His Varied Career

IN Papua we have a man named (for the purpose of this article) Hawkins, who has enjoyed an extra ordinarily varied life.

After graduating from a well-known English University, he served with the Bank of England sufficiently long to become a teller. He then went through training as a shipwright and, soon thereafter, as a coachbuilder. Then, journeying to Sweden, he became an expert in the Skandia engineering busi ness.

Abandoning this to follow the call of the sea, he sailed up and down the Mediterranean for some years and later “rounded the Horn” in a full-rigged ship, in time becoming familiar with all the ports on the west coast of South America.

Rumours came of the gold strike in the Yukon, and, in due course, he found himself with a claim pegged in Dawson City. Here he led an adventurous life.

An opportunity occurred for him to join the North-West Mounted, which he promptly seized. In the “Mounties”, he had still more adventures than when a miner; but even this inducement failed to overcome the wanderlust, so off he went to Oregon, USA, and became a lumberjack and, incidentally (he admits), “one of the crack rivermen”.

Next, he sailed for Australia, where he found employment in N. Queensland.

Later, he crossed to Papua—arriving there, according to his passport, while still on the right side of thirty. A fair effort? But, wait .

IMET him one night, recently, when he and I and a young patrol officer were fellow guests in a house in the D Entrecasteaux Group. Hawkins had known our host and myself for many years, and now found us rather hard to impress.

Not so the P. 0.; here was a sympathetic ear. • Hawkins finessed the lad into a comer, and, like the Ancient Mariner with the wedding guest, he “held him with his glittering eye” and poured forth a selec tion of narratives from his turgid past which made the P.O.’s hair stand on end.

However, even these began to pall and seizing a momentary gap in the mono logue, the P.O. hopped in with his con tribution. , “ D ’y° u , know,” he said, “I’ve been troubled lately with a little, cigar-shaped pain low down on my right side and ”

“Never pay any heed to that,” inter rupted Hawkins. “I’ve had the like for years and what do I do? I laugh it off! Forget about it!”

“All very well,” demurred the P. 0., “but I ve often thought that it would be pretty crook if a fellow were stricken with appendicitis out on patrol ”

“Look you, young fellow,” and Hawkins laid a Land like a bunch of hairv bananas (if one dares imagine such a macabre object) on the P.O.’s knee “For three years I walked the floors of S(S?5 lt rn a ?S’- lf -. the w° r st comes to the worst, 111 whip it out for you!” askance the hand which had obviously never manipulated any instru pnUrnnfi,eiCae th an a br °adaxe, the P.O. abruptly rose, collected his gear and departed into the night. hT7 T fv? Q Silence which followed was broken by the roar of the engine, as the Gov er^ ie ? t la unch started off. Then: fivp A ?r t J[w’ ve been here about twenty °r t J ll f? y y ear s?” said our host.

About that,” agreed Hawkins. hnlv 6 SH?! lenCe again> Two of us were busy with some mental calculations —WG.