage. We landed at Nouméa
in the finest of weather, and our unexpected return
created quite a sensation. We passengers convinced
ourselves that the cargo was considerably reduced
