Master William, whom we have introduced to the reader, was the eldest
boy of a family who were passengers on board, consisting of the father,
mother, and four children: his father was a Mr. Seagrave, a very
well-informed, clever man, who having for many years held an office
under government at Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, was now
returning from a leave of absence of three years. He had purchased from
the government several thousand acres of land; it had since risen very
much in value, and the sheep and cattle which he had put on it were
proving a source of great profit. His property had been well managed by
the person who had charge of it during his absence in England, and he
was now taking out with him a variety of articles of every description
for its improvement, and for his own use, such as furniture for his
house, implements of agriculture, seeds, plants, cattle, and many other
things too numerous to mention.
Mrs. Seagrave was an amiable woman, but not in very strong health. The
family consisted of William, who was the eldest, a clever, steady boy,
but, at the same time, full of mirth and humour; Thomas, who was six
years old, a very thoughtless but good-tempered boy, full of mischief,
and always in a scrape; Caroline, a little girl of seven years; and
Albert, a fine strong little fellow, who was not one year old: he was
under the charge of a black girl, who had come from the Cape of Good
Hope to Sydney, and had followed Mrs. Seagrave to England. We have now
mentioned all the people on board of the Pacific: perhaps we ought not
to forget two shepherd's dogs, belonging to Mr. Seagrave, and a little
terrier, which was a great favourite of Captain Osborn, to whom she
belonged.
It was not until the fourth day from its commencement that the gale
abated, and then it gradually subsided until it was nearly a calm. The
men who had been watching night after night during the gale now brought
all their clothes which had been drenched by the rain and spray, and
hung them up in the rigging to dry: the sails, also, which had been
furled, and had been saturated by the wet, were now loosened and spread
out that they might not be mildewed. The wind blew mild and soft, the
sea had gone down, and the ship was running through the water at the
speed of about four miles an hour. Mrs. Seagrave, wrapped up in a
cloak, was seated upon one of the arm-chests near the stern of the
ship, her husband and children were all with her enjoying the fine
weather, when Captain Osborn, who had been taking an observation of the
sun with his sextant, came up to them.
"Well, Master Tommy, you are very glad that the gale is over?"
"I didn't care," replied Tommy, "only I spilt all my soup. But Juno
tumbled off her chair, and rolled away with the baby, till papa picked
them both up."
"It was a mercy that poor Albert was not killed," observed Mrs.
Seagrave.
"And so he might have been, if Juno had not thought only of him and
nothing at all about herself," replied Mr. Seagrave.
"That's very true, sir," replied Captain Osborn. "She saved the child,
and, I fear, hurt herself."
"I thump my head very hard," said Juno, smiling.
"Yes, and it's lucky that you have a good thick woolly coat over it,"
replied Captain Osborn, laughing.
"It is 12 o'clock by the sun, sir," said Mackintosh, the first mate, to
the captain.
"Then bring me up the latitude, Mr. Mackintosh, while I work out the
longitude from the sights which I took this morning. In five minutes,
Mr. Seagrave, I shall be ready to prick off over our place on the
chart."
"Here are the dogs come up on deck," said William; "I dare say they are
as glad of the fine weather as we are. Come here, Romulus! Here, Remus!
- Remus!"
"Well, sir," said Ready, who was standing by them with his quadrant in
his hand, "I should like to ask you a question. Those dogs of yours
have two very odd names which I never heard before. Who were Romulus
and Remus?"
"Romulus and Remus," replied Mr. Seagrave, "were the names of two
shepherds, brothers, who in ancient days founded the city of Rome,
which eventually became the largest and most celebrated empire in the
world. They were the first kings of Rome, and reigned together. History
says that Remus affronted Romulus by leaping over a wall he had raised,
and Romulus, in his anger, took away his life; but the history of early
days is not to be depended upon."
"No, nor the brothers either, it appears," replied Ready; "however, it
is the old story - two of a trade can never agree. One sometimes hears
of Rome now - is that the same place?"
"Yes," replied William, "it is the remains of the old city."
"Well, one lives and learns," said Ready. "I have learnt something
to-day, which everyone will to the last day of his life, if he will
only ask questions. I'm an old man, and perhaps don't know much, except
in the seafaring way; but I should have known much less if I did not
ask for information, and was not ashamed to acknowledge my ignorance;
that's the way to learn, Master William."
"Very good advice, Ready, - and, William, I hope you will profit by
it," said Mr. Seagrave; "never be ashamed to ask the meaning of what
you do not understand."
"I always do, papa. Do I not ask you questions, Ready?"
"Yes, you do, and very clever questions for a boy of your age; and I
only wish that I could answer them better than I can sometimes."
"I should like to go down now, my dear," said Mrs. Seagrave; "perhaps
Ready will see the baby down safe."
"That I will, ma'am," said Ready, putting his quadrant on the capstan:
"now, Juno, give me the child, and go down first; - backwards, you
stupid girl! how often do I tell you that? Some day or another you will
come down with a run."
"And break my head," said Juno.
"Yes, or break your arm; and then who is to hold the child?"
As soon as they were all down in the cabin, the captain and Mr.
Seagrave marked the position of the vessel on the chart, and found that
they were one hundred and thirty miles from the Cape of Good Hope.
"If the wind holds, we shall be in to-morrow," said Mr. Seagrave to his
wife. "Juno, perhaps you may see your father and mother."
Poor Juno shook her head, and a tear or two stole down her dark cheek.
With a mournful face she told them, that her father and mother belonged
to a Dutch boor, who had gone with them many miles into the interior:
she had been parted from them when quite a little child, and had been
left at Cape Town.