THE SCHOONER _HALBRANE_ The _Halbrane_ was a schooner of three hundred tons, and a fast sailer.

On board there was a captain, a mate, or lieutenant, a boatswain, a cook, and eight sailors; in all twelve men, a sufficient number to work the ship.

Solidly built, copper-bottomed, very manageable, well suited for navigation between the fortieth and sixtieth parallels of south latitude, the _Halbrane_ was a credit to the ship-yards of Birkenhead.
All this I learned from Atkins, who adorned his narrative with praise and admiration of its theme.

Captain Len Guy, of Liverpool, was three-fifths owner of the vessel, which he had commanded for nearly six years.

He traded in the southern seas of Africa and America, going from one group of islands to another and from continent to continent.