all the way to Thursday Island to be taught anything. Poor new-chums!
Little do they know the kind of people they are up against.

The following description of a night at Thursday Island is taken from
a new-chum's note book:

"Passed Proudfoot shoal and arrived at Thursday Island.
First sight of Australia. Lot of men came aboard, all called Captain.
They are all pearl-fishers or pilots, not a bit like the bushmen
I expected. When they came aboard they divided into parties. Some invaded
the Captain's cabin; others sat in the smoking room; the rest crowded
into the saloon. They talked to the passengers about the Boer War,
and told us about pearls worth 1000 pounds that had been found lately.

"One captain pulled a handful of loose pearls out of a jar
and handed them round in a casual way for us to look at.
The stewards opened bottles and we all sat down for a drink and a smoke.
I spoke to one captain -- an oldish man -- and he grinned amiably,
but did not answer. Another captain leaned over to me and said,
`Don't take any notice of him, he's boozed all this week.'

"Conversation and drink became general. The night was very hot and close,
and some of the passengers seemed to be taking more than was good for them.
A contagious thirst spread round the ship, and before long the stewards
and firemen were at it. The saloon became an inferno of drink and sweat
and tobacco smoke. Perfect strangers were talking to each other
at the top of their voices.

"Young MacTavish, who is in a crack English regiment,
asked the captain of a pearling lugger whether he didn't know