



Produced by David Widger








SARREO

From "The Tapu Of Banderah and Other Stories"

By Louis Becke

C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.

1901

"Well, there's <DW65>s an' <DW65>s, some just as good as any white man,"
said Mr. Thomas Potter as he, the second mate of the island-trading
barque _Reconnaisance_, and Denison the supercargo, walked her short,
stumpy poop one night, "though when I was before the mast I couldn't
stand one of 'em bunking too close to me--not for a long time. But after
awhile I found out that a Kanaka or a Maori is better than the usual run
of the paint-scrubbing Jack Dog who calls himself a sailorman
nowadays. Why, I've never seen a native sailor yet as was dirty in
his habits--they're too fond o' the water. Look at these Rotumah chaps
aboard here--if there's a calm they'll jump overboard and take a swim
instead of turning in when it's their watch below. Bah, white sailors
ain't worth feeding in this Island trade--lazy, dirty, useless brutes; a
Kanaka is worth three o