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Potona or Unknown New Zealand

Chapter IV. A Further Misfortune—A Council of War

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Chapter IV. A Further Misfortune—A Council of War.

Early next morning we were all astir. The cook lit a fire and proceeded to get some breakfast cooked; the rest of the men, in the meanwhile, started down to the beach to have a look about them.

Suddenly we heard a loud shout, and immediately afterwards one of the party came running up from the beach—Harry and I having stayed behind at the tent—and told us the boat was gone. We rushed down to where the men were standing, and sure enough not a sign of the boat there was.

“The tide has taken her off, sir,” said one of the men: and this was the only solution we could arrive at of the mystery of her disappearance.

“We hauled her well above high-water-mark last night,” replied Harry; “so how could she have got washed adrift?”

On closer examination, however, we found that the tide must have been exceptionally high during the night, and we blamed ourselves accordingly for not making the painter fast as well, though Hunter swore he was positive he had done so.

“Well, lads,” I said, “it's no use crying over spilt milk; but perhaps she may have stranded somewhere else in the bay.”

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All caught at the idea, and we determined to try and follow the shores downwards after breakfast, and try to recover the missing boat.

About eight o'clock we divided into two parties—one, under the guidance of Harry, taking the left shore of the bay; and the other, under myself, going to the right.

There is no occasion to describe minutely our respective searches, suffice it to say that both parties returned to camp shortly before sunset, equally unsuccessful, and we came to the inevitable conclusion that the boat had been carried out to sea.

At daybreak the following morning we were all up and astir, and after a good breakfast I called all our party together to consider what was the best course to pursue, now we had lost our boat. Some proposed travelling along the coast southward; others that we should strike due inland and try to cross the island; while the remainder, amongst whom were Harry and myself, thought it would be better to try and construct a boat that would carry us all, and carry out our original intention of coasting along until we arrived at one of the southern whaling stations.

After considerable discussion this last proposal was agreed to.

As it would take some little time to build our boat, the first thing we proceeded to do was to examine our stock of provisions. After everything had been produced, we found that our worldly goods amounted to the following:—One large barrel of biscuit, one of salt beef, one of salt pork, a good supply of tea, coffee, and sugar, a cask of rum, a small bag of Indian corn, ditto of wheat, which had been intended for the fowls on board ship, and had been thrown into the boat by mistake, one large kettle, several pannikins, a frying pan, one saucepan, a few tin plates, a large axe and three page 20 small hatchets, a saw, and a few other tools from the carpenter's chest, fortunately put into the boat by Harry's forethought. We had a good supply of blankets, and a tent; Harry had also a single-barrelled fowling-piece, and I a double-barrelled one, and we each possessed enough ammunition to last us for a long period. We all were very fairly supplied with warm clothing, &c.

“It is better than I expected,” said Harry after all had been enumerated, “and we might have been very much worse off.”

“Be jabers and you're right, sir,” responded Moroney. “Shure an' if we boys will only work togither, a foine holiday it will be for us.”

“Well said, Moroney,” I answered, “that is the main point. Circumstances might arise to detain us here for some indefinite period, and we must each do our best to make things as comfortable and jolly as possible for the general good.”

A murmur of approbation from the party generally was the only response to my words.

“Well, lads,” I went on, “though not on board ship now, I think we should still be under discipline to a certain extent, so that in case of any dispute or unpleasantness arising between any of our party, the persons concerned must be subject to be judged by a majority of their companions. Is this agreed to?”

“Yes, yes, sir, that's fair,” replied the men.

After a short silence, Hunter turned to me and said—

“We all think, sir, that you and Mr Murton should be our leaders on shore just as you were our officers on board ship, and that any disputes should be referred to you and one of ourselves, and we pledge ourselves to submit to whatever decision you may come to.”

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“Then there's nothing else to be done on that subject,” I replied, “and Mr Murton and myself in return promise you we will do our share of all work with yourselves, and be entirely guided by the majority in all cases affecting the general welfare.”

“Hooroo, boys!” shouted Moroney. “Three cheers for our new captain and Mr Murton!”

The men responded heartily, and after “splicing the main brace” all round from our keg of rum, we proceeded to discuss our plans for the day.

It was decided that while Harry and the greater number of the men remained in camp and proceeded to erect a more substantial shelter than our tent afforded, the remainder, together with myself, were to explore the dense forest behind us, and mark out the best trees we could find for boat-building purposes, and at the same time make ourselves better acquainted with the neighborhood.