first. Jensen rarely tried to bully me, though of course I was now
very much in his power, as he emphatically illustrated one day. A
Malay diver had very much annoyed him, and in his fury he picked up
a heavy broom with a stick fully four feet long, and felled the
poor fellow senseless to the deck with it. I was shocked at such
awful brutality, and ventured to protest against it. "Captain," I
said, "don't do anything like that again whilst I am aboard."
Turning round in a great passion he ordered me to keep my own
counsel, otherwise he would have me put in irons. But for all that
Jensen never again let his temper get the better of him to such an
extent in my presence. He was always very gruff in his manner, and
looked upon me as the "darndest fool he had ever met."

These divers, by the way, never seemed to trouble about the value
of the treasure they were constantly bringing to the surface. They
thought themselves well paid if they were given plenty of rice and
fish, turtles' eggs and fowls, in addition to such luxuries as
spices, coffee, and "Brummagem" jewellery, of a kind which is too
well known to need description. At the same time it must be
admitted that in addition to their wages, which were paid them when
they were discharged from the ship, the Malays had practically no
opportunity of being dishonest, even though they might have been
inclined that way. They never came into actual contact with the
pearls; they were rewarded according to the number of shells
brought to the surface, and not the value of the pearls they might
contain. All the shells were opened by me. A healthy spirit of
rivalry was maintained among the divers, and the man who had the
best record of shells each week was rewarded with an extra
allowance of rum or tobacco; a choice of some article of jewellery,
or anything else he fancied from among the stock we had on board.