A Treacherous Dinghy

Tulagi, B.S.I., March 24.

ONE day recently Mr. Ken Bolton set out from the Tulagi jetty in his dinghy, bound for his trading schooner, which was lying off a little distance. He carried, as passengers, Major Hewitt, the well-known manager of Levers Pacific Plantations Ltd., and Mr. Carl Younger, an equally well-known planter.

The two passengers were spick and span in newly-laundered whites. They scorned the foul seats of the Bolton dinghy, and stood upright.

All went well until Mr. Younger, a big man, suddenly sneezed. The dinghy quivered, and Mr. Younger went suddenly overboard. This upset Major Hewitt, and he also went overboard.

The dinghy oscillated violently. Mr.

Bolton clawed at the thwarts like a wild cat, but it was no use. The dinghy turned turtle, and over went Mr. Bolton, and the boat-boy.

No one, at first, realised that Mr.

Younger could not swim. When they noticed his plight, he had swallowed part of Tulagi harbour. Then he was helped by Mr. Bolton and a couple of boys off the schooner, which was only a few yards away.

When the excitement died down, a new sensation arose. Where was Major Hewitt? They discovered him presently.

He had swum ashore, and was seated in three feet of water, a picture of soaking misery, philosophically awaiting the next move in this afternoon’s pleasant enter tainment, and regarding Mr. Bolton’s dinghy with an expression that cannot be put into words.

The actual rudder of the famous old Bounty, dis covered by a descendant of Fletcher Christian, after it had lain for 150 years on 'the seabed, at the spot where the Bounty was destroyed.